We have received a number of questions today regarding stories circulating that Mountain House Foods, one of the worlds leading suppliers of emergency storable foods is out of stock on all #10 cans of freeze dried foods.
I spoke to Mountain House Foods this afternoon and was assured that while there is VERY HIGH demand right now and a backlog of orders, they are focused on meeting the current demands of their primary dealers. The person I spoke to said that they have made a decision to focus on meeting the needs of their primary dealers and hope to gradually include additional dealers as supplies will allow.
From Oregon Freeze Dried (Mountain House)
Dear Valued Customers:
We regret to inform you Oregon Freeze Dry cannot satisfy all Mountain House #10 can orders and we have removed #10 cans from our website temporarily. The reason for this is sales of #10 cans have continued to increase. OFD is allocating as much production capacity as possible to this market segment, but we must maintain capacity for our other market segments as well.
Currently we are able to meet demand for Mountain House pouches and most of these products are still available for purchase on our website. Some of our dealers still have Mountain House #10 Cans available and you will need to locate them and contact them directly.
We want to clarify inaccurate information we’ve seen on the Internet. This situation is not due to sales to the government domestically or in Iraq. We do sell products to this market, but we also sell other market segments, including Ingredients and Private Label markets. The reason for this decision is solely due to an unprecedented sales spike in #10 cans sales.
We expect this situation to be necessary for several months although this isn’t a guarantee. We will update this information as soon as we know more. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your patience. We sincerely hope you will continue to be Mountain House customers in the future. (Link)
NTA Opinion
For a number of reasons, the demand for emergency food supplies has soared and suppliers are experiencing shortages and an increased backlog of orders. Some are already comparing the current demand for emergency food supplies to the run-up shortly before Y2k.
In the short term and possibly well into 2009, it will more than likely become increasingly difficult and expensive to obtain emergency, storable food for you and your family. If you are planning to acquire and /or supplement an emergency food storage program for your family, my advice would be to make those purchases sooner, rather than later.
As many of you know, we at The National Terror Alert highly recommend Nitro-Pak for all of your emergency preparedness needs including emergency storable foods.
Nitro-Pak is a primary supplier of Mountain House Foods and is filling orders however; as stated on the front page of their website, all Mountain House #10 can freeze-dried foods & units are going up August 1, 2008 by as much as 15%.
Current processing time for most non-can food orders is currently taking 2-4 business days to ship. Orders with #10 canned foods or units are taking approx. 2 to 4 weeks to ship due to EXTREMELY high customer demand, food production shortages and market volatility.
Regardless of current conditions, you should plan in advance to manage any emergency situation. Assess the situation, use common sense and available resources to take care of yourself and your family.
72 Hours worth of supplies including storable food is the minimum recommendation however; our recommendation is to be ready to make it on your own for at least 2-4 weeks and longer if feasible. When a crisis takes place, the time to prepare is over.
