Packaged survival meal

Packaged survival meals, sometimes abbreviated as 'PSM', are a high-tech long-lasting food option. They are the colonists' primary food source at the very start of each game (except for a tribal start). They can also be found in cargo pods or cooked (after research) by colonists with a minimum cooking skill of 8. Packaged survival meals restore 0.9 nutrition and do not spoil, meaning they do not require cold storage. Note that they can still deteriorate. They require 0.3 nutrition of vegetarian and 0.3 nutrition of meat or animal product to produce.

Producing a packaged survival meal takes 0.6 units of nutrition in ingredients and yields 0.9 units of nutrition as a result -- a 50% net nutrition gain. This is not as efficient compared to other meals such as fine meals, so it's best not to prepare these for regular colony use. Unlike most other meals, packaged survival meals can be sold to traders and friendly settlements.

Acquisition

After researching Packaged Survival Meals, they can be crafted at a fueled stove or electric stove with 0.3 nutrition of vegetarian ingredients and 0.3 nutrition of meat. For example, 6 rice and 6 meat can create a meal.

Outlander and Orbital traders, particularly Bulk Goods traders, can carry Packaged Survival Meals.

The Crashlanded scenario gives 50 Packaged Survival Meals. The Rich Explorer scenario and the Mechanitor scenario each give 40 Packaged Survival Meals. The Sanguophage scenario gives 30 Packaged Survival Meals.

Analysis

Packaged survival meals will always be accepted by trade caravans and orbital traders in trade. Their market value is not affected by their ingredients; insect meat and human meat can be converted into packaged survival meals to sell at full value.

Comparison to pemmican

When packaged survival meals are compared to pemmican:

Packaged survival meals have slightly worse nutrition per ingredient (50% vs. 60%)
Packaged survival meals do not have the nutritional flexibility that pemmican has, only offering a single chunk of .9 nutrition vs. the precise .05 bites of pemmican. See the Pemmican page for details.
Packaged survival meals are slightly more efficient in terms of carry weight (3 nutrition/kg vs. 2.78 nutrition/kg, or ~8% more/kg carried).
Packaged survival meals are significantly more efficient in storage space (9 nutrition/stack vs. 3.75 nutrition/stack).
Packaged survival meals require 43% less work to make.
Packaged survival meals never expire, while pemmican expires after 70 days if not refrigerated or frozen.
Packaged survival meals are slightly less valuable in terms of wealth (0.038 nutrition/$ vs. 0.036 nutrition/$).
Packaged survival meals are accepted by all traders; pemmican may not be.

This makes researching and producing packaged survival meals a good choice for long-term travel or emergency rations, once a colony has both the required stove and cook.