March/April 2019 - 15

PET FOOD
sources organic-only ingredients - with
the exception of wild blueberries from
Maine - to make dog food that it ships
frozen to customers throughout the
U.S. and makes available at retail in
outlets primarily in the San Francisco
Bay and New York City areas. Most of
the produce they use comes in fresh
form - carrots, kale and dandelion
greens, for examples. Over time,
however, the company has gravitated
to purees (apples) and frozen (butternut
squash, cranberries, parsley, blueberries)
products to save on labor costs. The
company contracts out production, but
it sources ingredients directly.
While NomNomNow was dicing its
own potatoes and sweet potatoes, they
now pay to get it fresh cut.
" We used to back in the day dice
everything ourselves, " Jarrell said.
" Now we work with a company to dice
it for us - primarily any vegetable
that's going to take a lot of time for us
to actually hand cut ourselves. "
Sourcing opportunities
Using fresh produce has potential to
help the produce industry find a market
for seconds or culls - much in the way
a company called RootLab touts the
sustainability of its pet food products
that include the use of, for example,
cod parts that might normally go to
waste. The bruised apple or blemished
potato that doesn't make it to prime
time in the produce department or
foodservice distribution, or some
leftover cuttings from the fresh-cut
plant might be perfectly suitable for
use in pet food processing.
" While it may not be visually
appealing, or dare I say, ugly produce,
it still has value, taste and may have
quality, " Brooks said. " Those are
opportunities for us in the industry
to be able to use those products that
would otherwise be wasted.
" They're perfectly safe and ready
for market. It's exciting to see how we
are able to use those ingredients and
reduce food waste. "
Many pet food processors source
produce near their plants, she added.
" In California, it could come straight
from the shipping house, it can be
culled out ... or it possibly could come
from a cannery that there may be
PRODUCE PROCESS ING
15
some products not used ... or maybe an
oversupply for some reason, " she said.
For Evermore and NomNomNow, it's
important to source ingredients from
the same places that supply human
food.
" We use restaurant suppliers - the
same people restaurants go to for their
foods, " Jarrell said.
Evermore's model is similar.
" We're getting the same kind of fresh,
organic produce that people would
be eating at the nice restaurants in
L.A., " Mandelbaum said. " Our produce
NEW PRODUCTS
is pretty much southern California
for the fresh stuff, and the wild
blueberries from Maine, a few things
from Washington state and Oregon. "
In fact, to demonstrate the quality
of their products, Mandelbaum and
Wiener ate their dog food daily for
a month.
" Basically, the things you hear about
food for humans is true for dogs, too, "
Mandelbaum said. " There's a real focus
on clean eating (and) a focus on being
aware of where your food is coming
from. "
March/April 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March/April 2019
