Movers and Shakers in the Pet Food World

Talking Dog Food with Ilya of California Dog Kitchen

California Dog Kitchen is a small, family-owned pet food brand and manufacturer based in sunny Southern California. With a charming SoCal aesthetic to complement a dog food at the leading edge of premium nutrition and sourcing, California Dog Kitchen is bringing sustainably-minded formulas to the human-grade, fresh cooked dog food landscape.

Ilya Altshteyn, co-founder of California Dog Kitchen, chatted with me about how they got their start and some of their key brand values. With compostable packaging, and wild and organic formulas, California Dog Kitchen is helping to raise the bar when it comes to sustainable business practices and premium nutrition. For an in-depth read into our conversation, check out the extended article here (8 min read). Or you can get the highlights here (4 min read).

Spreading the Good News

🐔 Evermore Pet Food now meets 100% of the Better Chicken Commitment

With the incorporation of higher-welfare, heritage breed chickens, Evermore is pioneering new heights in ingredient sourcing for both human and pet food. Check out their article here detailing the achievement and their tour of Pitman Farms, the provider of Mary’s Chicken.

🐕‍🦺RAWZ Natural Pet Food donates $500,000 to animal rescue and other charities for 2023, and has donated $3.2 million since their inception.

RAWZ, a maker of high-protein, minimally processed foods for dogs and cats, has always been committed to donating 100% of profits to charity. For the 2023 year, they donated an incredible $500,000 through the RAWZ fund. To find out more about their motivations and which organizations they support, check out their message about the RAWZ fund.

🫎New treat and supplement company, O.T.I.S., celebrates 1st year anniversary with a $35k donation to Colorado Children’s Hospital’s Medical Dog program.

Colorado-based treat and supplement brand O.T.I.S. donated $35,000 to help fund medical dogs in children’s hospitals. They commit to donate $1 for every product sold. Next newsletter I’ll be sharing an interview I did with O.T.I.S. about their mission, products, and ways they’re trying to do right by the planet, too.

🌎Open Farm achieves B-Corp status with a score of 102.8 on their assessment.

Open Farm, a dog and cat food brand, has always been committed to humane treatment of farm animals and sustainable environmental practices. They recently cemented that mission along with their focus on being a fair and inclusive work environment by achieving a 102.8 on their B-Corp assessment (80 is required to pass the certification). They are now one of the highest-scoring pet food brands in the landscape. You can learn more about Open Farm and their B-Corp journey by clicking through on the article below.

Happy Dogs, Happy Cows, Happy Planet

West Paw, another rad pet B-Corp, has recently launched a beef stick dog treat made from cows raised on regenerative ranches in their home state of Montana.

Regenerative farming helps create a more nutrient dense protein that also improves the soil, sequesters carbon, and reduces the amounts of chemicals and fertilizers going into our ecosystems. You can learn more about the ranches involved and why regenerative farming is important over at the West Paw site here.