Mountain House and Saratoga Farms

The past few months in our industry have been a little crazy to say the least. The spike in demand has been growing since November and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. As a result, there have been some supply chain issues. The biggest issue for the emergency preparedness industry has been the inability of Mountain House to keep up with demand, especially for their entrees. We are one of their few preferred vendors that continue to receive shipments, but the shipments are just not enough. Last week, Mountain House requested all vendors to stop accepting orders for their entrees until they can catch up, which they’re saying is going to be at least 3-4 months.

But here’s the good news…our exclusive Saratoga Farms Country Kitchen entrees are doing a much better job at keeping up with demand, and we are increasing the available selection to give our customers more readily available entree options. Because our customers have been seeing and hearing more about the Saratoga Farms Country Kitchen entrees we’ve been getting a lot of questions about how they compare with other entrees. We’ve created the graphic below and posted it on all relevant product pages on our site to help our customers understand some of the differences and similarities so they can make the best decision for their family. So…. here’s the skinny on these new and exciting Saratoga Farms Country Kitchen entrees:

What makes Saratoga Farms Country Kitchen entrees better?….

1. Servings per can: When looking at all of the main lunch and dinner entrees, Saratoga Farms provides on average 20 servings per can while Mountain House provides 10. The fill level is higher in the Saratoga Farms entrees, reducing the amount of storage space required.

2. Calories per can: The average can from Saratoga Farms Country Kitchen line has a little over 4,800 calories of food while Mountain House comes in at a little over 2,200.

3. Average cost per serving: Saratoga Farms also comes in at a better price, on average you are looking at $1.65 per serving whereas the Mountain House servings are going to typically run you over $3.00 a serving.

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How are Saratoga Farms Country Kitchen entrees similar to Mountain House?….

1. Quality: Saratoga Farms uses the highest quality ingredients available in their entrees and are freeze-dried on the same type of equipment as used by Mountain House so the flavor, nutrients, and aroma are excellent.

2. Shelf Life: All entrees from Saratoga Farms have a 30 year shelf life. Food is packed in a hermetically sealed #10 can using the best can seamer in the industry ensuring that the food tastes great and retains the nutritional value when you need it most.

3. Taste: Years of research and development have gone into the formulation of the entrees resulting in a delicious taste. As a matter of fact, when people eat the entrees they comment about how they would love eating them as everyday meals, not just in an emergency.

Continue reading » · Written on: 03-11-11 · 43 Comments »

43 Responses to “Mountain House and Saratoga Farms”

C.C. wrote:

I ordered a few to try out.

I do have a question though about this brand name Saratoga Farms. It seems this is tied directly with The Ready Store brand, basically exclusive to you guys as your brand label.

However there is nothing out there in the world about who makes this. Mountain House is obviously made by Oregon Freeze Dried, a huge manufacturer. However who makes Saratoga Farms? There isn’t much out there about this stuff, only you guys, 1 single seller of this opaque brand label.

Since it is a food product, isn’t it correct to tell us who makes it? We can’t even see past you, the seller. For example, is this made in China? Are the materials sourced from China? Where is the plant that is processing the freeze drying? It would be a good idea to tell us who is making it, especially if you guys are contracting out to mulitple vendors. After all, we are expected to put this stuff in our bodies.

Thanks.

March 11th, 2011 at 2:07 pm

admin wrote:

C.C. – We appreciate your feedback and can completely understand your concern. Although the Country Kitchen line of Saratoga Farms entrees is relatively new, the Saratoga Farms brand, which is owned and operated by The Ready Store, has more than five years experience canning freeze-dried and dehydrated food and has quickly become a leader in the industry recognized as a dependable source for convenienct and quality food storage by organizations such as FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the FAA & TSA, the Department of State, and by thousands of individuals across the country who have come to The Ready Store for their emergency food storage needs.

All of the Saratoga Farms Country Kitchen entrees are packaged and prepared entirely in the USA utilizing USDA-licensed freeze-drying facilities with over 40 years of experience producing ingredients for many of the world’s leading food companies. We go to great lengths to ensure that all the ingredients included are of the highest quality available with no ingredients from China.

We ensure that every can seam meets our exact specifications down to the last thousanth of an inch to make sure you get the maximum shelf-life current technology can provide. We want to make sure that anything that comes with the Saratoga Farms label is something we’d be proud to put on the table in our own homes.

We are truly sincere when we say that our motto is “If it’s not good enough for our family, it’s not good enough for yours.”

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 11th, 2011 at 3:44 pm

Poppie Dave in MO wrote:

We have been buying from The Ready Store for over 3 years now. While Mountain House has been the “Wal-Mart” standard in the industry, we have also seen and bought the Saratoga Farms brand during these past few years. What you will find is that what The Ready Store says is true about their own brand–they really do weigh more, so you may be pleasantly surprised to see how much of a better value they are.
You might check around at other websites and find that they also offer their own “house labels” but you would have to ask them the same questions relating to their reliability and origin as well. The Ready Store has stated their production facts, so that is good enough for us.
As satisfied customers, we have found that these are unusual times for this particular industry, and we will all have to be patient. For those of you out there who are just now starting your food storage, welcome to the party! Only wish we had started our own sooner also.

March 12th, 2011 at 9:38 am

victoria enyart wrote:

Does this mean that if we ordered that you will be replacing the order with Saratoga Farms? Or do we have to make the request?

From The Ready Store:

Victoria, there are certain supply kits (6 month, 1 year, ect) where we state on the product page the right to substitute between cans based on availability. If you buy a can of Mountain House Beef Stroganoff separately we will not substitute that product with the Saratoga Farms alternative unless you contact us and request that.

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 12:53 am

Joel P. wrote:

That’s interesting. Costco just brought this back in stock.

From the makers of Mountain House, Oregon Freeze Dry introduces NEW Easy Meals. All of the Easy Meal products are created with the same superior quality and taste you have enjoyed from Oregon Freeze Dry for over 40 years. Every Easy Meal item is fully cooked and then freeze-dried. Most all of the Easy Meal items just require water. 18 #10 cans.

So I thought they were catching up.

March 14th, 2011 at 4:49 am

Kenneth DeWit wrote:

Ready Store never ceases to AMAZE ME! You tell us that Mountian House is behind in it’s order’s because of it’s SELL OUT to the DAM Government, But, then you tell us all is WELL with Saratoga FARMS!, and even setting up a CHART to SHOW “US”, the CUSTOMER, “HOW MUCH BETTER Saratoga farms food is over Mountian House?????! If, you knew this all along, you have either been DECEIVING US, or, you are NOT very good at Marketing RESEARCH!! Now, WHICH is it? I and the customer’s on here would like to KNOW! WE are your STAPLE in this MARKET and we pay HEFTY PRICES for it too I might add! I do NOT BLAME you for making a PROFIT! That is why you are in Business, but even YOU have to admit, you have NOT done WELL in the PR area! Period!!!! I and many like me do NOT like to be deceived or straight up LIED to! When the Government came to your supplier’s THEY should have told the Government “OUR “PUBLIC” Customer’s are FIRST IN LINE! You ie. the GOVERNMENT come second. The PUBLIC will be here long after your order’s are done ( OR, MAYBE NOT!) They, as it always seems to run, chose the QUICK MONEY over the long term Customer, and so did you! I say that because you should have been abreast of the situation and told them that “WE” the CUSTOMER “MUST” COME FIRST! Thank you, Kenny

From The Ready Store:

Kenneth, I want to be clear that we have never said that the government is the source of the supply issues. If you have a link to a place we have said this I would like to see it. Maybe you are confusing us with some other company or blog?

As for one group getting preferential treatment over others we have already addressed your previous and similar comment on last Monday’s blog. Click on this link and scroll about 1/2 way down to see our response or if you want to save some time doing that I will copy and paste what I wrote last week below:

Kenneth, there is no preferential treatment to one type of customer over another, when you get in line you are in line and no one cuts in front. We have a Government and Business ordering page on our site along with an option for Government and Businesses in the phone directory of our customer service line only because these types of organizations purchase differently (often set up terms as opposed to paying by credit cards). Again, if ANYONE places an order today they get in the same line as the rest of the people that have already ordered.

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 4:51 am

M Lowery wrote:

So how back ordered are the Saratoga Farms foods, because I ordered several cans of meats back in mid-February and was hit with the “delays” message. Thanks!

March 14th, 2011 at 4:55 am

John wrote:

I spoke to a rep from another company recently who told me there are only five companies making freeze dried and dehydrated long term storage food. So in the absence of reliable supplies of Mountain House products, it’s good there are other options.

March 14th, 2011 at 6:54 am

M Kroska wrote:

Thank you so much for the comparison info between Saratoga Farms and Mountain House. I have only tried one SF item (dried fruit) in the past, and it was fantastic. I bought MH from you because that is what I have used in the past…and I am waiting on an order now. But I plan to try SF entrees on my next order. I figured the delay was a supply problem…too much business too fast. How was MH to guess that business would increase by a bizillion percent so rapidly?? Thank you for the updates…please continue them. And everyone….let’s have a little patience and understanding. These are unusual times we are living in and they do warrant us having a little patience, for all our sakes. Thank you.

March 14th, 2011 at 7:00 am

R.L. "Doc" Smith wrote:

Are the wait times at this time as long as the 3-6 weeks?
Thanks for all you do.

From The Ready Store:

Doc, it depends on the items you order. Some items are shorter some are longer. You will notice when you are on a product page that right above the Add To Cart button you will see a message if the item is going to take longer than normal.

March 14th, 2011 at 7:05 am

Sam wrote:

In many of my shipments, MH was replaced by the Saratoga brand and I have been more than pleased. Although I am “all stocked up” ( meaning, completely out of storage space ) I would not hesitate to buy Saratoga Farms brand and would likely place a preference on it over MH ( the cans do weigh more ). If you are frustrated by longer shipping times; perhaps keeping in mind that as long as you receive your order prior to an actual “need” for the order; you are way ahead of the pack. After your order arrives, you’ll forget any extra wait that you may have encountered. If the need to prepare is sitting hard on your shoulders; go purchase a Food Saver system ( < $140 ) and buy some beans, rice and macaroni. You can happily “prepare away” while you are waiting on your 30 year shelf life food stocks to arrive.
If you came to the “party” late, maybe there is a line at the door; but you will still get in.

March 14th, 2011 at 9:18 am

Ben Tayllor wrote:

I have retired to Ecuador.
Will you ship out of the USA?

Ben

From The Ready Store:

Ben, we do ship internationally. When you are in your shopping cart you look to the left side and you should see a logo that says “I Global International Checkout.” Click on that and go from there!

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 10:51 am

Dennis A wrote:

Ready Store – would be more than happy to sub all the MH products on my 2 orders from mid Feb (…46109 & 46834) with the Saratoga Brand products. Can I assume you would pass on the savings of the over all cost as well and would it not expedite shipping as well? Would be nice to hear from you on this.Thanks!

From The Ready Store:

Dennis, I will have a customer service representative call you and discuss the options. I would tell you answers if I knew them but those are beyond my knowledge of the situation.

Thanks for your patience,

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 11:54 am

Julie Anderson wrote:

I placed a large order 1/24 and was charged the full amt to my credit card $933 though well under 1/2 the order was shipped on 2/7. The enclosed pkg list said remainder of order backordered 2-4 weeks and that time has passed. When calling for another issue, was told an addt’l 1-2 weeks, even though I asked if I could cancel Mtn House portion if it meant order would ship faster. If you are willing to substitute SF brand I wish I had been told this. Otherwise, communication and response between RS and myself has been satisfactory. I have placed several orders after this date, some for merchandise rather than food product, but understand I have to wait my turn in line. I am trying to be patient but as I’ve paid the visa bill so I don’t accrue interest, just wondering how many more weeks, in reality, I’ll be waiting. Have ordered from other sites after Jan and rec’d quickly only now to see they are also heavily backordered so I believe what you say about that. I do appreciate the fact that you’re doing your best to keep us informed, just a little despondent that I’ve paid and don’t really know how much longer it will be. Having paid in full, just hoping product arrives before TSHTF. Thank you for providing a much needed service and sorry if we are all a little panicky about rec’vg product when things are just looking so bad. Like others have said, wish I’d have woken up and joined the party a little sooner, which is absolutely not your fault.

From The Ready Store:

Julie, I will have a customer service representative contact you with your options.

Thank you for your patience,

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 1:11 pm

Sam wrote:

Hi All, hopefully, the good folks at the Ready Store won’t get angry at me for pushing this.. but I must re-iterate.. if you are feeling anxious ( and well you should be ) I urge you to go get a Food Saver vacuum packaging system. They are available at Wal-mart, Target, etc. and cost < $140. You can package up some staples while waiting on your orders to arrive. Beans, rice and macaroni are very cheap. If packed in a vacuum and stored in a cool, dark place ( like in a cupboard ) they will all last close to a decade if the vacuum seal is not compromised. You can vacuum pack powdered drinks, spices, coffee, tea, etc. Look at the expiration date on any box of macaroni.. if it is fairly fresh, just stored in the cardboard box it will be good for 3-4 years. How much longer if it is stored in a vaccum and kept cool and dark ? Hint… the elbow mac works best… fewer sharp edges to poke a hole in the bag. Dried Lentils, pintos, navy beans, barley and rice are all readily available and even with the cost of the bags are only a few cents per serving. You should stock up on long term stuff like freeze dried; but you can also do some things for yourself… do it. do it now. If nothing else, you could use your self packaged goods as barter or to assist friends and neighbors who did not prepare and save your 30 year stuff for your family.

From The Ready Store:

No worries Sam, you have some good advice that could possibly be a good solution to people don’t want to wait.

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 4:35 pm

Dale wrote:

What is available in the Saratoga Farms Country Kitchen line? Is there a separate link showing available products?

From The Ready Store:

Dale, right now you can see those entrées by hovering over Food Storage and clicking on Main Entrées. In the coming days there will be 6 new entrées we will be adding to the line. We have been working on those for about 8 months now and are ready to bring those onto the site shortly. Stay tuned for more details

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 4:42 pm

Don Richardson wrote:

Please comment on the difference between dehydrated and freeze dried products. Would be interested in taste, texture, storage life and so forth. Thanks.

From The Ready Store:

Don, there are numerous differences. Here are some generalizations below that will get you in the right direction:

Dehydrated

Less expensive
More labor intensive to cook and make a meal out of the products, usually need more than just water
Higher loss of nutrients from original food than freeze-dried food
Takes more time to prepare
Shelf life typically 20 years in a #10 can
Typically single ingredients (carrots or potato pearls) not ready complete ready to eat meals

Freeze-Dried

More expensive
Simply add hot water, stir and wait 5-10 minutes and you are done
Locks in flavor, aroma, texture, and nutrients much better than dehydrated foods
Add hot water and 5-10 minutes later you are done
Shelf life is typically 30 years in a #10 can
Typically entrees (beef stroganoff) and single ingredients (strawberries)

March 14th, 2011 at 4:46 pm

Steve Johnson wrote:

All this being said, WILL YOU TAKE ON A DISTRIBUTOR?

From The Ready Store:

Steve, at some point down the line that may be something Jeff is interested in doing but right now we need to meet our customer’s needs to the best of our ability and doing this would make that more difficult.

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 5:50 pm

jeff wrote:

Tired of waiting… bought a dehydrator and a vaccum sealer and dehydrating my own food.

From The Ready Store:

Good idea for those that are needing product this minute.

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 6:08 pm

Carl Valentovic wrote:

You are catching alot of flack from customers due to the very bad decision by your marketing department to advertise the “advantages” of your in house supplier–Saratoga Farms in the face of published backorders of Mountain House products.

If you want to emphasize Saratoga Farms, fine. Just be upfront with shipping times.

Leaving people to wonder when they may receive their orders is not good business.

As an old sales manager of mine once said, you have a good problem regarding product demand–solve it quickly before the demand problem goes away.

From The Ready Store:

Carl, just wanted to let you know that we are upfront about our shipping times, every single product page on our site has an individual message above the Add To Cart button (in bold font no less) that states the expected ship time if it is not in stock. We are not hiding anything. Some companies on the other hand are vague, one for example shows a green box if it is in stock and a yellow box if it is back-ordered but they don’t tell you how long it is back-ordered, 1 day or 120 who knows until you call on to find that out. I think you will be hard pressed to find anyone in the industry that is communicating as openly as we are about the supply issues.

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 7:22 pm

Daniel B. McIntyre wrote:

Hi,
I want what I ordered. MRE’S. Period. Have a nice day.
Thank you,
Dan McIntyre

From The Ready Store:

Dan I will have customer service check on your order in the morning, good night.

The Ready Store

March 14th, 2011 at 7:26 pm

Anita Blabey wrote:

Why is no one in the industry mentioning that Mountain House is at the moment lap dog to a giant national retailer focusing on small towns, in which the camping section now has one breakfast pouch, at least 2 and up to 6 different entree pouches, and one or two single-serve ice cream pouches? I know there are shortages, but we have a case of the omnipresent dime store rerouting our resources again. I do thank the Ready Store and all others who bring us other options. Online ordering is a far better option than enriching the dime store.

March 15th, 2011 at 9:11 am

Mike Schmit wrote:

I stumbled on to the food concern by accident. I simply wanted to order some mountain house for my numerous 3 day weekends. Let me play devil’s advocate here. 1.) No one can predict the future. 2.) Isn’t it possible that a Radio talk show host owns a piece of this pie? 3.) If the SHTF and you know nothing about wilderness survival, your screwed anyways. Did you know that evergreen tea has more vitamin C than a Orange? I’ll take my chances in the woods thanks. Mike

March 15th, 2011 at 10:03 am

Bob wrote:

Just placed an order yesterday, and am now reading about these big delays in shipping.

1) Does the 3-4 month wait apply to the MH two-serving pouches as well, or just the #10 cans?
2) Do you have similar 1 or 2 serving pouches for Saratoga Farms line?
3. I ordered the pouches in order to be able to try these products before buying a huge supply. Should I wait for the pouches, or place my 12 month order with a plan to cancel it if I do not like the pouch samples?

From The Ready Store:

Bob, here are some answers to your questions:

1) The 3-4 month wait is only the Mountain House #10 cans.
2) At this time we do not carry Saratoga Farms product in pouches.
3) You will get your pouches in a couple weeks. From there you can decide upon what you are interested in. It would be a good idea to buy the 12 month supply now and cancel it later if you don’t like the pouch food samples. We don’t charge your card until the order ships.

Hope this helps,

The Ready Store

March 16th, 2011 at 6:39 pm

Sabine wrote:

Alpine Aire has a Gourmet Reserve Line that has a Tamale Pie with Beef with blue cornmeal that I crawled through a collapsing building to retrieve. Take home message, if you live on a fault line, store your emergency supplies somewhere without a slate roof, use Saratoga Farms and Provident for sets of cans to make great food economically, and use Gourmet Reserves for fun food. Skip Mountain House, their seafood chowder was great, and I agree about those ice cream sandwiches, though Saratoga Farms ice cream bars are pretty good as well, but why encourage corporate greed and the multinational attitude of disrespecting your customers. Mountain House protesteth too much, and I bet all that food is for some huge bunker exclusivly for politicians and large political donors!
Enough ranting, my question is actually about GMO’s, does Saratoga use them?

From The Ready Store:

Some of our food has some components and others don’t. Because ingredient sourcing can occasionally shift from one supplier to another due to a variety of reasons it is too difficult to clearly communicate this to our customers so we hold back from making those claims to play it safe on our end.

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 17th, 2011 at 5:31 am

Heather wrote:

Just wanted to Thank the Ready Store for selling a good product and for helping my family be ready in an emergency.

March 17th, 2011 at 5:40 pm

C.C. wrote:

Thanks for the reply. However it does not answer the question I was asking. So I will rephrase, who do you have manufacture Saratoga Farms brand #10 cans? If you will not say, please let us know why it is you will not.

- Thanks again.

March 18th, 2011 at 11:53 am

MasterPo wrote:

Anita on 3/15 – I know exactly what you’re talking about and was wondering the same thing!

On the bright side, those store retail pouches are all fresh stuff with the max expiration dates. Not as good as cans but much better than nothing at all!

Not to drive anything way from TRS, but take advantage of the situation there while you can. I am.

March 20th, 2011 at 7:25 pm

Janet wrote:

I placed an order on 12/6/10 and that order is fully shipped. I placed another order on 1/13/11 and that order if partially shipped. Another order was placed on 1/20/11 and that order is fully shipped. Another order was placed on 2/7/11 and that order is partially shipped. However, I am getting concerned because my credit card has been charged for $227 in food that I ordered in January and have not received. I was also charged for the 2/7/11 order, but there is only one #10 can missing from that order.

From The Ready Store:

Janet, thanks for your continued business. Let me explain our shipment process when an item is on backorder. If 50% or more of the value of the order is in stock we ship it and charge the card. Right now our automated system doesn’t have the functionality to charge the portion that is shipping out and the remainder at a later date when the backordered items go out.

I will pass along your information to a customer service representative and have them get back to you with status on your remained couple items.

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 24th, 2011 at 8:14 pm

Lara N. wrote:

Hi,
I have a question about the Saratoga Farms packaging:

Is there BPA (Bisphenol-A) or other pthalates in the can or package liners?

I’ve contacted Mountain House and they said their cans DO have BPA in the liner, but not the smaller packs.

Remember, BPA has been linked to birth defects, reproductive damage and so on.

And for anyone thinking of buying from other online sources: Beware: I bought some Mountain House and AlpineAire from Vitacost, and got products with only 1-2 years left until expiration!!!

Thanks,
Lara

From The Ready Store:

Lara, we are still waiting to hear back from the canning manufacturer on their latest. We know they were/are working on a BPA free can but I am not sure that they have been put into production yet. They tell us how they are spending millions to be bring these to market but at the same time they tell us that the level of BPA in their cans is so small and low that it easily passes government regulation for the level that is considered to be safe. I do know that no one in the industry currently cans with 100% BPA free cans but I know that is likely to change once these manufacturers find a way to do it.

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 27th, 2011 at 8:57 am

Tony Wilson wrote:

How can you both compete against and distribute Mountain House without agitating OFD upon whom you depend to complete your orders? If I’m OFD and I see something like this, I’m routing my scarce production to distributors who are not competing against me with videos on their website. I am personally awaiting a large order, going on one month now, and wondering if OFD isn’t going to see this and cancel orders.

From The Ready Store:

Like many other Mountain House distributors, we have sold our own line of entrées for a while now. We feel that giving the customer two great options is better than the alternative. These recent videos were made to help answer some of the questions we have been receiving of late regarding the differences of the two products.

Thanks,

The Ready Store

March 29th, 2011 at 6:57 am

Rick wrote:

Not very happy with The Ready Store. I feel as if they are dangling a carrot in front of me and asking that I just keep following. Not cool! You just don’t do that to your customers! I placed an order a month ago. Confirmed the anticipated delivery date with a representative early last week. Today I received an email stating that the anticipated delivery date has been pushed out another month.

Really?

If you are going to do that, it may be a good idea to offer options. Maybe something like “we can get your order to you on time (or even maybe a bit early) if you are ok with substituting Saratoga Farms product with the Mountain House that you have ordered”. Instead, it was a simple “your order has been delayed another month”.

I placed an order from another preparedness shop three days after I placed this with The Ready Store, and it is on its way (less than a month after placing the order). So this begs the question: is The Ready Store being hit three times as hard as others in the industry, or does The Ready Store just have issues with filling orders? I would put my money on the latter.

Rick,

I will have a customer service rep get a hold of you and look at your options. As for the other company getting your order out earlier than us, I would say a lot of it has to do with what you bought from each company. Your year supply kit that was ordered from us would be tough to get fast from any company in the industry right now. We know because we benchmark ourselves almost weekly to see how we compare and right now it is very favorable. There are a lot of products some of our competitors cannot get at all and we are still getting and shipping (albeit slowly since the lines are so long).

Look for that call here shortly.

The Ready Store

April 5th, 2011 at 2:05 pm

Stan wrote:

Rick- I personally think they are 3 times busier because they actually have food. Emergency essentials only uses Mtn House and they dont have another option for meals (only fruits and veggies) and Nitropack is in the same boat. Ready Store has their own line of meals and according to the rep I spoke with last week they have another 5 or 6 entrees coming out in the next week or so on top of the ones they already have. My guess is everyone is rushing to them since they are the only ones that have a full offering. I personally dont want to wait 6 months for Mtn House meals so I am buying here for right now.

April 5th, 2011 at 9:56 pm

Kenneth wrote:

Listen to ME your Customer! I am really getting tired of your FEARMONGERING just so you can sell your products and EVEN if you can RECEIVE them when your SUPPOSED TO! Now you are on the WATER KICK! If I need WATER I will go down to the CREEK and “LOAD UP” for FREE instead of paying your EXORRBANT PRICES! I learned something from all this and I am going to SAVE THOUSNDS! I am PROSSESSING MY OWN FREEZE DRIED FOODS form now on! Yes, it IS time consuming BUT, does not cost hardly anything to DO!! My MONEY is just as IMPORTANT to ME as it is to YOU! Had you been REASONABLE in your prices of the MRE’S and FDFoods, witch you can hardly get because of the GOVERMENT BUY OUT, I would not have givin this a second thought. Example: You went from 69.95 for a case of MRE’S to 89.95 in just a few months! I know because I BOUGHT THEM! Times TEN this would come to almost 200 more dollars!!! See what I mean? Thank a Million Kenny

From The Ready Store:

We have not raised the price of the case of MREs nor have we really raised any prices. We hear there are strong possibilities that our costs could possibly go up in the near future but who knows at this point.

As for your past order, I looked up your records by the email address you provided on this blog post and noticed you purchased a couple MRE single meals and a MRE snack but nowhere in our records do we have an order from you for a case of MREs. Maybe the order you are talking about was placed from another company?

We are always looking for good information to pass along so if you could contact us with your Do It Yourself freeze-drying techniques we would love to post it on our blog if it looked like a good alternative.

Thanks,

The Ready Store

April 5th, 2011 at 11:34 pm

KENNY wrote:

so, I guess I am lying about Mre’s costing 69.95 some time back? Well call me what you want but I know they used to cost that whether I bought them or not. And yes you ARE CORRECT I did not buy them from you,but I was going too but couln’t afford them at 69.95, so I definatly cannot afford them now! Thanks a million and good LUCK on raiseing the price on them TRS I can’t wait, Kenny out

April 11th, 2011 at 1:09 am

admin wrote:

@Kenny,

I am not saying you are lying, just that you might have us mixed up with someone else. The only time you would have seen the price go up on this within the past year is if you first saw it when it was on sale and then later saw it when it wasn’t on a sale and back to it’s normal price.

April 11th, 2011 at 7:47 am

Bob wrote:

@kenny

You put out the rant, got busted and now you try to deflect and turn this into defamation issue against RS. Man, you take the cake, what a winner you are.

April 16th, 2011 at 7:46 pm

Bob wrote:

TRS,

On 3/2/2011 We ordered:

QTY 2: Year Supply of Freeze-Dried Main Entrees – #10 CANS

QTY 1: BASIC Year Supply of Freeze-Dried Fruit – #10 CANS

QTY 27: Saratoga Farms Quick Oatmeal – #10 CAN Case of Cans Individual Can

At time the wait was 30 to 40 business days which at 40 business days works out to 8 weeks.

So would we now plan on an additional 3-4 weeks before receiving our order?

Thanks

April 16th, 2011 at 7:54 pm

admin wrote:

Bob,

I was able to pull up your account from the email address you entered. I will get a customer service rep to contact you via this email address with the latest on your order.

Thanks for your patience on this order!

The Ready Store

April 18th, 2011 at 9:52 am

Kenny wrote:

This is to Bobby boy! I have never had a friend named BOB and your not gonna be my first! May I make a SUGGESTION to you? Why don’t you LEARN to STAY OUT of things that do NOT consern you? PLEASE DO IT! You just might rile up some of my 173rd Airborne Brigade Hostilities, me being a Hunter/Killer Pointman Team leader at the ripe old age of 18 years old back in 1969!!!! Now, this is to the Ready Store. When I posted on here with my RANT, it was because I had a REAL consern about what might affect me and my Family NAMELY your Price increases! No worry I have found a Supplier that sells the same things you do at half to two thirds your prices “JUST AS I THOUGHT I WOULD” if I started looking around a little bit. I have NOTHING PERSONAL against you! It’s “JUST BUSINESS! Thank you, Kenny

April 20th, 2011 at 4:15 am

Kenny wrote:

The Ready Store IS a good Company and I say this because I MEAN IT! I have spoke with them personally one time and they are good people! Just because I have a disagreement with them on some issues DOES NOT MEAN I do NOT like them! Even Friends disagree sometimes, Thanx Kenny THE HERD out!

April 20th, 2011 at 4:19 am

Patti Cronk wrote:

I just received my year’s supply of #10 main entrees. Ordered on 4/24 and arrived almost two months later to the day. A nice variety of meals although a little heavy on the meatless/pasta dishes to really be my idea of “main dishes”–lots of pasta parmesan, cheddar broccoli soup, etc. Most of the order was Saratoga Farms with a few Mountain House. Please be aware that Saratoga Farms’ “meat” is really TVP–textured vegetable protein which means a dried soy based product with no real meat. Mountain House actually had “beef” in the ingredient list. None of the Saratoga Farms had any really meat in it–even the bacon in the cheddar bacon soup was TVP. I find that disappointing enough that I will specify Moutain House from now on.

June 24th, 2011 at 12:05 am

Admin wrote:

@Patti

Thanks for your patience as we (along with industry) battles through super high demand and a shortage of Mountain House products.

As for the meat question some of the entrees have meat and others have TVP. It is not true that Saratoga Farms only has TVP as there are several dishes like the Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, Hearty Beef Rotini that all have beef or chicken.

We have done focus groups that have shown that customers can’t tell the difference between the two and of course TVP also has a good amount of protein which is very important. Of course some believe soy products are not good for you. In either case we put all of nutritional information on the product pages for the products so people can be informed.

Again thanks for your patience Patti, have a nice weekend!

The Ready Store

June 24th, 2011 at 2:19 pm

C.C. wrote:
I ordered a few to try out.

I do have a question though about this brand name Saratoga Farms. It seems this is tied directly with The Ready Store brand, basically exclusive to you guys as your brand label.

However there is nothing out there in the world about who makes this. Mountain House is obviously made by Oregon Freeze Dried, a huge manufacturer. However who makes Saratoga Farms? There isn’t much out there about this stuff, only you guys, 1 single seller of this opaque brand label.

Since it is a food product, isn’t it correct to tell us who makes it? We can’t even see past you, the seller. For example, is this made in China? Are the materials sourced from China? Where is the plant that is processing the freeze drying? It would be a good idea to tell us who is making it, especially if you guys are contracting out to mulitple vendors. After all, we are expected to put this stuff in our bodies.

Thanks.
March 11th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
admin wrote:
C.C. – We appreciate your feedback and can completely understand your concern. Although the Country Kitchen line of Saratoga Farms entrees is relatively new, the Saratoga Farms brand, which is owned and operated by The Ready Store, has more than five years experience canning freeze-dried and dehydrated food and has quickly become a leader in the industry recognized as a dependable source for convenienct and quality food storage by organizations such as FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the FAA & TSA, the Department of State, and by thousands of individuals across the country who have come to The Ready Store for their emergency food storage needs.

All of the Saratoga Farms Country Kitchen entrees are packaged and prepared entirely in the USA utilizing USDA-licensed freeze-drying facilities with over 40 years of experience producing ingredients for many of the world’s leading food companies. We go to great lengths to ensure that all the ingredients included are of the highest quality available with no ingredients from China.

We ensure that every can seam meets our exact specifications down to the last thousanth of an inch to make sure you get the maximum shelf-life current technology can provide. We want to make sure that anything that comes with the Saratoga Farms label is something we’d be proud to put on the table in our own homes.

We are truly sincere when we say that our motto is “If it’s not good enough for our family, it’s not good enough for yours.”

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 11th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
Poppie Dave in MO wrote:
We have been buying from The Ready Store for over 3 years now. While Mountain House has been the “Wal-Mart” standard in the industry, we have also seen and bought the Saratoga Farms brand during these past few years. What you will find is that what The Ready Store says is true about their own brand–they really do weigh more, so you may be pleasantly surprised to see how much of a better value they are.
You might check around at other websites and find that they also offer their own “house labels” but you would have to ask them the same questions relating to their reliability and origin as well. The Ready Store has stated their production facts, so that is good enough for us.
As satisfied customers, we have found that these are unusual times for this particular industry, and we will all have to be patient. For those of you out there who are just now starting your food storage, welcome to the party! Only wish we had started our own sooner also.
March 12th, 2011 at 9:38 am
victoria enyart wrote:
Does this mean that if we ordered that you will be replacing the order with Saratoga Farms? Or do we have to make the request?

From The Ready Store:

Victoria, there are certain supply kits (6 month, 1 year, ect) where we state on the product page the right to substitute between cans based on availability. If you buy a can of Mountain House Beef Stroganoff separately we will not substitute that product with the Saratoga Farms alternative unless you contact us and request that.

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 12:53 am
Joel P. wrote:
That’s interesting. Costco just brought this back in stock.

From the makers of Mountain House, Oregon Freeze Dry introduces NEW Easy Meals. All of the Easy Meal products are created with the same superior quality and taste you have enjoyed from Oregon Freeze Dry for over 40 years. Every Easy Meal item is fully cooked and then freeze-dried. Most all of the Easy Meal items just require water. 18 #10 cans.

So I thought they were catching up.
March 14th, 2011 at 4:49 am
Kenneth DeWit wrote:
Ready Store never ceases to AMAZE ME! You tell us that Mountian House is behind in it’s order’s because of it’s SELL OUT to the DAM Government, But, then you tell us all is WELL with Saratoga FARMS!, and even setting up a CHART to SHOW “US”, the CUSTOMER, “HOW MUCH BETTER Saratoga farms food is over Mountian House?????! If, you knew this all along, you have either been DECEIVING US, or, you are NOT very good at Marketing RESEARCH!! Now, WHICH is it? I and the customer’s on here would like to KNOW! WE are your STAPLE in this MARKET and we pay HEFTY PRICES for it too I might add! I do NOT BLAME you for making a PROFIT! That is why you are in Business, but even YOU have to admit, you have NOT done WELL in the PR area! Period!!!! I and many like me do NOT like to be deceived or straight up LIED to! When the Government came to your supplier’s THEY should have told the Government “OUR “PUBLIC” Customer’s are FIRST IN LINE! You ie. the GOVERNMENT come second. The PUBLIC will be here long after your order’s are done ( OR, MAYBE NOT!) They, as it always seems to run, chose the QUICK MONEY over the long term Customer, and so did you! I say that because you should have been abreast of the situation and told them that “WE” the CUSTOMER “MUST” COME FIRST! Thank you, Kenny

From The Ready Store:

Kenneth, I want to be clear that we have never said that the government is the source of the supply issues. If you have a link to a place we have said this I would like to see it. Maybe you are confusing us with some other company or blog?

As for one group getting preferential treatment over others we have already addressed your previous and similar comment on last Monday’s blog. Click on this link and scroll about 1/2 way down to see our response or if you want to save some time doing that I will copy and paste what I wrote last week below:

Kenneth, there is no preferential treatment to one type of customer over another, when you get in line you are in line and no one cuts in front. We have a Government and Business ordering page on our site along with an option for Government and Businesses in the phone directory of our customer service line only because these types of organizations purchase differently (often set up terms as opposed to paying by credit cards). Again, if ANYONE places an order today they get in the same line as the rest of the people that have already ordered.

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 4:51 am
M Lowery wrote:
So how back ordered are the Saratoga Farms foods, because I ordered several cans of meats back in mid-February and was hit with the “delays” message. Thanks!
March 14th, 2011 at 4:55 am
John wrote:
I spoke to a rep from another company recently who told me there are only five companies making freeze dried and dehydrated long term storage food. So in the absence of reliable supplies of Mountain House products, it’s good there are other options.
March 14th, 2011 at 6:54 am
M Kroska wrote:
Thank you so much for the comparison info between Saratoga Farms and Mountain House. I have only tried one SF item (dried fruit) in the past, and it was fantastic. I bought MH from you because that is what I have used in the past…and I am waiting on an order now. But I plan to try SF entrees on my next order. I figured the delay was a supply problem…too much business too fast. How was MH to guess that business would increase by a bizillion percent so rapidly?? Thank you for the updates…please continue them. And everyone….let’s have a little patience and understanding. These are unusual times we are living in and they do warrant us having a little patience, for all our sakes. Thank you.
March 14th, 2011 at 7:00 am
R.L. "Doc" Smith wrote:
Are the wait times at this time as long as the 3-6 weeks?
Thanks for all you do.

From The Ready Store:

Doc, it depends on the items you order. Some items are shorter some are longer. You will notice when you are on a product page that right above the Add To Cart button you will see a message if the item is going to take longer than normal.
March 14th, 2011 at 7:05 am
Sam wrote:
In many of my shipments, MH was replaced by the Saratoga brand and I have been more than pleased. Although I am “all stocked up” ( meaning, completely out of storage space ) I would not hesitate to buy Saratoga Farms brand and would likely place a preference on it over MH ( the cans do weigh more ). If you are frustrated by longer shipping times; perhaps keeping in mind that as long as you receive your order prior to an actual “need” for the order; you are way ahead of the pack. After your order arrives, you’ll forget any extra wait that you may have encountered. If the need to prepare is sitting hard on your shoulders; go purchase a Food Saver system ( < $140 ) and buy some beans, rice and macaroni. You can happily “prepare away” while you are waiting on your 30 year shelf life food stocks to arrive.
If you came to the “party” late, maybe there is a line at the door; but you will still get in.
March 14th, 2011 at 9:18 am
Ben Tayllor wrote:
I have retired to Ecuador.
Will you ship out of the USA?

Ben

From The Ready Store:

Ben, we do ship internationally. When you are in your shopping cart you look to the left side and you should see a logo that says “I Global International Checkout.” Click on that and go from there!

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 10:51 am
Dennis A wrote:
Ready Store – would be more than happy to sub all the MH products on my 2 orders from mid Feb (…46109 & 46834) with the Saratoga Brand products. Can I assume you would pass on the savings of the over all cost as well and would it not expedite shipping as well? Would be nice to hear from you on this.Thanks!

From The Ready Store:

Dennis, I will have a customer service representative call you and discuss the options. I would tell you answers if I knew them but those are beyond my knowledge of the situation.

Thanks for your patience,

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 11:54 am
Julie Anderson wrote:
I placed a large order 1/24 and was charged the full amt to my credit card $933 though well under 1/2 the order was shipped on 2/7. The enclosed pkg list said remainder of order backordered 2-4 weeks and that time has passed. When calling for another issue, was told an addt’l 1-2 weeks, even though I asked if I could cancel Mtn House portion if it meant order would ship faster. If you are willing to substitute SF brand I wish I had been told this. Otherwise, communication and response between RS and myself has been satisfactory. I have placed several orders after this date, some for merchandise rather than food product, but understand I have to wait my turn in line. I am trying to be patient but as I’ve paid the visa bill so I don’t accrue interest, just wondering how many more weeks, in reality, I’ll be waiting. Have ordered from other sites after Jan and rec’d quickly only now to see they are also heavily backordered so I believe what you say about that. I do appreciate the fact that you’re doing your best to keep us informed, just a little despondent that I’ve paid and don’t really know how much longer it will be. Having paid in full, just hoping product arrives before TSHTF. Thank you for providing a much needed service and sorry if we are all a little panicky about rec’vg product when things are just looking so bad. Like others have said, wish I’d have woken up and joined the party a little sooner, which is absolutely not your fault.

From The Ready Store:

Julie, I will have a customer service representative contact you with your options.

Thank you for your patience,

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Sam wrote:
Hi All, hopefully, the good folks at the Ready Store won’t get angry at me for pushing this.. but I must re-iterate.. if you are feeling anxious ( and well you should be ) I urge you to go get a Food Saver vacuum packaging system. They are available at Wal-mart, Target, etc. and cost < $140. You can package up some staples while waiting on your orders to arrive. Beans, rice and macaroni are very cheap. If packed in a vacuum and stored in a cool, dark place ( like in a cupboard ) they will all last close to a decade if the vacuum seal is not compromised. You can vacuum pack powdered drinks, spices, coffee, tea, etc. Look at the expiration date on any box of macaroni.. if it is fairly fresh, just stored in the cardboard box it will be good for 3-4 years. How much longer if it is stored in a vaccum and kept cool and dark ? Hint… the elbow mac works best… fewer sharp edges to poke a hole in the bag. Dried Lentils, pintos, navy beans, barley and rice are all readily available and even with the cost of the bags are only a few cents per serving. You should stock up on long term stuff like freeze dried; but you can also do some things for yourself… do it. do it now. If nothing else, you could use your self packaged goods as barter or to assist friends and neighbors who did not prepare and save your 30 year stuff for your family.

From The Ready Store:

No worries Sam, you have some good advice that could possibly be a good solution to people don’t want to wait.

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Dale wrote:
What is available in the Saratoga Farms Country Kitchen line? Is there a separate link showing available products?

From The Ready Store:

Dale, right now you can see those entrées by hovering over Food Storage and clicking on Main Entrées. In the coming days there will be 6 new entrées we will be adding to the line. We have been working on those for about 8 months now and are ready to bring those onto the site shortly. Stay tuned for more details

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Don Richardson wrote:
Please comment on the difference between dehydrated and freeze dried products. Would be interested in taste, texture, storage life and so forth. Thanks.

From The Ready Store:

Don, there are numerous differences. Here are some generalizations below that will get you in the right direction:

Dehydrated

Less expensive
More labor intensive to cook and make a meal out of the products, usually need more than just water
Higher loss of nutrients from original food than freeze-dried food
Takes more time to prepare
Shelf life typically 20 years in a #10 can
Typically single ingredients (carrots or potato pearls) not ready complete ready to eat meals

Freeze-Dried

More expensive
Simply add hot water, stir and wait 5-10 minutes and you are done
Locks in flavor, aroma, texture, and nutrients much better than dehydrated foods
Add hot water and 5-10 minutes later you are done
Shelf life is typically 30 years in a #10 can
Typically entrees (beef stroganoff) and single ingredients (strawberries)
March 14th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
Steve Johnson wrote:
All this being said, WILL YOU TAKE ON A DISTRIBUTOR?

From The Ready Store:

Steve, at some point down the line that may be something Jeff is interested in doing but right now we need to meet our customer’s needs to the best of our ability and doing this would make that more difficult.

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
jeff wrote:
Tired of waiting… bought a dehydrator and a vaccum sealer and dehydrating my own food.

From The Ready Store:

Good idea for those that are needing product this minute.

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 6:08 pm
Carl Valentovic wrote:
You are catching alot of flack from customers due to the very bad decision by your marketing department to advertise the “advantages” of your in house supplier–Saratoga Farms in the face of published backorders of Mountain House products.

If you want to emphasize Saratoga Farms, fine. Just be upfront with shipping times.

Leaving people to wonder when they may receive their orders is not good business.

As an old sales manager of mine once said, you have a good problem regarding product demand–solve it quickly before the demand problem goes away.

From The Ready Store:

Carl, just wanted to let you know that we are upfront about our shipping times, every single product page on our site has an individual message above the Add To Cart button (in bold font no less) that states the expected ship time if it is not in stock. We are not hiding anything. Some companies on the other hand are vague, one for example shows a green box if it is in stock and a yellow box if it is back-ordered but they don’t tell you how long it is back-ordered, 1 day or 120 who knows until you call on to find that out. I think you will be hard pressed to find anyone in the industry that is communicating as openly as we are about the supply issues.

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
Daniel B. McIntyre wrote:
Hi,
I want what I ordered. MRE’S. Period. Have a nice day.
Thank you,
Dan McIntyre

From The Ready Store:

Dan I will have customer service check on your order in the morning, good night.

The Ready Store
March 14th, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Anita Blabey wrote:
Why is no one in the industry mentioning that Mountain House is at the moment lap dog to a giant national retailer focusing on small towns, in which the camping section now has one breakfast pouch, at least 2 and up to 6 different entree pouches, and one or two single-serve ice cream pouches? I know there are shortages, but we have a case of the omnipresent dime store rerouting our resources again. I do thank the Ready Store and all others who bring us other options. Online ordering is a far better option than enriching the dime store.
March 15th, 2011 at 9:11 am
Mike Schmit wrote:
I stumbled on to the food concern by accident. I simply wanted to order some mountain house for my numerous 3 day weekends. Let me play devil’s advocate here. 1.) No one can predict the future. 2.) Isn’t it possible that a Radio talk show host owns a piece of this pie? 3.) If the SHTF and you know nothing about wilderness survival, your screwed anyways. Did you know that evergreen tea has more vitamin C than a Orange? I’ll take my chances in the woods thanks. Mike
March 15th, 2011 at 10:03 am
Bob wrote:
Just placed an order yesterday, and am now reading about these big delays in shipping.

1) Does the 3-4 month wait apply to the MH two-serving pouches as well, or just the #10 cans?
2) Do you have similar 1 or 2 serving pouches for Saratoga Farms line?
3. I ordered the pouches in order to be able to try these products before buying a huge supply. Should I wait for the pouches, or place my 12 month order with a plan to cancel it if I do not like the pouch samples?

From The Ready Store:

Bob, here are some answers to your questions:

1) The 3-4 month wait is only the Mountain House #10 cans.
2) At this time we do not carry Saratoga Farms product in pouches.
3) You will get your pouches in a couple weeks. From there you can decide upon what you are interested in. It would be a good idea to buy the 12 month supply now and cancel it later if you don’t like the pouch food samples. We don’t charge your card until the order ships.

Hope this helps,

The Ready Store
March 16th, 2011 at 6:39 pm
Sabine wrote:
Alpine Aire has a Gourmet Reserve Line that has a Tamale Pie with Beef with blue cornmeal that I crawled through a collapsing building to retrieve. Take home message, if you live on a fault line, store your emergency supplies somewhere without a slate roof, use Saratoga Farms and Provident for sets of cans to make great food economically, and use Gourmet Reserves for fun food. Skip Mountain House, their seafood chowder was great, and I agree about those ice cream sandwiches, though Saratoga Farms ice cream bars are pretty good as well, but why encourage corporate greed and the multinational attitude of disrespecting your customers. Mountain House protesteth too much, and I bet all that food is for some huge bunker exclusivly for politicians and large political donors!
Enough ranting, my question is actually about GMO’s, does Saratoga use them?

From The Ready Store:

Some of our food has some components and others don’t. Because ingredient sourcing can occasionally shift from one supplier to another due to a variety of reasons it is too difficult to clearly communicate this to our customers so we hold back from making those claims to play it safe on our end.

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 17th, 2011 at 5:31 am
Heather wrote:
Just wanted to Thank the Ready Store for selling a good product and for helping my family be ready in an emergency.
March 17th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
C.C. wrote:
Thanks for the reply. However it does not answer the question I was asking. So I will rephrase, who do you have manufacture Saratoga Farms brand #10 cans? If you will not say, please let us know why it is you will not.

- Thanks again.
March 18th, 2011 at 11:53 am
MasterPo wrote:
Anita on 3/15 – I know exactly what you’re talking about and was wondering the same thing!

On the bright side, those store retail pouches are all fresh stuff with the max expiration dates. Not as good as cans but much better than nothing at all!

Not to drive anything way from TRS, but take advantage of the situation there while you can. I am.
March 20th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
Janet wrote:
I placed an order on 12/6/10 and that order is fully shipped. I placed another order on 1/13/11 and that order if partially shipped. Another order was placed on 1/20/11 and that order is fully shipped. Another order was placed on 2/7/11 and that order is partially shipped. However, I am getting concerned because my credit card has been charged for $227 in food that I ordered in January and have not received. I was also charged for the 2/7/11 order, but there is only one #10 can missing from that order.

From The Ready Store:

Janet, thanks for your continued business. Let me explain our shipment process when an item is on backorder. If 50% or more of the value of the order is in stock we ship it and charge the card. Right now our automated system doesn’t have the functionality to charge the portion that is shipping out and the remainder at a later date when the backordered items go out.

I will pass along your information to a customer service representative and have them get back to you with status on your remained couple items.

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 24th, 2011 at 8:14 pm
Lara N. wrote:
Hi,
I have a question about the Saratoga Farms packaging:

Is there BPA (Bisphenol-A) or other pthalates in the can or package liners?

I’ve contacted Mountain House and they said their cans DO have BPA in the liner, but not the smaller packs.

Remember, BPA has been linked to birth defects, reproductive damage and so on.

And for anyone thinking of buying from other online sources: Beware: I bought some Mountain House and AlpineAire from Vitacost, and got products with only 1-2 years left until expiration!!!

Thanks,
Lara

From The Ready Store:

Lara, we are still waiting to hear back from the canning manufacturer on their latest. We know they were/are working on a BPA free can but I am not sure that they have been put into production yet. They tell us how they are spending millions to be bring these to market but at the same time they tell us that the level of BPA in their cans is so small and low that it easily passes government regulation for the level that is considered to be safe. I do know that no one in the industry currently cans with 100% BPA free cans but I know that is likely to change once these manufacturers find a way to do it.

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 27th, 2011 at 8:57 am
Tony Wilson wrote:
How can you both compete against and distribute Mountain House without agitating OFD upon whom you depend to complete your orders? If I’m OFD and I see something like this, I’m routing my scarce production to distributors who are not competing against me with videos on their website. I am personally awaiting a large order, going on one month now, and wondering if OFD isn’t going to see this and cancel orders.

From The Ready Store:

Like many other Mountain House distributors, we have sold our own line of entrées for a while now. We feel that giving the customer two great options is better than the alternative. These recent videos were made to help answer some of the questions we have been receiving of late regarding the differences of the two products.

Thanks,

The Ready Store
March 29th, 2011 at 6:57 am
Rick wrote:
Not very happy with The Ready Store. I feel as if they are dangling a carrot in front of me and asking that I just keep following. Not cool! You just don’t do that to your customers! I placed an order a month ago. Confirmed the anticipated delivery date with a representative early last week. Today I received an email stating that the anticipated delivery date has been pushed out another month.

Really?

If you are going to do that, it may be a good idea to offer options. Maybe something like “we can get your order to you on time (or even maybe a bit early) if you are ok with substituting Saratoga Farms product with the Mountain House that you have ordered”. Instead, it was a simple “your order has been delayed another month”.

I placed an order from another preparedness shop three days after I placed this with The Ready Store, and it is on its way (less than a month after placing the order). So this begs the question: is The Ready Store being hit three times as hard as others in the industry, or does The Ready Store just have issues with filling orders? I would put my money on the latter.

Rick,

I will have a customer service rep get a hold of you and look at your options. As for the other company getting your order out earlier than us, I would say a lot of it has to do with what you bought from each company. Your year supply kit that was ordered from us would be tough to get fast from any company in the industry right now. We know because we benchmark ourselves almost weekly to see how we compare and right now it is very favorable. There are a lot of products some of our competitors cannot get at all and we are still getting and shipping (albeit slowly since the lines are so long).

Look for that call here shortly.

The Ready Store
April 5th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Stan wrote:
Rick- I personally think they are 3 times busier because they actually have food. Emergency essentials only uses Mtn House and they dont have another option for meals (only fruits and veggies) and Nitropack is in the same boat. Ready Store has their own line of meals and according to the rep I spoke with last week they have another 5 or 6 entrees coming out in the next week or so on top of the ones they already have. My guess is everyone is rushing to them since they are the only ones that have a full offering. I personally dont want to wait 6 months for Mtn House meals so I am buying here for right now.
April 5th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Kenneth wrote:
Listen to ME your Customer! I am really getting tired of your FEARMONGERING just so you can sell your products and EVEN if you can RECEIVE them when your SUPPOSED TO! Now you are on the WATER KICK! If I need WATER I will go down to the CREEK and “LOAD UP” for FREE instead of paying your EXORRBANT PRICES! I learned something from all this and I am going to SAVE THOUSNDS! I am PROSSESSING MY OWN FREEZE DRIED FOODS form now on! Yes, it IS time consuming BUT, does not cost hardly anything to DO!! My MONEY is just as IMPORTANT to ME as it is to YOU! Had you been REASONABLE in your prices of the MRE’S and FDFoods, witch you can hardly get because of the GOVERMENT BUY OUT, I would not have givin this a second thought. Example: You went from 69.95 for a case of MRE’S to 89.95 in just a few months! I know because I BOUGHT THEM! Times TEN this would come to almost 200 more dollars!!! See what I mean? Thank a Million Kenny

From The Ready Store:

We have not raised the price of the case of MREs nor have we really raised any prices. We hear there are strong possibilities that our costs could possibly go up in the near future but who knows at this point.

As for your past order, I looked up your records by the email address you provided on this blog post and noticed you purchased a couple MRE single meals and a MRE snack but nowhere in our records do we have an order from you for a case of MREs. Maybe the order you are talking about was placed from another company?

We are always looking for good information to pass along so if you could contact us with your Do It Yourself freeze-drying techniques we would love to post it on our blog if it looked like a good alternative.

Thanks,

The Ready Store
April 5th, 2011 at 11:34 pm
KENNY wrote:
so, I guess I am lying about Mre’s costing 69.95 some time back? Well call me what you want but I know they used to cost that whether I bought them or not. And yes you ARE CORRECT I did not buy them from you,but I was going too but couln’t afford them at 69.95, so I definatly cannot afford them now! Thanks a million and good LUCK on raiseing the price on them TRS I can’t wait, Kenny out
April 11th, 2011 at 1:09 am
admin wrote:
@Kenny,

I am not saying you are lying, just that you might have us mixed up with someone else. The only time you would have seen the price go up on this within the past year is if you first saw it when it was on sale and then later saw it when it wasn’t on a sale and back to it’s normal price.
April 11th, 2011 at 7:47 am
Bob wrote:
@kenny

You put out the rant, got busted and now you try to deflect and turn this into defamation issue against RS. Man, you take the cake, what a winner you are.
April 16th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
Bob wrote:
TRS,

On 3/2/2011 We ordered:

QTY 2: Year Supply of Freeze-Dried Main Entrees – #10 CANS

QTY 1: BASIC Year Supply of Freeze-Dried Fruit – #10 CANS

QTY 27: Saratoga Farms Quick Oatmeal – #10 CAN Case of Cans Individual Can

At time the wait was 30 to 40 business days which at 40 business days works out to 8 weeks.

So would we now plan on an additional 3-4 weeks before receiving our order?

Thanks
April 16th, 2011 at 7:54 pm
admin wrote:
Bob,

I was able to pull up your account from the email address you entered. I will get a customer service rep to contact you via this email address with the latest on your order.

Thanks for your patience on this order!

The Ready Store
April 18th, 2011 at 9:52 am
Kenny wrote:
This is to Bobby boy! I have never had a friend named BOB and your not gonna be my first! May I make a SUGGESTION to you? Why don’t you LEARN to STAY OUT of things that do NOT consern you? PLEASE DO IT! You just might rile up some of my 173rd Airborne Brigade Hostilities, me being a Hunter/Killer Pointman Team leader at the ripe old age of 18 years old back in 1969!!!! Now, this is to the Ready Store. When I posted on here with my RANT, it was because I had a REAL consern about what might affect me and my Family NAMELY your Price increases! No worry I have found a Supplier that sells the same things you do at half to two thirds your prices “JUST AS I THOUGHT I WOULD” if I started looking around a little bit. I have NOTHING PERSONAL against you! It’s “JUST BUSINESS! Thank you, Kenny
April 20th, 2011 at 4:15 am
Kenny wrote:
The Ready Store IS a good Company and I say this because I MEAN IT! I have spoke with them personally one time and they are good people! Just because I have a disagreement with them on some issues DOES NOT MEAN I do NOT like them! Even Friends disagree sometimes, Thanx Kenny THE HERD out!
April 20th, 2011 at 4:19 am
Patti Cronk wrote:
I just received my year’s supply of #10 main entrees. Ordered on 4/24 and arrived almost two months later to the day. A nice variety of meals although a little heavy on the meatless/pasta dishes to really be my idea of “main dishes”–lots of pasta parmesan, cheddar broccoli soup, etc. Most of the order was Saratoga Farms with a few Mountain House. Please be aware that Saratoga Farms’ “meat” is really TVP–textured vegetable protein which means a dried soy based product with no real meat. Mountain House actually had “beef” in the ingredient list. None of the Saratoga Farms had any really meat in it–even the bacon in the cheddar bacon soup was TVP. I find that disappointing enough that I will specify Moutain House from now on.
June 24th, 2011 at 12:05 am
Admin wrote:
@Patti

Thanks for your patience as we (along with industry) battles through super high demand and a shortage of Mountain House products.

As for the meat question some of the entrees have meat and others have TVP. It is not true that Saratoga Farms only has TVP as there are several dishes like the Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, Hearty Beef Rotini that all have beef or chicken.

We have done focus groups that have shown that customers can’t tell the difference between the two and of course TVP also has a good amount of protein which is very important. Of course some believe soy products are not good for you. In either case we put all of nutritional information on the product pages for the products so people can be informed.

Again thanks for your patience Patti, have a nice weekend!

The Ready Store
June 24th, 2011 at 2:19 pm

Mountain House and Saratoga Farms

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