Foundation Outdoors Freeze-Dried Meals for Humans and Dogs: High-Calorie Pouches and Human-Grade Pet Treats [SHOT 2026]

Foundation Outdoors is leaning hard into food as performance gear at SHOT Show 2026, with a lineup of freeze-dried meals for people and a companion set of freeze-dried treats for dogs. The theme is simple: high-calorie, high-protein meals that pack small, rehydrate quickly, and are built to support long days in the field—whether you’re hunting, overlanding, or just trying to keep your pack weight down without eating like you’re doing penance.

On the human side, Foundation positions its meals around “restaurant-quality taste” and nutrition, and it repeatedly comes back to calorie density. The company cites an average of 995 calories per meal, 47 grams of protein per meal, and 216 calories per ounce. They also note that their pouches weigh 130 grams and average 960 calories per pouch, reinforcing the same core message: a lot of energy for not much weight.

Foundation also emphasizes process and ingredients. They exclusively use 100% freeze-dried ingredients and avoid dehydrated or air-dried components. They describe freeze-drying as a natural preservation process that locks in taste and nutrients, and they note that they do not use heavy instant rice or pasta, as many other brands do. Meat is another point they lean on: meals contain USDA-inspected beef, white chicken breast, or premium pork, sourced from U.S. ranches and farms, with no meat by-products, fillers, or “meat flavorings.”

Food safety and shelf stability are treated as major selling points. The Foundation owns and operates a commercial USDA-inspected facility with on-site federal oversight, maintains SQF food safety certification, and is Prop 65-compliant based on testing. For shelf life, they state 7+ years, with all-natural recipes and no preservatives or fillers, and no refrigeration required.

Packaging is part of their pitch, too. Their pouches are bowl-like and shallow for easier eating, compact for better stowability, and designed to use less packaging material while fitting better in a pack.

The “dog” side of the booth is anchored by Lucky & Friends freeze-dried pet treats—fully cooked and freeze-dried beef liver made from 100% freeze-dried, human-grade beef liver, with no additives, fillers, water, or preservatives. They specifically call out whole muscle meat rather than pressed cubes.

Prices start around $14 for a pouch.

Where to learn more: https://www.foundation-outdoors.com/

Tom R

Tom is a former Navy Corpsman that spent some time bumbling around the deserts of Iraq with a Marine Recon unit, kicking in tent flaps and harassing sheep. Before that, he was a paramedic somewhere in DFW, also doing some Executive Protection work between shifts. Now that those exciting days are behind him, he has embraced his inner “Warrior Hippie,” and assaults 14er in his sandals, and engages in rucking adventure challenges while consuming copious water. To fund these adventures, he writes all manner of content (having also held editor positions at several publications) and teaches wilderness medicine and off-road skills. He hopes that his posts will help you find the gear that will survive whatever you can throw at it (and the training to use it). Learn from his mistakes–he is known (in certain circles) for his curse…ahem, ability…to find the breaking point of anything. You can follow him at https://linktr.ee/docrader.