How is your food made?Updated 6 days ago

We mix our ingredients into a dough and form it into small bites. The bites ride a conveyor belt through a convection oven over 100 feet long for more than 10 minutes. Each section of the oven runs at its own temperature, generally between 200 and 300°F, and the center of every piece reaches 165°F to eliminate potential pathogens. The food then air-dries and cools before we seal it in our bags.

This approach is significantly different from traditional pet food, which is rapidly pressure-cooked in an extruder. The high pressure - usually 400 - 600 psi (or ~40x our atmospheric pressure) - allows for faster cooking and more efficient production, but compromises some of the taste and nutritional quality. The extrusion process requires more uniformity in ingredients than baking, and does not allow the same use of whole foods (including whole grains, vegetables, and legumes). Extruded food is often sprayed with fat and flavoring powder after cooking to make up for the loss of flavor during steam-cooking.

Studies comparing diets made with the same ingredients that are made with baking versus extrusion show that the baked diets have a lower glycemic index, less oxidation of omega-3 and omega-6 fats, and better reported flavor and aroma. We are proud to smell and see the difference, and most pups love the roasted flavor.