August 2019 - 9

certified veterinarian nutritionist to
develop formulations that they stipulated
had to be made from whole ingredients -
some source of protein, fruits, vegetables
and brown rice.
The produce is key to providing
different types of nutrients that pets might
not get from proteins, Jarrell said.
" We use everything, " she explained.
" Like in our chicken recipe, we use
spinach, sweet potatoes and yellow squash.
In our pork recipes, we use green beans,
kale, zucchini squash and mushrooms.
" In our beef recipe, we have carrots,
potatoes and peas. "
Cat food variations include asparagus
and cantaloupe, which Jarrell said do not
go in dog food recipes.
" Melon is very palatable to cats, " she
said. " It also provides nutrients they
need to stay healthy, so the fruit and
vegetable inclusion in a cat recipe is
going to be much smaller than in a dog
food recipe, because cats need a diet
primarily of protein.
" The primary number one goal
is nutrient value and secondary is
palatability and flavor. "
In post 9/11 New York City, dogs - like
people exposed to toxic dust after the
World Trade Center attacks - were getting
sick, Mandelbaum said. The now-deceased
woman who started the forerunner of
Evermore began formulating dog food
in consultation with a veterinarian and
extended her cancer-diagnosed dog's life
for six more years, Mandelbaum said.
Incorporated in 2009, the Brooklyn,
New York-headquartered Evermore
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
Fresh vegetables, left, and greens, right, are processed in pet food at Evermore Pet
Food's facility.
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 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 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. " VGN
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9 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
VGN | AUGUST 2019 | 9
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August 2019

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