About Us
For most backpackers, breakfast is a choice between an unsatisfying "meal replacement" or spending precious time cooking. DeliciOats overnight oats makes breakfast on the trail simple, fast, healthy, and delicious. You won't even have to think about breakfast and you'll be energized all morning so you can focus on creating memories that last a lifetime.
In 2021, we set out on a mission to help backpackers and other outdoor adventurers like you to crush your day’s activities with a variety of amazingly delicious, healthy, fast, easy breakfasts that keep you full and energized, with no morning prep. In short, our mission is to help you...
DO Your Day!
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Intros
We are Phillip and Jihye (pronounced jee-hay) Barker, and we created DeliciOats in the shadow of the Wastach Mountains in Utah, where we live with our two sons and one daughter.
William George Jordan said that those facing challenges “need a clear mind and a cool head… [they have] naught to do but to do each day the best [they] can by the light [they have].” But the key is to increase the light we live by through continuous self-improvement. By choosing our challenges (like backpacking and other adventures) in order to proactively improve ourselves, we increase the light we have and position ourselves so that many would-be challenges either never cross our path, or are easily overcome with calmness and adeptness. This applies not only to physical challenges, but all challenges in life.
We strive to live by this philosophy every day in our marriage, our parenting, and our business. Like you, we are always learning and always growing.
Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check out all the DeliciOats flavors, and get free shipping on your first order of any size by joining our email list above!
Our Story
Hey, this is Phillip Barker, founder of DeliciOats! I’m super excited that you’re here to try our products! Thank you!
First, the pronunciation of DeliciOats, since many people ask how to pronounce it correctly: dee-lish-otes. But you can call it dee-lis-ee-otes or whatever you want and I won’t be bothered. So, here’s the story.
The Genesis
In April, 2021 I did a 50-mile backpacking trip with some friends through the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park. It’s consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous hikes in the U.S. (https://www.backpacker.com/stories/america-s-10-most-dangerous-hikes-the-maze-ut/), but it’s worth every effort to do it…safely (see the pictures below).
While preparing my menu for my trip I wasn’t satisfied with backpacking breakfast options on the market. Everything either took too much time, didn’t taste good, was super expensive, or was loaded with sugar and fake ingredients.
So, I decided to make my own breakfasts based on a recipe I found for chocolate granola with powdered milk, to which you add water and let it soak right before eating. Unfortunately I planned on this for all but one of my breakfasts. Unfortunate because it only solved two of my problems: it was healthy, and it was inexpensive. But it was nasty – it was watery and tasted awful – and it still took too much time and gave me cankers because I couldn’t wait 20 minutes in the morning for the granola to soften up in the liquid. It was also terribly inconvenient trying to eat it out of a plastic zipper baggy that couldn’t stand up and wouldn’t stay open.
Luckily I brought more than enough food, because by day three I decided it wasn’t worth trying to choke this stuff down anymore. So, I opted for dry protein bars for the remainder of my breakfasts. There are good protein bars out there, but they’re not delicious, and the healthy ones get expensive if you eat enough of them to be satisfied before a big day. Not my idea of a great breakfast.
The Idea Is Born
After the trip I got thinking about my favorite homemade breakfast to eat at home – overnight oats. How perfect they would be on the trail, I thought. Just steep my breakfast overnight! Super easy, absolutely no prep in the morning (when I want to be breaking camp and hitting the trail instead of taking time to boil water and wait for a freeze dried meal to reconstitute), incredibly delicious, amazingly healthy, and inexpensive. It checked every box for what a perfect backpacking breakfast should be.
Except one thing: like all the store-bought overnight oats products on the market, my homemade recipe called for steeping in milk – and I also made it with fresh fruit – neither of which would work on the trail. The idea started steeping, if you will (see what I did there?).
Then, that summer on a family camping trip to Capitol Reef National Park with some friends, we brought overnight oats in our cooler and I raved to our friends about how amazing overnight oats are, and how it would make a perfect backpacking breakfast if it were done right. My friend – whom I had been talking to about wanting to start my own business – saw how (ridiculously?) passionate I was about this, and looked at me and said, “Phillip, I think you’ve got your business idea.” Cue angelic singing and a shaft of sunlight from above.
From that point on I was a bit obsessed. If I could come up with a recipe that worked, I could share it with other backpackers and outdoor adventurers who need a solution to their breakfast woes! I started buying ingredients and creating different recipes. I went through a bunch of recipes I thought were total duds – as did everyone I asked to try it (sorry, friends and family, you know who you are). I finally isolated the problem to a particular ingredient, and removed that.
The recipes started to taste better after that, though I’ve never been able to get one of my sisters to try it again. After several months and 120+ versions I finally nailed it: the perfect overnight oats recipe for backpacking – just add (unheated) water! All that was left from there was to create the different variations for a variety of flavors.
What We Offer
I know you’re going to love DeliciOats as much as I do! (Even you, Sis – we only source high-quality ingredients! Gosh!). Try them all out and tell me which one you like the best, and give me your ideas for new flavors! Become a subscriber to our email list to get deals and occasional news, and sign up for our customizable Good Habits Program to get DeliciOats delivered to your door on whatever recurring interval you choose, at discounted prices!
Our slogan is “DO Your Day!” Yes, because DO stands for DeliciOats. But really it’s because I truly believe, to paraphrase one of my mentors, Greg Denning (https://courses.extraordinaryfamilylife.com/?ref=95648b), the vast majority of our days – even the hard ones – can be good days if we have the systems, habits, and mindset to make them so. Life can be so good. Adventure is an important ingredient in a good life. And DeliciOats makes adventure tastier, easier, and more enjoyable. When you start your day with DeliciOats, you get the sustained energy you need to get over that next hill and ultimately conquer whatever mountain – literal or figurative – you’ve got your eye on. Order some right now and get free shipping on your first order of any size, and see what I mean.
