By the author of The Faithful Prepper and The Prepper’s Guide to Post-Disaster Communications,
I have nothing but respect for Augason Farms. They’re a fantastic brand with a fantastic line of products. But if you’ll remember, it was back in October of 2021 that The Organic Prepper reported that Augason Farms was halting sales of product for 90 days.
This was due to an inability of the company to get enough food in to turn into product. A massive increase in demand contributed to the problems for the iconic prepper company as well.
It is now close to five months since the original letter was sent out. Are things looking any better? The answer to that question is something of a mixed bag.
As soon as one navigates the site, a pop-up appears with the following message:
TO OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS
At Augason Farms, our mission first and foremost is to ensure that our high quality preparedness solutions are available to as many families as possible…as quickly as possible.
Because we never want you to wait, even during this time of unprecedented demand, we’re making our wide range of Augason Farms products available at select popular national online sites and retail stores for purchase or delivery to your home.
Our website remains active for product information and will be back to take your orders. But there’s no need to wait. Our online and retail partners stand at the ready with Augason Farms products in stock right now.
Our Customer Service Team is Here to Help. If you have questions about where to find Augason Farms products or the status of your order, please do not hesitate to contact us at 800-878-0099, M-F, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (MTN).
Augason Farms Remains Fully Operational.
In fact, we are manufacturing and shipping the highest volumes in our 49-year company history to serve the families that are counting on Augason Farms.
We are working hard to further expand our production and shipping capacities to service all sales channels, including augasonfarms.com, in the very near future.
Thank you for your patience and continued support.
To request the status of orders placed before October 5, 2021, please click here to submit a Helpdesk Ticket.
Sincerely,
Mark Augason, President
Everything on the site is “out of stock.”
Upon navigating through the food that is currently available, at the time of this writing, literally, all of it is marked “out of stock.” Even all of their emergency water products are marked as “out of stock.”
Is this simply because it is all being sold out? It appears that the reason is that Augason Farms is selling through other retailers instead of directly from their company.
A quick look online will reveal that Ready Made Resources (the Amazon of prepper gear), PrepSOS.com, and, yes, even Amazon all have Augason Farms goods in stock. It’s not just online retailers, though. Now, you can find brick-and-mortar stores such as Walmart and Home Depot carrying emergency food buckets from Augason Farms as well.
The marketplace reflects what people are thinking.
We live in a world where we are hearing multiple warnings about an impending famine of global proportions. Anybody who has paid attention to the happenings in our world for (particularly) the past two years has seen the writing on the wall. Things aren’t going anywhere good.
(All the more reason to read our free QUICKSTART Guide to home canning.)
People are concerned about the state of the world right now. They’re watching what is happening in Europe. They’ve seen what’s happened elsewhere as well. And so, people are buying food. A lot of it.
It’s because of this that Augason Farms has had to change its distribution strategy at the moment. The demand is so high that the quickest way they can ensure that their product gets to Americans is to ship it to retailers rather than to individuals. I suspect the reasoning for this is that it saves a great deal of work on the part of Augason Farms.
Rather than have to manage a team that ships one bucket to California, two bags to Texas, and 58 buckets to Florida (you know who you are), now, Augason Farms can focus on loading one truck full of food for a Florida Walmart, one truck for Ready Made Resources, and another for a survival goods store in North Carolina. The logistics are easier with orders being larger, and it allows Augason Farms to focus on getting products out the door more efficiently.
That’s my theory, anyway.
Obviously, supply chain issues are a huge part of the entire American economy right now. Nobody’s able to get the raw materials or products they need at the moment for a myriad of reasons. And those reasons aren’t inclined to make exceptions. But, to the best of my knowledge, that’s what I think is going on with Augason Farms. They’re likely crunched for both raw materials and workers, and are having to boost efficiency by shifting their distribution patterns.
What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you have more to add to the conversation? Let us know in the comments below.
Again, this isn’t to detract any from Augason Farms. They’re a fantastic brand, and you absolutely should be regularly checking their site for when the product comes back into stock. And they’re not out of stock on items because they’re not making them – in fact, Augason Farms has released a number of new products of late – such as their Ready Now emergency food pouches. The reason Augason Farms is out of stock is that demand is the highest they’ve ever seen, and there is a supply chain crisis.
About Aden
Aden Tate is a regular contributor to TheOrganicPrepper.com and TheFrugalite.com. Aden runs a micro-farm where he raises dairy goats, a pig, honeybees, meat chickens, laying chickens, tomatoes, mushrooms, and greens. Aden has three published books, The Faithful Prepper, The Prepper’s Guide to Post-Disaster Communications, and Zombie Choices. You can find his podcast The Last American on Preppers’ Broadcasting Network.
So did their new method to market cause the prices to drop? Looks to me to be a lot of gouging on the online prices.
“Rather than have to manage a team that ships one bucket to California, two bags to Texas, and 58 buckets to Florida (you know who you are), now, Augason Farms can focus on loading one truck full of food for a Florida Walmart, one truck for Ready Made Resources, and another for a survival goods store in North Carolina. The logistics are easier with orders being larger, and it allows Augason Farms to focus on getting products out the door more efficiently.”
Correct.
Before c-19 I was shipping “perishable guaranteed next day” USPS,FEDEX,UPS as far away as Corpus Christi regularly for ~$36.-40. for product boxes weighing 20-25 lb. the last shipment I made to one of my first customers we secured in Charleston SC for 8 racks of lamb (22 lb.) was $176.00. And that was for guaranteed 3 day.
I had a big wedding order in September 2021 for a regular buyer. The request was arranged a year in advance for 75lbs of milk/grass fed veal rib and loin chops and 80 portions of lamb loin chops. The order was processed and packed on time sent USPS with tracking for guaranteed 3 day delivery. It sat in a processing center in Harrisburg for a week. Cost of shipping? $237.00. Cost of product loss? $1370.00 wholesale. Cost of loss of customer? Irreplaceable. Cost of loss of life of a calf and lambs for no reason? Heartbreakingly high.
Shipping is vastly more efficient if it can be done bulk and drop shipped. But portions shipped via common carrier are just to dang high with too many variables out of my control. I’ve bought from augusson for years before it was cool. Ten years ago I had 50 lbs. of pinto beans delivered from them to my front porch for $9.00, now..? It can’t make sense for them to FEDEX,etc. any more than it does for me, people get pissed and empty their carts after they see cost of shipping. And I can do nothing about it. The cost of my raw and further processing production continue to rise, and for the most part folks understand that, but the carts always get dumped when they see cost of shipping.
Thank you for mentioning the cost of the lives of the lambs and calf! I appreciate your respect for the life of your animals being held in the same high esteem as your customers are valued. My respect for that simple statement is enormous! People do not understand the intimate relationship between life and death, and the enjoyment they take in their food that comes at a price. Thank you for caring on that level as well as the economic level. RESPECT!
If memory serves, Augason Farms originally sold their products to retailers like WalMart and Sam’s Club. Putting up a website several years ago for preppers was an expansion of their business. Patronize them wherever and whenever you can.
I just got a bucket of Auguson Farms powdered eggs from Amazon for $150. It came within one day with Prime shipping. I will have to check out their website since I need more food to feed my family and I’m running out of storage space for cans.
Diane, this is outrageous price gouging. I purchased this same item about 8 months ago at 30.00 from Amazon.
You can get the same thing from My Patriot Supply for a lot less.
Here in Utah, their retail operators seem normal. Most retail stores have between 4 & 8 feet of display space and get restocked on a regular basis. Yes this also includes Walmart
I check Amazon on a daily basis for Auguson Farm products. The prices fluctuate a good deal, so I stock up when the price drops temporarily.
If you can’t see the AGENDA wants you broke and needy, I can’t help you… The business gut 2.0 is ongoing the rest of this year, and perhaps into next year…
I thought there must have been some shift in the company as I just received two cans of products yesterday that I purchased on Amazon. Thanks for explanation.
I just bot 5 cans at Winco in Mesa,, AZ. They had a really good selection & plenty of product, all reasonably priced.
I just bought Augason Farms #10 can apple slices ($12) , butter powder ($? – can’t find on receipt), peanut butter powder ($20), and honey powder ($15) at Winco. They also had whole egg, scrambled egg mix, cut celery, tomatoes, sliced potatoes, carrots, meat substitute, black bean burger mix, mango, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, and prepared meals. All in #10 cans. The eggs and some other stuff were pretty pricey; scrambled egg mix was $35ish. Winco also had 25lbs bags of rice and beans under $20.
What do you mean 58 buckets to Florida (you know who you are). I take the 5th and it wasn’t 58 buckets………..
I know we all have mixed feelings about Amazon, but I’ve gotten 6-8 Augason Farms’ items off there in the past 2 weeks, up to a delivery yesterday, so some of their product must still be in the supply chain.
We recently ordered a few items from Amazon for Augason Farms. Ours actually came earlier than expected.Maybe it depends on where you live.
If you don’t mind textured vegetable protein, check out Harmony House Foods. I just supplemented my veggies and protein with some freeze dried foods from them.
As someone said, was Augason FORCED to sell everything to the American government?
I tried some of their food. Some were OK tasting others were not but when you are starving I’m quite sure everything will taste wheely good. 😉
Uh, I went to Fedex to ship a simple tiny box (holds a cellphone), but when I asked the agent for the shipping price, I about fell over. $109 to ship overnight inside the USA and minimum $24 plus for 8 day ground shipment. I suspect the increase in diesel fuel prices might be behind this too
Shipping is getting outrageous with some companies. Mimimum to ship now can be $40 to $60+ dollars. If you choose USPS it can be a little cheaper but not by much.
I you are a produce and are in N. Florida/ Southern Georgia, I will come to you.
This is how we should do it from now on. Trusting that the ‘big box’ supply chain is not going to screw you is done. You are going to be on your own soon. Create direct relationships now between producer’s and consumers while you are still able to.
Sometimes I act like a vegetable, but I wouldn’t call myself “a produce”.
Should have checked my spelling. First line should read: ‘If you are a producer…’
I purchased a 144 serving bucket of whole egg powder from Wise pre-pandemic for less than $100. The same bucket is now about $160. Where we live there is definitely a shortage of chicken and eggs. I typically buy organic free range or pastured eggs and haven’t had any issue getting those but regular eggs have been out of stock almost everywhere. I’m thankful I purchased some of these things while they were still plentiful. Thrive Life is a great brand as well but they are a bit pricey. I purchased freeze dried chicken through them and it’s excellent quality. They do offer a monthly auto ship at a discount and you can change your order and/or cancel anytime.
Purchased my AF’s emergency package deal sets on sale where one included a grain grinder from Sam’s a few years back..they stopped selling them in the larger package deals for some reason and the prices if you could find them at other places had shot to the moon during the cov-idiot days. Now, although no “emergency” has come up like a hurricane etc since then, it looks like hyper-inflation may fit the bill for use as wallet relief until things simmer back down? Lets Go Brandon!
canned green beans (14.5oz), corn and peas (15oz) are 2/$1 at local grocery. expire 12/2024. thought Lucky Me! until lady behind me said they are 38cents a can at Aldi’s.
locally Aldi’s price is one cent less than WM
Right during the middle of c19 they had a massive sale on Amazon and at Walmart online. Not sure how I got so lucky to stumble across a YouTube video that mentioned it. I never went to amazon for it until this day. Items like potato slices for $6, honey for $7 ext. Some items were 80-90% off. My wife, neighbors and amazon delivery guy didn’t know what was going on with the cases being delivered. Shortly afterwards they mentioned the shut down. This is the interesting part not mentioned. Why would they have a massive sale if items were hard to get??
mredepot.com
Many may not know that the teleretailer HSN carries Auguson products as well as Wise Foods. HSN’s business model is to buy or contract for purchase X amount at a certain price for a certain time. It is then passed on to you at the discount bulk price, usually free shipping, AND if you wish, you can make scheduled payments on it as well as enroll in a continuity program. I have purchased many of these from here, get scheduled shipments every month. They are drop shipped from Auguson/Wise, and are all in date. Just FYI
I don’t think Augason farms is family owned anymore. That’s so disappointing
Are there any long term storage or prepper companies that make food that is organic but NOT Kosher certified?