So you’ve just spent six weeks in the bush living off ration packs, and as the finest makeshift chef in your section, you’ve got a few ideas on how they could be further improved. Who do you tell?

The first stop should be to email the Combat Rations team from the Health Systems Program Office in Land Systems Division, Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group. This team takes feedback very seriously and does its best to respond accordingly.

Senior Technical Manager for Combat Rations Emma Roccasalva said user feedback was a vital part of how ration packs were developed and refined.

A food scientist by trade with more than a decade of manufacturing experience, Mrs Roccasalva’s role is to balance food safety, nutritional compliance and user satisfaction.

“The purpose of collecting feedback is really to understand what people are actually eating,” she said. 

“If we don’t know what’s being left behind, we can’t improve it.”

Feedback ranged from detailed wish lists of dream inclusions to blunt messages calling for the removal of a disliked item. 

'If we don’t know what’s being left behind, we can’t improve it.'

Others flagged components that were frequently returned after exercises, suggesting they were not being consumed as intended, while some asked where a favourite item had gone.

That two-way communication gave the team valuable insight into how ration packs were used in different field environments and helped separate individual preferences from emerging trends.

If feedback appeared repeatedly, it was investigated and reviewed with industry partners. From there, items were reformulated, replaced or removed from future menus.

Mrs Roccasalva said one item stood out in recent feedback: the protein drink. It had been flagged often and clearly, and the team acted.

“We have taken on that feedback and we have been working on a new protein drink formulation and also packing format,” she said. 

“It’s a double benefit of improvement. We’re finally ready to put that into the next menu build.”

Not every improvement takes time. The team quickly added two snap-lock bags and a measured beverage bag so troops could mix drinks without tainting water bottles – small, practical wins directly from soldiers’ feedback.

Some feedback also prompted broader changes. Requests for halal and vegetarian ration packs led to their introduction in 2024.

Mrs Roccasalva said all feedback is welcomed and encouraged, and the team will respond to each and every inquiry.

“It helps us understand how people use the pack, where it worked and where it didn’t,” she said. 

While a combat ration pack looks the same on paper, it is rarely eaten the same way in the field, and that is the sort of insight the team needs to make them as good as they possibly can be.