Food on trekking tours is always an important topic with many facets. Besides weight, nutritional value and how the trekking food is prepared, taste naturally plays an important role too. Anyone who doesn’t have the time or the inclination to put together their own trekking meals has probably noticed that the choice in this area is not exactly huge. But Michael Blümel has declared war on the monotony with his Outdoorfoodshop.
The shop offers a large selection of outdoor meals that until now weren’t available in Germany, and is therefore also responsible for the many introductions of outdoor food manufacturers that I was able to publish last year. Now I have been able to interview my namesake – but read for yourselves what the founder of the shop has to say…
How long have you been running Outdoorfoodshop?
The idea and first drafts came about in January 2009. Setting up the shop and, above all, building the business relationships with the suppliers in the USA then took almost another year. On 29 January 2010 the shop was finally able to go live.
How did you come up with the idea of opening a shop that sells nothing but outdoor food?
It was a very long chain of different ideas and concepts. The decisive factor, though, was that I was bored with what was on offer in the German market. I knew very quickly that I would only build the company if I managed to bring new, still unknown brands and products to the German market. We currently offer 9 brands of outdoor food with over 200 different meals.
What do you personally like best from your range, and which product do you find the most original?
I find all the freeze-dried products the best, the most original and also the most practical. Above all the astronaut ice cream and the fruit. When it comes to meals, I have about 10 favourites, a colourful mix from almost all the manufacturers we carry.
Do you have products on offer that are of particular interest to vegans and/or vegetarians?
Yes, we currently have 52 vegetarian and 5 vegan meals in the range. The shop will soon have a new product finder that should help display these products even faster. With further brands that we want to add, these areas will be expanded further. Vegan meals in particular are in increasing demand.
Do you offer any specific organic products?
Not yet. Some meals contain only the odd organic ingredient. Apart from a single meal from Trek`N Eat, there are no fully organic meals yet. I hope that in 2011 we will be able to add the French brand MX3 to our range. MX3 has a whole series of organic meals. Talks with the supplier are currently under way.
Which outdoor sports do you do in your free time?
At the moment, besides founding the company, starting a family is also keeping me very busy. I don’t really get round to more than day hikes on foot at the moment. When I do, though, I’m drawn to touring kayaks. I have also discovered the ultralight trekking scene for myself. So I’m sure I’ll be grabbing my backpack again soon…
Personally, I keep being drawn to the USA and Canada because of the impressive landscapes and the incredible vastness of the country. How about you? Do you also have a favourite country for your trips?
Iceland, no question! Wild landscapes and a harsh climate! Closely followed by Bolivia. If it goes by the number of visits, though, I would have to name Canada and Lapland (in winter).
If you could recommend one hike or trek to our readers, which would it be?
Laugavegur / Iceland. Unfortunately no longer an insider tip.
Which stove do you use on your trips? Do you have a favourite in your gear cupboard?
For me there really is only one: the MSR Whisperlight International. Even though I’m not nice to it, it has never let me down. Only once did it not deliver its usual performance, and that was at Mt. Elbrus base camp at 4,000 m with Russian petrol-station fuel. I’ve forgiven it for that! ☺
What do you take to eat on your trips? Is it only products from your own range, or do you sometimes improvise?
Of course I make use of the advantages of freeze-dried ready meals. They always make up the bulk of my provisions. In addition, I always take a big piece of hard cheese, e.g. Parmesan, and a salami. Chocolate, half a bar a day, is of course a must too. On kayak trips there is always a tin of long-life bread. Tinned rye bread with Danish cod roe spread is my personal kayak breakfast. Delicious!
On long treks weight plays a big role – what can you recommend as a good compromise between nutritional value (nutrients) and weight, regardless of taste?
I wouldn’t leave taste out of the equation at all. Food quite often has a mood-lifting effect. Seafarers realised very early on how important food can be in this context. For weight optimisation, freeze-dried food is unbeatable. Since it needs practically no cooking time, it also saves stove fuel – another plus.
Especially on long trips and/or winter trips, energy deficits can never be avoided completely. It gets difficult if you rely exclusively on ready meals. They hit the mark on taste, weight and preparation, but with an extreme daily requirement of 4,000 kcal and more they can only be the basis. Covering such a daily requirement with ready meals would take around 2 kg of prepared food – per day! That’s hardly manageable. Here I can only recommend expanding your nutrition plan with high-calorie shakes such as PERONIN and supplements such as pemmican. These products deliver a lot of energy with little mass. Even in terms of taste, these products hold their own. On winter trips I always mix my morning muesli with PERONIN, which already gives me almost 1,200 kcal at breakfast (from 250 g dry weight!).
What are your plans for the future of Outdoorfoodshop?
We have just got our first year behind us. Sales have pleasantly surprised me, but the shop is not yet fully established in the market. I hope that, as a specialist shop, we can earn a permanent place in the German outdoor market. As a young outdoor company we can still use plenty of “word-of-mouth support”! ☺
Overall, I want to expand the range even further and also work on the image of the products. Freeze-dried instant meals are much better than their reputation!
So much for the interview – I wish Michael and his shop every success for the future. Even if I now run the risk of some people thinking this is all advertising, I can only recommend that everyone take a look at the shop and browse its extensive range.
On the associated Facebook page there are also vouchers for fans every month, which let you save a few euros on your purchase.
