Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

I am in Canada and it seems to be hard to find a local supplier of freeze-dried food. I am after something with the 30 year shelf life, so it will last until it is needed or I am dead.

I don't like the idea of waiting months for an online order to come in, or how they may substitute "items of equal or greater value". I want somewhere where I can drive, drop a few grand in cash, and load up my truck. There is a mountain house supplier in Toronto, but they only sell the pouches, no cans. Apparently pouches only last 3-5 years.



I tried my first dehydrated meal today. Surprisingly good. Better than most of the stuff I can cook, and faster too. Also cheaper than fast food!

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Cousi, I can set you up with as much Mountain House food as you like if you want to drive to Oregon. Similarly, if you want to drive to the Twin Cities in Minnesota, you could pick up an order here. I am likely to give you the best prices you'll find anywhere. Email me to let me know what interests you: jcrefuge@safecastle.net

- Another option, perhaps if you want to make your drive as short as possible, is to have the order shipped elsewhere in the U.S. (friend, relative, UPS Store address or the like??) and then you can drive it home from there.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

I wonder what if any duty the border would try sticken us for.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

I think there may be problems at the border, they have some rule about taking food across. I'll look into it. It might be an option, except I'd need a couple days to make the trip!

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

I would love to pick some up but the border thing bugs me. Let us know.:ARMS1:

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

As I understand it, customs regs prevent most food from being shipped/mailed into Canada. However, there is no problem for an individual driving their own food over the border.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

It might make the most sense to get an address in NY, since even Minn. is a long-ass drive and the gas for my Suburban will cost more than the food.

Anyone else here in Ontario? Maybe we can work out something to lower everyone's cost and inconvenience.

How much would a 1 year's supply weigh? I'm after what I see on the websites, 3 meals a day for 1 year for one person.

Or if someone else in Ontario wants to take the long drive, I'd throw in a few hundred to pick up my order too...

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Cousi, have a look at my two standard packages listed here: http://stores.ebay.com/REFUGE-offere...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

The discounted prices I can get you (don't buy thru the store for these prices) are:

$2399 for the 150-can package

$759 for the 48-can package

As for how much they weigh--by the case, the weight ranges from 8 pounds to 26 pounds. Average is about 14 pounds. So the 25-case/150-can package weighs roughly 350 pounds. As for hauling it in a Suburban, this would probably be close to a full load. Visualize 25 cases of food on a standard pallet--about 3 feet high. Each case is 19 x 13 x 8.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Just went through the whole Mountain House and border thing myself yesterday!

Nothing local to Canada I found that comes close to Mountain House. Phoned the Toronto distributor and found the same problem. Used the Mountain House site to find local dealers in northern Wash. (so I could drive across the border and pick up). The Bellingham dealers also only sell the small packages.


Phoned Mountain House and they told me that as a manufacturer they have too much red tape to sell in Canada but their main mail order dealers (in Utah) have no problem shipping to Canada. The lady at Mountain House suggested <http://saratogatradingcompany.com> or (some squirrel company that escapes me now).

Made my order from Saratoga yesterday. (45 full days and 1 year of veggie #10 cans. Don't expect problem at customs for canned food. Maybe not even any duty since food is not taxed (retail) in Canada.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

:wink: Just want to point out the obvious--Saratoga Trading's prices are about 30% higher than ours.

Two--I have to be blunt--look very carefully at what is represented anywhere as one-year's supply of food. Fact is, even if you have supplemental high-fat/high calorie foods on hand in addition to Mountain House, you want to plan on having two servings of Mountain House food for each of three meals a day to reach a minimal caloric and nutritional intake most folks today need. What that means is, you ought to figure on more than 200 #10 cans of the better, substantial varieties of Mountain House food to get one person through one year.

Sorry--I just want to make sure folks take a close look at what it is they are buying and understand what they are getting.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

It says on your ebay site that you do ship to Canada. If I pay the higher price and order through there, can I get the food shipped?

Would the price go up or down if I wanted to replace the non-entree cases with veggie cases? A girl I know is a vegetarian, and I'd like her to survive too, if we ever end up needing the food.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Most products, yes, I ship to Canada and do the necessary paperwork. Last time I researched this, I came up with Canadian Postal Regs that prevented me from shipping food like this into Canada. I'm going to research whether I can use Fedex and if that would make a difference.

Will get back on this.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Well, I just digested more Canadian legalese than I can handle. Following a trail of bread crumbs from agency to agency, I ended up at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. If I understand at least one issue where the holdup might be in getting a shipment into Canada, it is probably that the cans would not be labelled in accordance with Canadian law, regulating nutritional/ingredient info. US labelling is not adequate. So for those companies that can ship the stuff to Canada, I can only guess that they relabel the cans and have jumped through all the other regulatory/approval hoops. (Again, I did find info that asserts bringing over food that is for your own personal use is fine ... and I believe is duty-free. But it would be worth calling someone in the know the verify that.)

Bottom line, unless I can get better direction on the issue, I don't want to chance losing a shipment at the border because of some little regulation. Yep--Canadian Customs is known for being meticulously overbearing. And we are talking shipments that are costly enough that neither buyer nor seller wants to risk losing it.

I can of course yet ship to US addresses if that still interests you. And yes, we can do any type of package you'd like. The preselected packages are just there for convenience sake. Let me know what entrees you want and I'll quote you your price. Email me at jcrefuge@safecastle.net

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Bump.

Any Canadians who care to share their preferred source/s? Any/all thoughts appreciated.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

I've order twice from Saratoga Trading company to Canada. Last time was mainly the canned freeze dried meat as I can get the rest locally. Other than the standard criminal high UPS brokerage charge and GST that should not have been applied to the entire order, I've had no problems and received my Mountain House order in less than two weeks.

Anyone have a source for canned cheese up here?

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

In all probability, any other brand would have spoiled by now:

http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20070917.htm

from experience, the Beef Stroganoff, Rice& Chicken and pork chops are all excellent. I could eat that stuff every day.

The Beef Stew and eggs are a bit bland but others like it...

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Bump. Any new Canuck suppliers? The nearest thing to a local alternative on the West Coast seems to be Mountain Equipment Co-op. (sigh)

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Lore, a few miles east of MEC is Famous Foods on Kingsway. THE spot to get the appropriate bulk foods (steel cut oats, not just oats, wheat berries, TVP, etc., etc., etc.).

You do need to do your own packaging though.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Tell them you're picking up several months worth of Kosher food. :D

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

All i see at the link you provided are non hybrid seeds in cans.

I am interested in the 48 can package if you could provide a link.

Thanks

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

I have had difficulties finding powdered eggs in Canada (a food storage staple, IMO). Anyone have any luck here?

I have just found this link but haven't had time to call yet: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...73/ai_n6359656

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Ooooooooooooooh- these guys ship to Canada!!!!

http://www.mredepot.com/servlet/StoreFront?sfs=fc832645

Yay MRE Depot!!!

Placed my first order- case o' powdered eggs, case o' canned butter, case o' canned cheddar cheese, case o' mixed meat. Yeah baby...

They take paypal, too. :D

Let's see how things fare with the border B.S.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Hmmmmm... Just got an email from MRE Depot. My order shipped out less than 2 hours after placing it. Good sign so far.

Fwiw.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Update: En route and due friday. I have received an email message stating that extra fees are due upon delivery. No idea how much. I think I paid like 80 clams already. I'll give a final total if anyone cares...

Tracking info across the border (fwiw):

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Final "report" on my order from MRE Depot to Canada...

Arrived today all aforementioned items- total was 60+ lbs. Shipping charges were about $80, border/import fees another $60. Worth it??? This time... I ordered items I could not find elsewhere. Would I do it again? Not the canned meat items- I can find that locally. I would do the canned butter and canned cheese again. Some other time.

Other than border fees no border B.S. whatsoever.

All- fwiw.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Ash, if you're "starting from scratch", then get the basics first: rice, wheat, beans, dried peas, rolled oats, corn, sugar, salt, etc. You should be able to buy the wheat, corn, and rolled oats from your local feed store, than pack it yourself in mylar bags and 5 gallon plastic buckets with either dry ice or diatomaceous earth (food grade) and a silica gel dessicant. Seal the lids on the buckets with silicon caulk. Rice, beans, and peas can come from the Canadian version of "Sam's Club" or "Costco", or even a local food co-op.

Once you've got the basics, then spend what you can afford on the fancy canned dehydrated food, or buy a grain grinder, a food dehydrator and a pressure canner like we did and hit the local garage sales for canning jars. You'll save a whole lot of money doing it yourself.

Before I forget...
 

MRE Depot 10% off promotion code: BEGA.

Use it when you check out. Good on all items (they say).

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

It's been a while in coming, but at long last, Mountain House cans are available in Canada:

http://prepared.pro/canadianmountainhouse.aspx

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

About flammin' time.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

JC, Are the products shipped from Canada, or from the US with duty/GST/etc. extra?

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

says from a distribution house in Ont.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Correct--the food just arrived in Canada at our distributor's warehouse. The prices listed are all you pay. Shipping is free--nothing else is added to your price.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

I'd like the thank you guys for the effort involved in this. I know it's a limited market and a load of work, but it's appreciated.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Hey this thread brings back memories.

I ended up ordering through nitro-pak at a discount with discounted shipping.

I'm glad to see my next order will be simplified.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

I appreciate your efforts to supply us canucks! When does the canned butter and cheese become available?

Skid

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

I have had food shipped to Canada before. Many different kinds (including canned butter/cheese). There seems to be no problem whatsoever with getting it here... except the assraping on shipping/FEES.

Ow.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

Note that the best way to buy stuff from the USA, is to drive to e.g. Buffalo, find a local freight forwarding/moving/warehouse place, or even a Mailboxes Etc. although I thin they are now called UPS Stores now... arrange for them to hold your stuff. Order in bulk, everything from soup to nuts to Amazon.com etc. make a trip down every two weeks or so.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

The cheese and butter is not likely to come available soon as there are some very strict Canadian dairy protection laws in place. I just spoke with my supplier about this again a week ago.

The problem is, more often than not, when a shipment is seized, it does not get returned--it is destroyed. Big loss for someone--usually the shipper.

The deal with getting food and most other products into Canada from the US, commercially speaking, is that there are often huge duties and taxes that are assessed .... my experience (and my suppliers concur) is that they are applied inconsistently, so so it's very difficult to manage pricing disciplines--very risky. I've had surprise duties assessed that came back to me that effectively more than doubled my cost on a product.

When a seller has that happen once or twice, we tend to learn our lessons and find safer markets.

Or, we look for safer approaches. In this case, this Canadian distributor assumed the risks and jumped through all the legal hoops to get MH cans in-country. It took a good while to manage all the details, but they have the food on hand and they are shipping it within Canada now for us.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

What happened to NAFTA? Doesn't it apply to Canada? I guess it only applies to us poor schmucks in the U.S.A.
The butter and cheese is coming from New Zealand and Australia. They, and Canada are Common Wealth countries. Isn't there free trade between Common Wealth countries?
Freeze Dried food has been priced out of my range. I'm glad I bought all of mine two years ago. I thought it was over priced back then. It takes two servings to feed a grown man. There are 10 servings in a can (5 man sized) for over $30.

Re: Getting freeze dried in Canada.
 

It's worth providing accurate per meal costs here for MH food. At list price in the USA, if you purchase a wide variety of foods, you can figure a double-serving meal costing $4.60 (US$), assuming no shipping costs. A bit more in Canada.

MH canned food, when purchased during a 25%-off sale and with free shipping costs $3.50 per double-serving meal.

As with everything else one spends money on--value is relative.