About

Welcome to Back Country Foods, the company behind Back Country Cuisine, Australia and New Zealand’s number 1 meals for outdoor adventures. Our specialty is the freeze drying of food for human consumption. Freeze drying is a great technology for drying food products, extending their shelf life and / or intensifying their flavour without altering the colour, shape or nutrient profile. We’ve been freeze drying food since 1998.

If you are in the food, pharmaceutical or nutraceutical space and you’re looking for an ingredient we produce or freeze drying an ingredient or product you produce, we’d love to hear form you.

Our Story

How to carry everything in a pack needed for a full-on extended back country trip, without compromising nutrition? This is the question posed by the military and outdoor enthusiasts back in 1950s New Zealand that ultimately led to the creation of Back Country Foods and the Back Country Cuisine brand.

Back then in New Zealand, light weight outdoors gear didn’t exist; everything was heavy. So, from the 1960s onwards the focus went on reducing the weight of outdoors gear, which is where the Back Country Foods story starts with The Alliance Freezing Company (Southland) Limited freeze drying Beef in New Zealand’s deep south.

By the 1990s The Alliance Freezing Company had changed its ownership structure to be a cooperative, changed its name to the Alliance Group and re focused on core business. So Back Country Foods was established in August 1998 to take over the freeze-dried meal business founded by the Alliance Freezing Company.

Pre Processing

 Back Country Foods has wet mixing, thawing, mincing and cooking in water capabilities.

Freeze Drying

 Back Country Foods uses New Zealand made Cuddons freeze dryers. We have three FD 300s and three FD 80s giving us 1,140 litres of moisture removal capacity.

Packing

 Back Country Foods has post freeze drying packing capabilities.

Allergen Management

 Back Country Foods processes and produces a number of Gluten Free ingredients and products.
Scroll to Top