About Provident Pantry Food (#10 Cans)
If you have been looking at long shelf life foods, you almost certainly know
Mountain House. But you've probably also seen Provident Pantry products around, and may be wondering about them.
Unfortunately, I cannot find out much about Provident Pantry. I have found that they go back at least to 1999. They may be a private-label brand sold by Emergency Essentials, and from the name is likely produced by Provident Provisions.
It appears as though the prices are similar to the Mountain House line. I personally would go with Mountain House first, if the price was the same. However, there are some notable differences -- for example, Provident Pantry strawberries are about 40% cheaper than Mountain House strawberries, yet the Mountain House ground beef is about half the price of the Provident Pantry ground beef! So shop accordingly.
I purchased a sample can, that has a code on the bottom. . Label states that there may be an oxygen absorber, and has a code on it (FN-A105, which appears in the code on the bottom of the can). It has a UPC code, which does not match any numbers on the bottom of the can, and is registered to Emergency Essentials, Inc.
Here, we display a table showing the #10 cans that they sell, along with some basic nutrition information that might be of concern to you. The table is sortable, so you can easily find which options are the least expensive per 100 calories, and so forth.
Click on any heading (such as 'MSRP' or 'Cost per 100 Calories') to sort!
| Name | Type | MSRP | Servings | Calories | Sodium | Cost per Serving | Cost per 100 calories |
|---|
| Apricot Dices | Fruit/Snack | $23.50 | 14 | 70 | 0 | $1.68 | $2.40 |
| Asparagus Pieces | Vegetable | $16.95 | 18 | 20 | 0 | $0.94 | $4.71 |
| Banana Dices | Fruit/Snack | $20.50 | 32 | 45 | 0 | $0.64 | $1.42 |
| Banana Slices | Fruit/Snack | $19.95 | 32 | 45 | 0 | $0.62 | $1.39 |
| Broccoli | Vegetable | $13.50 | 20 | 20 | 20 | $0.68 | $3.38 |
| Cauliflower Pearls | Vegetable | $12.50 | 6 | 60 | 75 | $2.08 | $3.47 |
| Celery, Diced | Vegetable | $18.95 | 28 | 20 | 95 | $0.68 | $3.38 |
| Chopped Spinach | Vegetable | $10.50 | 17 | 20 | 70 | $0.62 | $3.09 |
| Cinnamon Apple Slices | Fruit/Snack | $14.50 | 16 | 70 | 0 | $0.91 | $1.29 |
| Colby Cheese | Cheese | $37.95 | 115 | 30 | 50 | $0.33 | $1.10 |
| Cooked Shrimp | Meat | $59.95 | 16 | 80 | 810 | $3.75 | $4.68 |
| Diced Apples | Fruit/Snack | $17.50 | 13 | 60 | 0 | $1.35 | $2.24 |
| Green Beans | Vegetable | $13.95 | 21 | 30 | 5 | $0.66 | $2.21 |
| Green Bell Pepper Slices | Vegetable | $11.95 | 104 | 5 | 0 | $0.11 | $2.30 |
| Green Peas | Vegetable | $16.95 | 18 | 100 | 5 | $0.94 | $0.94 |
| Ground Beef | Meat | $40.95 | 12 | 220 | 740 | $3.41 | $1.55 |
| Ham, Cooked and Diced | Meat | $51.95 | 12 | 260 | 1280 | $4.33 | $1.67 |
| Italian Meatballs, Cooked | Meat | $44.95 | 16 | 270 | 850 | $2.81 | $1.04 |
| Mango Chunks | Fruit/Snack | $17.95 | 18 | 60 | 0 | $1.00 | $1.66 |
| Marion Blackberries | Fruit/Snack | $23.50 | 13 | 70 | 0 | $1.81 | $2.58 |
| Monterey Jack Cheese | Cheese | 37.95 | 107 | 50 | 70 | $1.00 | $0.71 |
| Mushroom Slices | Vegetable | $12.50 | 54 | 5 | 0 | $0.23 | $4.63 |
| Orange Pieces | Fruit/Snack | $22.50 | 9 | 70 | 5 | $2.50 | $3.57 |
| Peach Dices | Fruit/Snack | $20.95 | 13 | 70 | 35 | $1.61 | $2.30 |
| Peach Slices | Fruit/Snack | $19.50 | 11 | 70 | 35 | $1.77 | $2.53 |
| Pear Dices | Fruit/Snack | $18.95 | 16 | 60 | 0 | $1.18 | $1.97 |
| Pineapple | Fruit/Snack | $19.95 | 15 | 15 | 0 | $1.33 | $8.87 |
| Potato Dices | Vegetable | $15.50 | 22 | 70 | 30 | $0.70 | $1.01 |
| Raspberries | Fruit/Snack | $32.50 | 13 | 70 | 5 | $2.50 | $3.57 |
| Roast Beef, Cooked | Meat | $46.50 | 15 | 220 | | $3.10 | $1.41 |
| Sausage Crumbles, Cooked | Meat | $39.95 | 16 | 420 | 1250 | $2.50 | $0.59 |
| Sharp Cheddar Cheese | Cheese | $41.50 | 137 | 50 | 75 | $0.30 | $0.61 |
| Shredded Mozzarella Cheese | Cheese | $41.50 | 100 | 40 | 80 | $0.42 | $1.04 |
| Strawberries, Whole | Fruit/Snack | $16.95 | 13 | 45 | 0 | $1.30 | $2.90 |
| Strawberry Slices | Fruit/Snack | $16.95 | 14 | 45 | 0 | $1.21 | $2.69 |
| Super Sweet Corn | Vegetable | $14.95 | 22 | 70 | 0 | $0.68 | $0.97 |
| Tomato Chunks | Vegetable | $39.95 | 21 | 25 | 0 | $1.90 | $7.61 |
| White Chicken | Meat | $42.95 | 16 | 200 | 80 | $2.68 | $1.34 |
| White Onion Flakes | Vegetable | $16.50 | 128 | 5 | 0 | $0.13 | $2.58 |
| Whole Blueberries | Fruit/Snack | $27.50 | 16 | 60 | 0 | $1.72 | $2.86 |
| Zucchini Slices | Vegetable | $11.95 | 22 | 20 | 0 | $0.54 | $2.72 |
- MSRP is the retail price, as best I can tell, as of January, 2011.
- Servings is the number of servings per #10 can (multiply by 6 to get the number of servings per case).
- Calories is the number of calories per #10 can (multiply by 6 to get the number of calories per case).
- Sodium is the number of milligrams of sodium per serving. This may be important if water is scarce, as the sodium can make you thirsty.
- Cost per 100 calories is the most useful method that I came up with for comparing prices.
