Website Spotlight: Emergency Prep Club

 Emergency Prep Club offers short-term emergency food supplies primarily for people with food restrictions, although the kits can be enjoyed by everyone.

Emergency Prep Club kits make a great gift. The kits come in a sturdy, attractive canvas bag and give people the peace of mind that they and their loved ones will not go hungry in a time of need.

Our kits are different than most emergency supplies in that they include an assortment of prepackaged products from leading nutritious brands, including beef and turkey jerky, fruit strips, crackers, cheese snacks, nut bars, coffee, candy and more. They've been developing this business for over a year but accelerated the launch to be useful for people during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. They currently have a gluten-free line and will soon offer a dairy-free, vegan and nut-free line. 

I had a chance to do an interview to learn more.

Why was Emergency Prep Club started?

My wife and I were always talking about how we should put together an emergency food kit so our family would be prepared for a natural disaster – like the big earthquake that’s predicted to hit us here in the Pacific Northwest – but we kept putting it off. We’d look at emergency food being sold online, but it was hard to find gluten free options that looked appealing.

This procrastination was causing me a lot of stress, especially because my younger son and I cannot eat anything that contains gluten. This means that, if we had to rely on Red Cross or others for food in an emergency, we might not be able to eat the food being offered.

So finally, we decided to take the matter into our own hands and create emergency food kits for people with food restrictions. And, to make sure our customers’ supplies will always be fresh and edible in an emergency, we offer a membership option, with automatic refills arriving at our customers’ doorstep every six months. They can relax and not have to remember to refresh their emergency kit. We do it for them!

When we looked at our final product, we realized these kits are great for anyone looking for an easy-to-transport, ready-to-eat, nutritious and tasty kit.

What are good reasons to have emergency food on hand?

There are several scenarios where people might need a short-term supply of emergency food. For example, if a natural disaster (wildfire, earthquake, flood, hurricane, tornado…) destroys or threatens people’s homes and they have to bug out to a community shelter, food might be in short supply, and it might not be edible for people with food restrictions.

If people can shelter in place but the power is out for several days or weeks, they may not be able to cook anything, and their perishable food will go bad quickly. It’s important to have shelf-stable, ready-to-eat supplies on hand.

And in our current pandemic situation, many people – with or without food restrictions – are hesitant to go to the grocery store or are trying to minimize the number of trips outside their home. On top of that, grocery store and online supplies of specialty foods are running low in some places. Our kits allow people to reduce the number of shopping trips and give people with food restrictions peace of mind.

What makes the Emergency Prep Club better than purchasing products on your own?

We’ve done the work of carefully choosing what products to include. Each kit is scientifically designed to provide plenty of calories, protein, fruit and fiber for a person to stay healthy and energized, not just survive.

Furthermore, if a person went out and bought every item in our kits on their own, they wouldn’t save any money. Because of the beauty of wholesale and bulk purchasing, our kits don’t cost any more than if a person bought all the supplies retail and paid a small delivery fee.

Our kits are efficiently pre-packed in a sturdy tote bag with big shoulder loops to make them easy to carry.

A refill kit arrives on our customers’ doorstep every six months. Because, let’s be realistic: who remembers to replace their emergency food supplies on a regular basis? When an emergency strikes, you want your emergency food to still be edible.

What sets it apart from other preparedness kits?

Much of the emergency food out there has a lot of low-quality refined carbs but is low on protein. Adequate protein helps people keep their immune system strong and gives them sustained energy to cope with whatever challenges arise. Our kits have a high protein content.

Our food does not require cooking or heating. Even the coffee (the high-quality freeze-dried stuff) can be imbibed cold in a pinch.

For people with food restrictions, quality control is extremely important. Our team includes two people with gluten sensitivities, one person who can’t eat dairy products, one person whose children have multiple food sensitivities, and one person who is a strict vegetarian. We all understand from personal experience the importance of strict attention to ingredients and manufacturing processes when evaluating if a product adheres to food restriction requirements. We research and test each product to make sure our customers can eat this food safely.

Perhaps most importantly, our food tastes good! Believe me, everything in our kits has been EXTENSIVELY tested, by us and by our kids, and is made by trusted brands. When the refill kit arrives, our customers can just put their existing kit in their pantry. All of our food is great for sack lunches, camping trips, party snacks and picnics. There’s no waste, and they eat the food they’ve paid for.