Friday, June 17, 2011

Price Comparison: freeze dried strawberries compareed to fresh strawberries


How does the price of freeze dried strawberries compare to fresh strawberries?


The average cost of fresh strawberries per serving in the US is $0.57.  The cost of freeze dried strawberries per serving is $0.58.  (the cost per serving for frozen strawberries from the grocery store is $0.53 which is cheaper still but honestly I don't like frozen strawberries so I'm not going to buy them even if they are cheaper, but in case you like them now you know). *see source below.

For my money the extra penny per serving is definitely worth the convenience of having strawberries that last 25 years on your shelf unopened,  1 year on the self once opened, have a great strong strawberry taste and are already washed, and sliced and that I don't have to throw away because they went moldy. 


Disclaimer:  The math to figure out the comparison is a little bit tricky. First of all grocery store prices vary from store to store and change depending on the season.  I have done some research and ended up using the pricing numbers that the USDA publishes.  This is the average over the entire US. I did do some math to figure out per serving costs so if there are any errors it is absolutely my fault.  (if you want to do your own math, good for you)  The other tricky part is that freeze dried strawberries have all the water removed and therefore you can not compare weight (which is what you would normally do to compare quantities)  The best comparison I could come up with is cost per serving and even this is not ideal.



FormAverage retail priceCost per serving
Fresh Strawberries$2.28 per pound
(yield 2 cups of sliced strawberries)
$0.57 per serving
Frozen Strawberries$2.12 per pound
$0.53 per serving
THRIVE Freeze Dried$23.39 per Number 10 Can  (Gallon)  44 servings or 11.25 cups
$0.58 per serving
$0.58 per serving
Source: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/FruitVegetableCosts/fruit.htm
Source: http://www.shelfreliance.com