What food to stock up on? The path to the optimal supply made easy

By the way: Hundreds of rolls of toilet paper and just as many liters of sunflower oil are not an adequate supply. When shopping, also think of your fellow human beings and don’t buy entire shelves empty if you don’t actually need the items.

Starting is not hard - building up the stock

Above all, non-perishable food items are exceptionally suitable for stockpiling. With our PantryApp, you can reliably monitor which products are slowly but surely approaching their expiration date and use them up - before they end up in the trash. Because sensible stockpiling also has to do with sustainability - but more on that in another blog. You don’t have to rush to the nearest supermarket and discount store now and spend several hundred euros. You can build up a supply bit by bit. Simply take an extra package of pasta with you on your next shopping trip. If you want to save additional money, you can of course take advantage of special offers.

You should only stock up on food that will actually be eaten. What’s the use of having a great supply if the products end up rotting because no one eats them? That’s neither sustainable nor sensible stockpiling.

These food items should always be kept in the house

In this section, we adhere very closely to the recommendations issued by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance. However, we would also like to point out that these recommendations are not set in stone. For instance, someone who does not eat green beans in any form does not need to include them in their supplies.

Let’s start right away with the topic of fruits and vegetables. Here, the ministry mainly recommends relying on canned goods. It actually makes sense, as these have an extremely long shelf life. By the way, the guide can be downloaded for free.

You can record the expiration date of the canned goods in the Smantry App and thus always keep track of what needs to be used up or repurchased.

For storage, it is recommended, for example,

· Peas and/or carrots

· Red cabbage

· Sauerkraut

· Corn

· Cherries

· Pineapple

· Tangerines

You should always have dry supplies in the house, for example

· Oatmeal

· Flour

· Pasta and/or rice

· Lentils and/or other legumes

· Special bread

The ministry recommends a total amount of about 3.5 kg. One should have about 0.357 grams of fats and oils at home and about 1.5 kg of fish, meat, and eggs or whole egg powder.

So much for the topic of ‘basic equipment’. However, not all of us are enthusiastic amateur chefs who can conjure up a five-course meal from three ingredients. Therefore, it can certainly be advantageous to also have ready-made meals, for example the famous canned ravioli, at home. Coffee should also not be missing. Honey and sweeteners are practically everlasting, but with sugar, you should make sure it doesn’t absorb water. Also think of your pets, if you have any.

The drinking water supply

The Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance recommends that every household stock up on supplies in case of potential supply shortages. Of course, water is of utmost importance.

An adult needs approximately 1.5 liters of fluid per day to survive. It is recommended to stockpile about two liters per person, with 0.5 liters intended for flushing, for example. For a 10-day supply, one should therefore calculate with about 20 liters of water. If you have pets, you should accordingly plan for more.

In addition to water, longer shelf-life fruit juices or other long-lasting beverages are also suitable for storage. The Smantry App of course offers the option to record the expiration date.

How do I store my beverage supply properly?

Beverages should be stored cool and dark. As the best before date approaches, it is advisable to consume the respective drink and replace it with a new one, which should also be recorded in the Smantry App. By the way, glass bottles have clear advantages over plastic bottles. The biggest one is probably that they are less harmful to the environment. But also in terms of taste, glass clearly has the upper hand. For one, carbonation can escape from plastic bottles over time. On the other hand, acetaldehyde can be released from the plastic if stored incorrectly, which is not a health concern, but it does alter the taste.

Tap water that has not been boiled can become contaminated quite quickly if stored improperly. However, there is also a solution in the form of tablets or powder, or water filters with activated charcoal.

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