Rip-n-ready meals

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Lifesaver
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Rip-n-ready meals

Post by Lifesaver » Tue May 22, 2007 3:38 pm

Since Spam has been discussed here, I'm guessing this a safe topic for this forum. If it is not, feel free to move it.

I stumbled on these meals on eBay. I won an auction for them. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1 Even with the shipping costs, it works out to just over $2 a meal. I'm only getting three different meals in the auction I won. The company offers more menues. Their web site is: http://www.rip-n-ready.com/.

I do not know if anyone else is interested in these shelf stable meals. I just thought I should "share the wealth".
"That others might live."

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kman
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Post by kman » Tue May 22, 2007 5:24 pm

Interesting stuff, Lifesaver - thanks for passing the link on.

I'd be interested in hearing your reviews after you get a chance to try them. Are they packaged like HeaterMeals or more like MRE entrees? The price seems right at only $2 per meal or $19.20 per case.

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Post by dverkamp » Tue May 22, 2007 6:48 pm

The Rip 'n' Ready Entrees that I have in my office are 12 oz and they are packaged very similarly to MREs. They are packaged in a retort pouch with tear tabs at the top.

You may want to ask the Ebay seller the date of the items. In purchasing on Ebay, you always want to make sure the product is not old and outdated.

Here is the manufacturer's website for additional information: www.rip-n-ready.com

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Post by kman » Tue May 22, 2007 6:58 pm

Thanks for the extra info, dverkamp. I might just have to pick up one of those auctions. 3 cases of the 12oz. meals for $65 total doesn't sound too bad - about $1.80 per entree.

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MCIera
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Post by MCIera » Tue May 22, 2007 7:48 pm

I was looking at that http://www.rip-n-ready.com/ site and thought that address looked familiar. Turns out to be the address for the Tupman Thurlow Company, a meat importer. They're probably known better by the Hereford brand of canned Brazilian beef products that are found in various food stores all over the country.

The rip-n-ready site looks like it's got a lot of errors on it, as if it were a relatively new site and the product is relatively new. Since dverkamp has some, perhaps he could share a few details about the these products? Like are they also imported from Brazil? Also the dimensions of the retort pouch (like will they fit into an FRH?). That 7oz packaging seems consistent with the 200 gram portion packaging that is common with a lot of the retort products that I've seen from Asia.

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Post by dverkamp » Wed May 23, 2007 8:52 am

The 12ox entrees that I have are imported from Brazil. The 12oz retort pouch does fit into the FRH, but it takes quite a bit of work to get it in and almost impossible to get it out when the FRH is started. My guess is that the 7oz package would work just fine.

I have not yet tried them to comment on taste.

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Post by MCIera » Wed May 23, 2007 4:24 pm

Thanks Darren, that is quite helpful in envisioning what the packaging may be like. It sounds like the 12 oz pouches may be similar to the 7oz pouches that I've seen from India and Taiwan, they're almost exactly as wide as the FRH, though you could force them in there being careful not to let the edge of the pouch cut the FRH pouch.

It's enlightening to see more retort packages being introduced into the U.S. retail market for consumers. While thermostabilized foods seem to be much more common in Europe and Asia, it doesn't seem to have caught on amongst the remaining packaged food producers in the U.S. (yes, there is a message there, I bought a jar of pickles the other day only to find that they were a product of India, and the apple juice was made in China.)

Seems that the military is starting to adapt more commercially branded items to include in ration packages to increase brand recognition appeal to the war fighter, and it's encouraging that the retort technology is gaining more commercial appeal domestically. The Rip-n-Ready products look like they have a lot of potential for people seeking retort pouched products as there isn't much on the consumer market that is primarily meat based. Additionally their price points are placed where they can be appealing for more common every day usage rather than a high priced 'emergency' item. If the Rip-n-Ready online store is accurate, it looks like most items can be purchased for less than $2 each and it looks like they have a flat $6 surface and $8 Airbore shipping charge regardless of the order size; their only stipulation is that direct purchases from the importer have to be in case lots (much as it seemed to be from the eBay link above.) Some of the items can be ordered by the single case and even with $6 shipping it is only a $2.10 each. If more than one case is ordered, the price per unit including shipping can easily go below $2 on a number of the items.

I can also see the potential for packages of assorted varieties in 12 pack cartons having some marketing potential in the warehouse stores like BJ's, Sams, or Costco. The price point would not be so high as to scare off most consumers as other retort packaged items might.
dverkamp wrote:The 12ox entrees that I have are imported from Brazil. The 12oz retort pouch does fit into the FRH, but it takes quite a bit of work to get it in and almost impossible to get it out when the FRH is started. My guess is that the 7oz package would work just fine.

I have not yet tried them to comment on taste.

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Post by MCIera » Mon May 28, 2007 9:50 pm

Interesting as the items are on the Rip-n-Ready web site, it looks like they're not the brand's first attempt at entering the retail market. I ran into these corned beef packages a while back but didn't pay any attention to the brand. So I went and picked up a couple just to get a picture to share here. I think most of us are familiar with canned corned beef (aka bully beef) in the tapered can with the key that has been used worldwide since before WWI. Aside from a couple of brands that are canned in round cans (I think for sale in Asia and Oceana,) this is the first time that I've seen corned beef in retort packaging. The side of the packing boxes also had check boxes for roast beef in gravy, and meatballs in tomato sauce.
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