The Best Survival Food Companies 2023 [Emergency Kits and Buckets]

Starting an emergency food supply is one of the most important things you can do to get prepared.

Yet trying to figure out the best emergency food can be daunting.

There are plenty of options for long-term emergency food:

Canned goods,
Home freeze-dried foods
Dry staples in sealed Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers.

In fact, your emergency food supply should consist of all these types of food.

But, for cost, convenience and reliability, it makes sense to buy some meals or kits from brands that specialize in emergency foods.

While there is no one “best” brand of emergency foods, I like some a lot better than others.

I’m going to review 5 of the top brands to help you make an informed decision.

(If you are on a restricted diet, these posts on gluten-free survival food and organic emergency food will also be helpful.)

Best Emergency Food Winners

Best Overall: Valley Food Storage
Best Tasting: Mountain House
Best Low-Budget Option: Augason Farms
Best Long-Term Kits: ReadyWise Food Storage
Best For Maximum Calories: Legacy Food Storage

Best Emergency Food Comparison Table

Company	Shelf Life	Price (per serving)	Nutrition
Check Prices	Up to 25 Years	Approx $1.09 to $1.42	Low protein, moderate sodium
Check on Amazon	Up to 25 Years	Approx $2.01 to $2.50	Moderate protein, very high sodium
Check On Amazon	Up to 30 Years	Approx $0.65 to $1.80	Low protein, low sodium
Check Prices	Up to 25 Years	Approx $2.36	High calorie, high protein, high sodium
Check On Amazon	Up to 30 Years	Approx $3.00	High protein, moderate sodium, low calorie

How to Compare Brands

Before we get into the emergency food brands, I want to discuss how I reviewed them.

I looked at the meal offerings and considered these factors:

1. Nutrition

The calories in emergency meals mainly come from carbohydrates and fats. Cheap, unhealthy emergency food brands don’t contain much more than this: they are usually just pasta or potatoes with a cheesy sauce thrown in for flavor.

By contrast, healthy emergency meals (or at least as healthy as you can reasonably expect with food that has a shelf life of 25 years) contain a good balance of carbs, fats, and proteins. They will also include some freeze-dried fruits and vegetables – usually corn and peas. These ingredients don’t have many calories but contain essential nutrients.

Tip: To quickly judge the quality of an emergency meal, look at the protein content. Anything above 10 grams per serving is generally pretty good. Then see if there is more than one vegetable in the meal.

2. Shelf Life

Anything less than 5 years is unacceptable for long-term food storage. Most brands have shelf lives of up to 25 or 30 years.

3. Packaging Material and Size

The packaging must be sturdy to withstand damage from disasters like hurricanes and flooding. The meals/foods should be packaged in smaller portions so you don’t end up throwing away food after opening the package.

4. Sodium

Most emergency meals are loaded with sodium. This much sodium could be disastrous for your health, especially while inactive and hunkering down.

5. Cooking Method

All of the brands listed here have products that are easy to prepare. Simply add hot or boiling water.

6. Convenience

Planning emergency foods can be confusing. Many brands make this easier by offering “kits.” For example, you might start with a 1-month food kit of freeze-dried meals and essentials. This is much easier than mixing and matching freeze-dried veggies, meats, and grains to make your meals.

7. Taste

Taste is important when choosing your survival food. Just be warned that many better-tasting emergency foods taste good because they are loaded with sodium and chemical flavoring.

8. Cost/Value

The cost is important – but not at the expense of the points already listed. I calculated the price per serving of their meals (taking calories and quality into consideration).

Don’t Get Swayed By….

Weight: Some emergency food brands boast that they are the “cheapest per pound.” The weight of a kit isn’t that useful when comparing options. Many brands load up on bulky foods (such as pasta) and skimp on foods like freeze-dried meat, fruits, and veggies (which you need for micronutrients).
Servings: When buying survival food kits, you can’t just look at the listed number of servings included. You need to pay attention to calories. Read closely, and you’ll see that a “serving size” is usually around 200-300 calories. Do the math, and you’ll find that the emergency kits only provide around 1000 calories per day.

Best Emergency Survival Food Brands Reviewed

Valley Food Storage

Learn more about Valley Food Storage

Valley Food Storage is a good balance between everything you’d want from emergency food. They are affordable, have decent nutrition, and have a great variety.

There are currently 12 different entrees that are tasty, albeit lacking in protein. They also have fruit, veggie, and “carnivore” buckets. You can also buy all meals and products individually to build your own kit.

Key Facts

Great price for freeze-dried foods and meals
Affordable kits
Decent nutrition
Good taste and texture
Gluten-free and dairy-free options

No bakery products

What They Offer:

Valley Food Storage sells meal kits, breakfast buckets, entree buckets, fruit and vegetable buckets, freeze-dried meat, and individual products. You can buy individual foods or kits from Valley Food Storage. Their 525-serving buckets offer an excellent variety for preppers just starting out.

Freeze-Dried Foods:

Dairy, Cheese & Eggs: 25-year shelf life, about 100 calories per serving
Meats: 25-year shelf life, about 130 calories per serving
Fruits and veggies: 14 different foods, 25-year shelf life, about 35-90 calories per serving

Emergency Meals:

Breakfasts: 6 breakfast options such as oatmeal and pancakes; 25-year shelf life, about 140-290 calories per serving
Entrees: 12 options such as chicken teriyaki and fettuccini alfredo; 25-year shelf life, about 210 calories per serving

Emergency Food Kits:

Kits with 175 up to 4200 servings
Breakfast kits
Entree kits
Fruit and veggie bucket
Carnivore bucket

Packaging:

Like most emergency food, Valley Food Storage packages its products in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. If you buy one of their long-term kits, these bags will be in a sturdy bucket. After opening, the packs can be resealed.

Nutrition and Quality:

Regarding sodium content, Valley Food Storage is one of the better emergency meal options. Each meal contains a lot of sodium (about 600-800mg for most entrees). However, this is still much less than you’ll see with other brands and will help you stay below the daily limit of 2300mg.

Of course, these low sodium amounts mean that Valley Food products don’t taste as good as their unhealthy counterparts. Luckily, the texture is still good on their products.

Be warned that the entrees don’t contain meat. Entrees like “Chicken and Rice Pilaf” have chicken broth and not actual chunks of chicken.

Price:

For freeze-dried meat, Valley Food Storage has some of the best deals. It comes out to about $2.50 per serving of meat. Their other freeze-dried foods are also affordable.

You can purchase entrees from Valley Foods individually. Bought by themselves, the cost is still reasonable at about $2.80 per serving. Once you buy kits, the costs get lower. Depending on the kit, the price is only $1.09 to $1.42 per serving.

Best For: People looking for value and variety

Valley Food Storage products are a great all-around value, though you might want to add some freeze-dried meat and veggies to the entrees to improve the nutrition.

Check Prices

Read our in-depth review of Valley Food Storage

Wise Company

ReadyWise (previously Wise) is one of the best-known emergency food brands and has been around for a long time.

They have a vast selection of emergency kits ranging from 72-hour starter kits to long-term kits. Most of the entrees contain real meat and are high-protein. You can also buy foods individually to create your meals; however, the prices aren’t as reasonable when purchasing products separately.