Brand hub
Backpacker's Pantry
33 meals, 3rd-largest catalogue we track - and near-universal diet-tag coverage: 32 of 33 carry at least one label, versus zero across Mountain House's 41.
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- 33meals in our DB #3 of 14 brands by size
- 115.5avg cal/oz (408 kcal/100g) #13 of 14
- 45.4avg protein g/1,000kcal #8 of 14
- $20.84avg cost/1,000kcal #6 cheapest of 13 priced
Brand profile
- Backpacker's Pantry began as Dri-Lite Foods, founded in 1951 by Girl Scout troop leader Anne Benedict. Ron Smith bought the company in 1971 and renamed it Backpacker's Pantry; it is made today by American Outdoor Products, a family-owned company headquartered in Boulder, Colorado that also makes Astronaut Foods and Colorado Spice.
- American Outdoor Products says its Boulder facility runs on 100% solar power and is a member of 1% For The Planet, donating a share of sales to conservation nonprofits - claims from the company's own site and an industry trade release, not independently audited here.
Sources: backpackerspantry.com/pages/our-story · Outdoor Industry Association, 75th-anniversary release · backpacker.com, Best Backpacking Meals · Wide Open Spaces, Backpacker's Pantry Review
Who Backpacker's Pantry suits - and who should look elsewhere
Built from the 284-meal database, not opinion - the same facts anyone can check in the table below.
Good fit if…
- You're eating around a specific diet: 32 of 33 meals carry at least one diet tag - 23 gluten-free, 19 vegetarian, 24 nut-free, 12 dairy-free, 8 vegan, and 8 soy-free - the broadest diet-tag coverage of any sizeable lineup we track, with only Strive Food (7 of 7) tagging a larger share of its own, smaller catalogue.
- You want dessert on the trail: 4 of 33 meals are desserts (Crème Brûlée, Dark Chocolate Cheesecake, Mango Sticky Rice, Blueberry Peach Crisp) - a slot Mountain House, the largest brand we track, skips entirely.
- You're comparing cost per calorie: all 33 of 33 meals carry a real price, and its two Granola flavors are tied for the 4th-cheapest meal of any brand in our 284-meal database at $11.27 per 1,000 kcal.
Look elsewhere if…
- You want the lightest pack per calorie: 115.5 cal/oz on average, #13 of 14 brands - only Trailtopia (107.0) is less dense, meaning more ounces carried for the same calories than Peak Refuel (145.3) or Mountain House (131.0).
- You have a milk or egg allergy: milk appears in 21 of 33 meals and egg in 10 - broad diet-tag coverage does not mean an allergen-light lineup, check every label.
- You want a standalone trail snack: 0 of 33 meals are tagged snack - the lineup is breakfast (6), main (23), and dessert (4) only.
At $11.27 per 1,000 kcal, Granola with Blueberries, Almonds & Milk is the single best value in the Backpacker's Pantry lineup - and tied for the 4th-cheapest meal of any brand in our 284-meal database. It's also the brand's 4th-densest meal at 132 cal/oz, with 16 g of protein in a 620-calorie breakfast pouch for just $6.99.
Every Backpacker's Pantry meal in our database
33 meals, sorted by calorie density by default - click a column header (or focus it and press Enter) to re-sort.
138486 kcal/100g | 620 | 12 | 12.89 | 4.5 oz128 g | Gluten-freeVegetarian | |
136478 kcal/100g | 610 | 13 | 13.10 | 4.5 oz128 g | Nut-freeVegetarian | |
135475 kcal/100g | 310 | 19 | 35.45 | 2.3 oz65 g | Gluten-freeNut-freeVegetarian | |
132465 kcal/100g | 620 | 16 | 11.27 | 4.7 oz133 g | Gluten-freeVegetarian | |
132465 kcal/100g | 620 | 16 | 11.27 | 4.7 oz133 g | Gluten-freeVegetarian | |
129454 kcal/100g | 270 | 18 | 40.70 | 2.1 oz60 g | Gluten-freeNut-freeVegetarian | |
127448 kcal/100g | 850 | 42 | 15.28 | 6.7 oz190 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeSoy-free | |
127447 kcal/100g | 570 | 6 | 14.02 | 4.5 oz128 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeNut-freeVeganVegetarian | |
124439 kcal/100g | 460 | 21 | 17.37 | 3.7 oz105 g | Nut-freeVegetarian | |
123435 kcal/100g | 580 | 38 | 22.40 | 4.7 oz133 g | Nut-free | |
123435 kcal/100g | 530 | 16 | 13.19 | 4.3 oz122 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeVeganVegetarian | |
123432 kcal/100g | 760 | 24 | 13.14 | 6.2 oz176 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeSoy-freeVeganVegetarian | |
121428 kcal/100g | 510 | 24 | 19.59 | 4.2 oz119 g | Nut-freeSoy-freeVegetarian | |
118416 kcal/100g | 590 | 40 | 22.02 | 5.0 oz142 g | Nut-freeSoy-free | |
117414 kcal/100g | 540 | 9 | 16.65 | 4.6 oz130 g | Gluten-freeVegetarian | |
117412 kcal/100g | 350 | 21 | 22.83 | 3.0 oz85 g | Nut-free | |
116408 kcal/100g | 520 | 31 | 24.98 | 4.5 oz128 g | Gluten-freeNut-free | |
113398 kcal/100g | 620 | 29 | 16.11 | 5.5 oz156 g | - | |
113397 kcal/100g | 540 | 46 | 24.06 | 4.8 oz136 g | Gluten-freeNut-free | |
111392 kcal/100g | 300 | 14 | 26.63 | 2.7 oz77 g | Nut-freeVegetarian | |
110389 kcal/100g | 430 | 27 | 30.21 | 3.9 oz111 g | Gluten-freeNut-freeSoy-free | |
110387 kcal/100g | 570 | 32 | 22.79 | 5.2 oz147 g | Gluten-freeNut-freeSoy-free | |
109385 kcal/100g | 590 | 22 | 16.93 | 5.4 oz153 g | Nut-freeVegetarian | |
107377 kcal/100g | 620 | 19 | 16.11 | 5.8 oz164 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeNut-freeVeganVegetarian | |
106375 kcal/100g | 330 | 16 | 24.21 | 3.1 oz88 g | Gluten-freeNut-free | |
104368 kcal/100g | 490 | 27 | 26.51 | 4.7 oz133 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeNut-free | |
104365 kcal/100g | 590 | 41 | 22.02 | 5.7 oz162 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeNut-freeSoy-free | |
102360 kcal/100g | 470 | 22 | 21.26 | 4.6 oz130 g | Dairy-freeGluten-free | |
102359 kcal/100g | 600 | 24 | 16.65 | 5.9 oz167 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeNut-freeSoy-freeVeganVegetarian | |
100353 kcal/100g | 480 | 28 | 27.06 | 4.8 oz136 g | Nut-free | |
100353 kcal/100g | 330 | 13 | 24.21 | 3.3 oz94 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeNut-freeVeganVegetarian | |
100353 kcal/100g | 320 | 10 | 21.84 | 3.2 oz91 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeNut-freeVeganVegetarian | |
85300 kcal/100g | 400 | 16 | 24.97 | 4.7 oz133 g | Dairy-freeGluten-freeNut-freeVeganVegetarian |
Where the data says Backpacker's Pantry is strong - and weak
Computed from all 284 meals in our database, not opinion.
Strong
- Best value coverage of any brand: 5 of the 15 cheapest meals per 1,000 kcal in our 284-meal database are Backpacker's Pantry, led by both Granola flavors at $11.27 - more than any other of the 14 brands.
- 32 of 33 meals carry at least one diet tag (gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, or nut-free) - the broadest coverage of any sizeable lineup we track, second only to Strive Food's 7 of 7, while Mountain House, the largest brand we track, tags none of its 41.
- Full price coverage: all 33 of 33 meals carry a real USD price, unlike Radix Nutrition, which publishes no usable price at all in our data.
- Cheaper on average than most of the field: $20.84 per 1,000 kcal, the #6-cheapest of the 13 USD-priced brands we track - below Mountain House ($23.31), Good To-Go ($25.28), and Packit Gourmet ($28.56).
Weak
- Near the bottom on calorie density: 115.5 cal/oz average, #13 of 14 brands - only Trailtopia (107.0) is less dense, versus Peak Refuel's 145.3 or Mountain House's 131.0.
- No snack meals: 0 of 33 meals are tagged snack - the lineup is breakfast, main, and dessert only.
- Mid-pack on protein: 45.4 g per 1,000 kcal, #8 of 14 brands - behind Packit Gourmet (66.6), LyoFood (60.3), Campers Pantry (55.8), Wild Zora (55.1), and Mountain House (52.7). Its one standout is White Bean, Chicken, and Green Chile Stew, tied for the 14th-highest protein-per-1,000-kcal meal (1 of the top 15) in our whole database at 85.2 g.
- Serving size is undocumented: 0 of 33 meals in our data have a published servings count, so we cannot compute a reliable price-per-serving the way we can for Peak Refuel's uniform 2-serving pouches.
What people say
Independent reviews of Backpacker's Pantry, quoted briefly with a link to the full source. We have not tested these meals ourselves - this is what other outlets report.
“Backpacker's Pantry is a brand to avoid”
“They were a lot better than I expected”
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Only 20 meals, but the highest average calorie density of any brand in our database - the tradeoff Backpacker's Pantry makes for its wider diet-tag coverage.
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