One thing I have learned while in the process of deciding what company to buy my food storage from and then whether or not to become a Shelf Reliance consultant is the best way to compare companies and determine which one is giving you the best value. At first I was comparing strictly prices and weight. Shelf Reliance fared extremely well in that comparison. I even made a detailed list with all of the major competitors. Sadly that was all in vain because I soon realized that weight is not the best consideration in comparing food storage. Why? Well, for one thing, not all companies' weights are determined in the same way. Some give just the weight of the food and others give the total shipping weight (including the weight of the can) and there is no way of knowing which method they are using. Also, in freeze dried food especially, weight can vary greatly depending on how much water any given distributor manages to get out of the food during the freeze drying process. One distributor's 6 ounces can fill a can while another company's 6 ounces doesn't really come close.
So how should you compare?
1. Number of servings: not every company has the same serving size, so I figure out how many cups of product is in each can and go off of that.
2. Quality: To determine this you really have to see it and taste it. That is exactly why Shelf Reliance does home parties. I have seen a comparison of SR freeze dried broccoli with a competitor's and at least for that product it was a night and day difference in quality. If you want to know where a party is near you I can help you with that or you could even host your own. If you want to taste the competitor's products, most of them do sell the items in pouches for a reasonable price. You might consider buying a few and comparing if you want to make sure you are getting food you actually like.
3. Shelf Life There is an industry standard of shelf life, so there's not much competition there. However you need to be aware that if you are buying food in pouches or buckets, the shelf life for most food is significantly less than in a #10 can. For example the shelf life of freeze dried strawberries in a pouch is 5 years while those same strawberries last up to 25 years in a #10 can.
It's pretty obvious that I decided that Shelf Reliance seemed the best to me. That is something we all have to decide for ourselves though and I truly respect that. That is a big part of why I decided to do parties--if we are going to store a ton of food, we need to know we will eat it and that it is what we feel is the best possible option. So, if you are interested in why I came to this conclusion, read on.
Comparing strictly on the best bargain is very difficult because there are so many variables. Above I explained a little about number of servings being the best comparison tool though. When I was first comparing weights, SR was the clear winner for price. However, once I compared apples to apples by just looking at servings I found the playing field was pretty much level. Each of the major companies had the best price about the same percentage of the time with a couple of exceptions who were consistently more expensive than everyone else on most things, (Shelf Reliance was one of the competitive ones). Add to that the ever changing sales and specials at the various companies and it got even more impossible to compare. So, to my frustration as a bargain shopper, price comparisons didn't end up being extremely helpful for me in choosing what company to buy from. Then I found out that Shelf Reliance's top priority is giving consumers full cans no matter what (which they can do because they pack the cans themselves, while others have the distributors pack their cans), even if that means adding more product after the given weight is put into the can. Because of that, Shelf Reliance was in the lead when it came to value, but I still wanted to research the quality of each company's products. (Note: I was not yet taking into consideration host benefits and the benefits of becoming a consultant when doing this first comparison. I'll talk about that at the end because that is the real clincher, making Shelf Reliance the best value by far.)
When it comes to quality, I wasn't able to actually taste and compare everything. So the reason I feel the most confident about Shelf Reliance's quality is based on what I could taste, seeing comparisons, and also learning about the company's high standards of quality. I thought the food was great and it was also important to me that my kids liked it.. To say they do is an understatement. They just kept asking for more and now are always trying to sneak in and swipe my party supply. As for the company's quality standards, there are some items consumers are begging for, such as peanut butter powder, but SR won't sell it yet because they haven't found a distributor with quality that meets their standards (they are looking into though). I think that shows a lot of integrity and it gives me confidence in buying what they do sell. They also pack their product themselves and have their own FDA and HACCP certified quality control to ensure the best product possible is going out. They are actually known for sending back unsatisfactory inventory, while others do not pack their own food so chances are they wouldn't know if there was a problem or not. Shelf Reliance has samples of their food tested in scientific labs monthly and also has 3rd party inspections on manufacturing facilities to ensure that they have the highest level of safety and quality possible. Others just trust the distributor to do all this. The paranoid part of me loves that the quality is inspected so thoroughly. So, for quality SR was the winner. I'm sure the other company's foods are safe, but I don't have the confidence that they are the best tasting and highest quality and if I'm going to spend the money on it and depend on it to last, that is important to me.
Finally, Shelf Life was a consideration. At first I was tempted by the large buckets of food I saw at other companies, but not at Shelf Reliance. However, once I realized how the shelf life was affected by not being sealed in a #10 can, I decided to limit my purchases to those. Other than that, Shelf Life is an industry standard, so there's not much else to say there.
Based on all of this, I had decided Shelf Reliance was the best for me at this time. As an added bonus, my sister got me interested in the Home Party program after attending a party herself, and my decision was solidified. Shelf Reliance is the only food storage company to do home parties. I really liked that they had the confidence to let consumers try the food before buying it. Also, if you do a party, the host benefits make it so you are definitely getting the most for your money as compared to other companies. You can even do an online party through a consultant if you already know people who are interested and get the same benefits. At the same time, I am always leery of home parties because in my mind they equal jacked up prices. So I looked into it and found that is not the case with Shelf Reliance. If you are interested in knowing what led me to this conclusion see the business model and benefits of being a consultant pages. I discussed this opportunity with my husband and extended family and we all felt it would be to the benefit of our entire family if one of us was a consultant, so I decided to be the one to do it! I'm so glad I did.
I hope this information is helpful and saves you time. Believe it or not there is a lot more I could have told you. If you want to know more, please feel free to contact me with questions or, just follow the blog because that is why I created it--to share all of the things I have been learning with others.
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