When longtime Bozeman resident Shaun Durkee started Alpen Fuel in the fall of 2018, it was an online storefront selling high-quality, nutritious backpacking food from small brands Durkee couldn’t find in big stores.

When COVID-19 hit this spring and Durkee was laid off from his job of nine years, he and his wife Emily decided to go all in on Alpen Fuel. It was intimidating, Durkee said, but his years of working as materials manager for a local optics company gave him the know-how to take on the challenge.