We do better for your pets.
Truth? The pet food industry is excellent at marketing to you—but far less impressive when it comes to food quality and safety standards.
Most pet parents don’t realize there is a huge difference between government rules for human food and rules for pet food across North America.
You may see your pet as family, but regulatory bodies do not. Pet food is legally classified as animal feed, placing it in the same category as livestock diets. That means it follows much lower standards for ingredients, processing, sanitation, handling, and oversight.
We exist because Sawyer deserved better than "feed" and so does your pet.
This is rare in the industry. We don’t just use human grade ingredients, we follow full human grade standards. We only make our food in a licensed human-food facility following a standard far above pet food.
Skip the synthetic ingredients in kibble or the bacteria in raw meat: Gently-cooked food allows your pet to avoid the digestive upsets and better absorb the nutrients in their food. And it tastes great too so its a win-win.
Our team of Animal Nutritionists are experts in problem solving. We have made a name for ourselves in helping so many pets feel better with our support diets and recipes for common health issues.
The truth is, raw isn’t always the safest choice for pets or their people. After years of evolution, our dogs and cats live very different lives than their wild ancestors (hello, Netflix and treats). Instead of cooking an entire recipe at once, we individually cook every ingredient to its own optimal temperature and cooking time. That means greater control over quality, safety, digestibility and nutrition, in every bowl.
We are 100% human grade pet food. What this REALLY means:
- Human grade ingredients only
- Made in a licensed and inspected human-food facility
- Processed under human-food safety rules
- Handled and stored to human food regulations at every step
- Full documentation proving human-food standards throughout
- Sanitation to prevent cross-contamination
How it’s made
Chef-designed recipes for a reason: They know food. Playing with proteins, fresh produce and superfoods (sourced from the highest-quality restaurant suppliers), culinary experiences crafted that even you will want to try (and you totally can — we dare you). Simply put, if you won't eat it, why should they have to? Creamy Thai Coconut Chicken & Rice Recipe, yes please!
After the chef creates the flavourful dish, the Animal Nutrition team reviews and refines the recipes to ensure ingredient safety, balance and purpose, such as low fat levels or allergy-friendly. Whole foods make up 98–99% of this profile, while human grade omega oils and supplements make up the other 1–2%. How’s that for whole food nutrition?
Our R&D team has to be sure each recipe produced meets the intended profile. We perform multiple rounds of lab testing to ensure complete & balanced nutrition for essential nutrients like proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins & minerals. We don't stop until we’re 100% confident we have it right, before serving it to your cat or dog.
Solving problems with our gently-cooked pet food recipes since 2015.
Even vet-backed kibble can’t meet the nutritional profiles of real food. When it comes to pets with health conditions, survival isn’t good enough — we want our four-legged fam to thrive. Whether your fur baby needs a diet for allergies, weight management, IBD, renal support or pancreatitis, our pet nutritionists have formulated fresh cooked, gently-cooked recipes to support them. Say hello to wagging tails again.
Food for thought
One of our original animal nutrition experts, world renowned Dr. Kelly Swanson, Ph.D., has led several studies at the University of Illinois Department of Animal Sciences that showed dogs who ate fresh food absorbed more nutrients (and produced 66% less poop!) than dogs who ate kibble.
