I think this is an interesting idea and I've entertained it myself before.

I know that you're thinking about every-day eating, but I think about the starvation that occurs during wars and political strife. It would just make sense for all of use to have a six-month supply of such an item to keep our families alive if (when?) something happens.

I've considered that you could do this with breakfast cereal or cans of beans or even just dry-beans, but you want to avoid anything that will have to be cooked. But I supposed during starvation, a bag of ol'roy dog-food would look pretty good, too.

I think your 'luxury market' is a little bit funny.

In the movie "Repo-man" the main character opens and eats from a white generic-can labled "FOOD".

When I was a poor college student, I survived off of frozen burritos ($0.25 each).

In his cyberpunk novels, William Gibson has something like this. He called it "people kibbles" and it was free from the government in place of any welfare system. It had all the nutritional value you needed to survive but the taste was said to be like cardboard (which is why nobody ever ate more than they needed).

It is a good idea - does it have any relevance now- it is a good concept if you are far from civilization - Ancient Indians carried puffed rice and ate fruitswhich grew in the wild, we are not that lucky now to find apples on theroad side- Another ancient Indian receipe was whole wheat flour fried inbutter with brown sugar and curry leaves(which is rich in iron and other micronutrients).

We already have breakfast cereal. . . .

Prisons currently serve problem-inmates a nutritional loaf called "the brick" which is said to make them think twice about acting up in the future. I think this is what would be the best "fit" for long-term human food.

The problem is that its moisture content might be too high to allow it a really long shelf life. Items with long shelf lives are ones that have no moisture, like rice and dried beans. And these require cooking.

But if it was consumed within a week or two, the brick would probably suffice. If it got stale, it could be sliced, lightly moistened, and put into a microwave for 20 seconds.

PS: The luxury version: fruitcake.

Good Idea. We normally call them "cookies". These would be more nutritional of course.