What does the body need at peak load, when it's running on fumes? What should be done to avoid reaching that peak load? Add extreme or just uncomfortable conditions, the desire to reach your goal, and the need to stay effective, rational, and resourceful. The answer to both questions is energy - in our case, food!
We won’t go into details about what healthy food is and why it’s important. If you’ve opened this article, you’re likely interested in something else - how to choose the best food for your needs among the half-dozen available brands. Today’s market offers plenty of options as well as comparative tests where experts share which hiking meals they found tastier or more convenient. To avoid subjective debates like “all your geese are swans,” we need clear selection criteria.
Usability Comes First
The main and the first one will be the packaging. Packaging should be not only durable and heat-resistant to prevent damage in a backpack and deformation during cooking, but also ensure that the process is simple, reliable, and efficient for rehydrating meals. Professional mountain climber Mykita Balabanov, winner of the prestigious Piolet d’Or award, prioritized these factors when choosing food for his expeditions. For years, he’s relied exclusively on one brand for himself and his group members during climbs. You can probably guess which brand: ЇDLO. For nearly all his recent challenging ascents including Gasherbrums in the Himalayas, Ushba in the Caucasus, Khan Tengri in Tien Shan, and Fitz Roy in Patagonia, Balabanov has chosen ЇDLO freeze-dried meals.
Variety for Every Taste
Another factor in selecting hiking food is a variety. You can’t please everyone, but feeding a group of 10 people the same mashed potatoes, buckwheat, or borscht for 5-6 days is elegant torture. This is where the true battle for flavors begins. Experienced hikers often have gourmet tastes, and guessing their preferences is only possible if you’re one of them. At ЇDLO, we started developing our recipes not in a kitchen but during travels and hikes. This is where our best recipes were born.
Fun fact: famous photographer Vlad Kutsyi once treated the chief of a Papuan tribe during a trip to Papua New Guinea by ЇDLO food. And he is alive to tell this story today :)
Shelf Life: A Critical Factor
One often-overlooked criterion is shelf life. While energy bars like OM-NOM can last about a year, mixed meals (dehydrated or a combination of dehydration and freeze-drying) can be stored for up to two years. Fully freeze-dried meals, like ЇDLO’s, can last three years or more. This makes hiking food not just a tactical but also a strategic resource.
For professionals, long-term storage without loss of quality is crucial. Ukrainian polar explorers at the Akademik Vernadsky Station in Antarctica tested various products and ultimately chose ЇDLO. It turns out that ЇDLO meals can withstand prolonged exposure to extreme cold while still tasting as if they were freshly cooked.
Trusted by Polar Explorers
Ukrainian polar explorers use ЇDLO for three key scenarios:
- As an untouchable emergency food reserve at the Akademik Vernadsky Station.
- During field missions when researchers explore the continent.
- As emergency stockpiles in designated locations around the station.
Approximately each of Antarctica’s 90 research stations maintains similar reserves marked on a shared map, and accessible to anyone in need.
