What Makes Our Human Grade, Gently-Cooked Pet Food Different?

Written by Peter Zakarow, Co-Founder

When we started Tom&Sawyer, it wasn’t because we wanted to launch a pet food company.

It was because we wanted something better for our own fur baby.

Like so many pet parents, we see our pets as true family members. They share our homes, our routines, often our beds... and for us, Sawyer's food sits in the refrigerator right alongside our own. So it only felt natural that our pet's meals should reflect the same care, safety standards, and ingredient quality we expect for ourselves.

Over the years, that belief has shaped every decision we’ve made — from the way we thoughtfully research and develop each recipe, to the ingredients we source, and the Human Grade facility where we prepare meals for our furry family.

This is what makes Tom&Sawyer so different from other gently-cooked pet food options.

Here’s what that truly means...

Human Grade (Every Ingredient, Process, and Final Packaged

was the first pet food company in Canada to meet the stringent AAFCO and FPFA Certified Human Grade requirements. We had to move from our own kitchen facility to a government inspected human food facility to meet these standards. It makes our product quality and food safety second to none. Our pets are members of our family, sharing our beds, and their food shares our refrigerator. This is what makes the added investment in Human Grade so

Unparalleled Ingredient Quality

We use real chicken breast (who else does that?), lean muscle meat proteins, non-GMO, organic in most cases... top quality all around, because these ingredients provide higher nutrition to pets. We focus our recipe development on providing nutrition from high quality ingredients, rather than low quality ones that need tons of vitamin and mineral supplements. Fast food is Human Grade after all, so ingredient quality is a crucial differentiator for Tom&Sawyer compared to other brands.

Nutrition First Approach

From our in-house PhD animal nutrition team to our cooking processes, we focus on maximizing nutrition for the vitality of pets. Our recipes are developed around high quality whole-food ingredients contributing their abundant nutrients, and we even cook every ingredient separately to optimize its unique bioavailability profile. This approach makes our pet meals very nutrient dense from whole-foods, with very minimal vitamin and mineral supplementation (used to meet AAFCO Complete & Balanced and NRC nutrient profiles). We are alone in the market doing this. Other brands don't focus on ingredient quality quite like us, and cook everything together. We truly respect our ingredients as they are the basis for longevity and vitality.

It Tastes Great

None of us likes eating healthy if it doesn't taste good, and if it doesn't satisfy us deeply. The same is true for our furry family members. We go to great lengths to make sure that "nutrition never tasted so good" so even the pickiest eaters LOVE our healthy Tom&Sawyer meals. We develop all of our recipes to taste amazing, and we've chosen our highly humanized approach to recipes (Italian Beef Pasta dinner anyone!?) to showcase how different Tom&Sawyer tastes and how much more variety there is for our customers.

Science-Backed Health Needs

Through every life stage that our own little Yorki-poo Sawyer has gone through, we've leveraged our amazing R&D team to develop new recipes to help with certain health needs. Novel proteins, limited ingredient recipes (for allergy support), low fat (to manage inflammation and the dreaded pancreatitis), renal support, grain-free, and senior needs — we have science-backed recipes designed with health-focused approaches that support the ever changing health realities of our four-legged family members, all rooted in our nutrition-first approach.

For Pet Parents Who Want The Best

For many years, pet food decisions were largely driven by two things: cost and convenience. And for a long time, that’s simply how the industry operated. But over the past decade, something has shifted. More pet parents are questioning what goes into their pet’s bowl. They’re thinking about ingredient quality, food safety, long-term health, and the role nutrition plays. They’re humanizing their pets — because to them, they aren’t “just animals.” They’re family. Every pet parent weighs their priorities differently, and we respect that. “You are what you eat” extends beyond ourselves to our pets — and that decision is an investment. We believe that extra effort, higher standards, and greater intention directly contribute to happier, healthier, longer lives. Many brands may speak to similar values. We simply encourage pet parents to look closely at the details, because that’s where meaningful differences reveal themselves.

Truthful & Transparent

We are truthful and transparent when it comes to estimating how many calories your pet really needs. When we compared our online Tom&Sawyer Feeding Calculator findings to other brands (or even the suggested serving on their packaging), we were shocked to see that many fresh pet food brands are significantly under-estimating the calories your pet needs (in some cases not even enough daily calories to survive), so they look less expensive. Tom&Sawyer was founded on the principles of accountability, quality and integrity. We proudly stand by these guiding principles in ALL aspects of our business.

Every decision we make at Tom&Sawyer — from research and recipe development to sourcing, preparation, packaging, and delivery — is guided by one promise:

To support happier, healthier, longer lives™ for the pets who mean everything to us.

That promise goes beyond what’s inside the bowl. It’s about the trust you place in us — to care deeply, act with integrity, and deliver every meal with intention, all in support of your pet’s vitality and longevity.

Certified Human Grade standards. Whole-food nutrition. Science-backed health support. Transparent feeding guidance. And meals that your fur baby enjoys.

That’s the Tom&Sawyer difference.

And that’s The Tom&Sawyer Experience.

If you’re ready to nourish your pet with fresh, gently-cooked meals crafted with care, we invite you to explore our menu.

👉 Shop Our Fresh, Gently-Cooked Human-Grade Meals