Reno, Nev. (August 1, 2022) - At a sprawling warehouse in northwest Reno, a new company is trying to plot the future of survival food.
Read the full story by Evan Haddad, Reno Gazette Journal Food, Drink and City Life Reporter
Nutrient Survival is vying for a slice of the fast-growing survival food industry, which has exploded in recent years in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters. The company specializes in nutrient-dense survival food that is engineered to pack more protein, vitamins and other nutrients than would naturally occur.
The company was founded two years ago by businessman Peter Castleman, who made his fortune on Wall Street and, among other ventures, served as chairman at the nutrition company Herbalife before retiring to the West. The day-to-day operations are led by CEO Eric Christianson, a West Point graduate and Army ranger who served in executive roles at big food brands such as Perdue Farms and the Campbell Soup Company.
"It was the heart of the pandemic. People were in need of food," Christianson said of the company's beginnings. "Back then, it was just wear a mask and avoid people. So what can you do for yourself? Take action, eat great food, naturally keep yourself strong and naturally give yourself the ability to perform at your optimal rate."
The company is headquartered inside a 100,000 square-foot warehouse near Mayberry Park in northwestern Reno. The food is prepped and cooked by hand before undergoing an industrial scale freeze-drying process inside an apparatus that looks like a small submarine. The process, which removes virtually all of the water from the food while locking in the nutrients, allows the finished product to last two decades or more on the shelf.
