For seventy-five years Backpacker’s Pantry has been feeding those who feel most like themselves outside. The ones who shoulder a pack, follow a trail past where the pavement ends, and understand that the best parts of the day are the ones you have to work for.
This year we’re celebrating the miles, the meals, and the generations of wanderers who have carried Backpacker’s Pantry along the way.
Feeding your
adventure
since 1951
Some people just feel more like themselves outside.
We make food for them.
The places we explore deserve care
We were an early member of The Conservation Alliance, supporters of Leave No Trace, and contributors to conservation and outdoor access through 1% for the Planet.
It’s part of how we do things.
More on conservation with Backpacker's
Feed your soul
Along the way, Backpacker’s Pantry has been shaped by those who carry it. Climbers, backpackers, explorers, families, and first-timers alike. Different paths, different places, but the same understanding: the best parts of the day are the ones you have to work for.
Time Tested Meals
FILL YOUR PACK
75th Merch
Gear up for your next adventure
Inside the Pantry
stories from the trail
Conservation
sense of responsibility
Where we're headed, where we stand, and where we've been
Seventy-five years in, the role of Backpacker’s Pantry remains what it has always been. Not to lead the story, but to be part of it. To provide dependable nutrition, in places where what you carry matters. That’s what we’ve built over the last seventy-five years. And it’s what we intend to keep building.
Where we're headed
Backpacker’s Pantry has always had a clear role. We feed people’s adventure. Not by leading it, but by supporting it. By making food that holds up, carries well, and earns its place when it matters most. That doesn’t change.
As we look ahead, our focus is simple: to keep building on that mission. To make better meals, to push quality forward, and to continue giving people something they can rely on when they’re out there. Because the goal has never been just to make food. It’s to help people go farther, stay longer, and find something real in the process.
To help them feed their adventure.
And, in doing so, to keep discovering their deepest nature.
That’s the path forward.
Where we stand
We’ve always believed a good meal is earned. It comes at the end of a long day, after you’ve put something into it. After the miles, the effort, and the kind of time outside that stays with you. For seventy-five years, Backpacker’s Pantry has been built around that idea. We make food for people who head out to experience it fully, to go farther, stay longer, and get something real in return.
To feed their soul. And, over time, to find their deepest nature. That’s what we’re rooted in.
Where we've been
When Ron purchased Dri-Lite Foods in 1971, he didn’t just see a product. He saw something that would enable new adventure and outdoor recreation. Within a few years, he renamed it Backpacker’s Pantry and began pushing the food forward. Freeze-dried ingredients replaced dehydrated ones, improving both shelf life and quality. The meals became lighter, more reliable, and something people looked forward to at the end of a long day.
From there, the brand grew the way most things in the outdoors do, through people. Shared at trailheads, passed around at camp, recommended between climbers, trekkers, and backpackers who knew what mattered when you were far from the nearest road. Along the way, those meals have been carried to Everest, across Antarctica, and into countless other expeditions where what you bring with you has to earn its place.
To the ones who still follow trails, For seventy-five years, Backpacker’s Pantry has been in your pack. Not leading the way. Just showing up when it counts. At the end of the day, when it’s time to eat. That part hasn’t changed.
And neither have we.
Thanks for bringing us along. See you out there.
Feed your adventure
