1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,720 Welcome back pet parent. I have another incredible brand 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:09,240 to talk to this week and I'm so excited. 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,040 Been trying to set this up for so long. 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:17,120 Y'all know how picky I am about the brands I like, about the 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,800 foods I like to feed, about the foods I recommend. 6 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:24,440 There really aren't that many and I'm just so excited. 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:28,280 Thank you, Nicole, for being here today to represent Small 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:35,160 Batch, which is one of the foods that I keep in rotation for my 9 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:37,800 animals. And I'm just, I'm so excited to 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,160 finally have you here. So welcome. 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,880 Thank you. We appreciate the invitation and 12 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,160 opportunity and I know a long time coming. 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,440 Yeah, Yeah. So I would like to just start 14 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:55,080 out by I think one of the things and the reason that I reached 15 00:00:55,080 --> 00:01:00,680 out to you guys initially is because we have some some really 16 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:06,080 incredible smaller, newer brands in in, in the market. 17 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:10,080 But there are still a couple that have you've been there for 18 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,520 a little while. You know, I think, I think 19 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:17,520 sometimes we can get caught up in the shiny new things and we 20 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,040 can sometimes forget about the like old trusty things that are 21 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,520 still doing great. And that was like one of the 22 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:29,400 reasons why I reached out to in the 1st place is because I'm 23 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,360 like, but you guys have a really great product that I really like 24 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:35,160 and I don't want people to forget about. 25 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:37,160 Like I'm sure you guys are doing great. 26 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:38,960 I don't mean people are forgetting about you, but like 27 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,720 it's important to to remind people that like, yeah, there 28 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,480 are these incredible newer companies that are out there. 29 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,040 But one, we always want to keep a rotation of foods going. 30 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,840 That's not just for me, it's not just with like proteins, but 31 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,040 it's also with brands because you just never know. 32 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,640 Like you have a pet parent, you have to diversify, right? 33 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:01,080 You just never know what's going to happen. 34 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,640 And I'm just, I'm so glad that you guys, even for like the 35 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,400 amount of time you've been around, like you're still doing 36 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:13,000 it, you're still making food in a way that somebody like me can 37 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,720 say, no, I actually really like this brand even though they've 38 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:19,920 been around a lot. Yeah, Yeah, it's definitely I've 39 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:25,160 been an interesting path in small batch compared to the way 40 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,720 that the category has been illuminated, you know, really in 41 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,240 the last kind of five to six years. 42 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:36,800 And one of the most amazing parts of the small batch 43 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:43,360 timeline is the fact that 2025 is actually our 20th anniversary 44 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,360 from, you know, the concept concepting. 45 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:53,000 Concepting there we go of, you know, a pet food have felt like 46 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:58,400 the trajectory of slow and steady and really focus is 47 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:04,760 actually a thing that sets us apart from the majority of the 48 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,360 brands that you'll find on freezer shelves right now. 49 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:15,400 You know, from from the get go. The focus was on the quality of 50 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,280 ingredients and harnessing the raw materials and their 51 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,720 nutritional integrity to craft a really beautiful product. 52 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,960 The Vogel family was living in Bay Area San Francisco around 53 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:33,160 2005. And if you're familiar with that 54 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,440 area, the culinary scene is fantastic. 55 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:45,280 There is myriad of super, super premium materials for livestock 56 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,320 and produce between Northern California, Central Valley, 57 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:53,560 Southern Oregon. And so the idea of the Slow Food 58 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:58,920 movement was kind of present in the community at that time. 59 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:03,800 And a lot of the restaurant tours were really into the 60 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:11,120 concept of taking fresh food and getting it into people's meals, 61 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,760 onto their plates, you know, into the restaurant doors or 62 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,760 local grocers as quickly as possible. 63 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:24,040 And so that real culinary artistic attitude and reverence 64 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,680 for sourcing was the onus for the brands. 65 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:36,120 And it was a really a thoughtful philosophy that required really 66 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:41,320 gradual progression. And so I think we've seen in the 67 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:48,200 last, you know, decade a lot of marketing money that you can 68 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:53,520 kind of put a facade on a brand. And small batch has been sort of 69 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:57,840 chugging along slow and steady, doing what we do truly with a 70 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,920 really small team of people for a very long time and has not 71 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:06,640 wavered from those commitments to do right ultimately by our 72 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:11,560 consumers, which are pet parents and the animals in their care 73 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,040 by, you know, not cutting corners. 74 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,200 And to do that, you can't, you can't grow rapidly. 75 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,080 You can't, you know, change your philosophies or deviate from 76 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:27,960 those methodologies and still have the same same product at 77 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:31,280 the end of the day. That is so true. 78 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:36,200 It was actually something Susan Thixton said to me a number of 79 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,760 years ago. She said that just because it's 80 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,360 in the freezer doesn't mean it's good. 81 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:46,000 Absolutely. It wasn't like I didn't know 82 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:49,200 that, but to hear it, like, I don't know, it was something 83 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:52,320 about her saying that to me. I was like, wow, like that is 84 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:56,680 not something that we talk very much about in this community 85 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:03,320 because I think one of the like, just trying to get people over 86 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,280 from the, you know, kibble aisle. 87 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:08,720 It's like, just come on, anything in the freezer? 88 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:10,520 Just get over here. Or anything in the freezer, 89 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,000 right. And that's really not, I mean, 90 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:18,600 yes, probably anything in the freezer may be better than than 91 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:21,680 a than a kibble diet, but they're definitely not all 92 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,800 created equal. And as you said, like I can, 93 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,840 there are some pet store, any pet stores that I walk in that 94 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:32,880 I'm like, OK, this is an interesting selection that you 95 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,240 have here. And then there are other indie 96 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,440 pet stores that I walk in and I'm like, this is amazing. 97 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,280 I love your freezer. And there is, there is a 98 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:44,360 difference. And I, I'm obviously not trying 99 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:49,800 to like call anybody out here, but I, I'm, I'm very, very 100 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:52,240 picky. I know I'm very, very picky. 101 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,560 And I'm just really excited to have you on to talk a little bit 102 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,040 more about small batch. So it really, it sounds like 103 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:03,680 started from the whole like foodie movement, which is a is 104 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:05,800 still a thing. And what you've kind of 105 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:10,400 described is really how you have set yourselves apart from other 106 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,760 brands like this is, this is our philosophy, this is the end 107 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,800 product that we want to provide. We want it to be really high 108 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,440 quality. And we're, it sounds to me like 109 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:27,280 it's you would rather make sure that that end product meets your 110 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:33,760 requirements versus any growth that maybe happen like you would 111 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:40,280 rather pass up growth that would require you to do something 112 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,400 you're not comfortable doing. And I like that. 113 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:44,640 I appreciate that. Yeah. 114 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:50,840 And to kind of expand from just the end product, you know, that 115 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:54,720 may be the piece that we have in retail stores on shelves that 116 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,400 consumers then are going to put in bowls at home. 117 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:02,720 But looking the opposite direction in the production 118 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:10,920 sense, it's crucial that we are contributing positively as 119 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:16,760 consumers of the food landscape in our country because available 120 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:21,680 food materials, whether it be meat or produce, those suppliers 121 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:23,520 are responding to consumer demands. 122 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:27,200 And one of my favorite things that David Vogel, one of our 123 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:32,280 founders told me when I was brand new with the team, the 124 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,840 meat that small batch sources, those animals should have one 125 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,080 bad day. And if we are making sure that 126 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:44,600 the livestock we procure has lived with respectful treatment, 127 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:49,440 species appropriate conditions so that they are not only 128 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:55,400 healthy and raised to be, you know, as nutritionally sound and 129 00:08:55,400 --> 00:09:01,080 viable as possible, but sort of our energetic contribution to 130 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:04,960 food shed, you know, has a really positive impact. 131 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:10,640 Because like we said, we want, we want from start to finish 132 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:16,200 small batch to be making, you know, net positive impact on 133 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,560 Wellness for all creatures. And it's been, it's an 134 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:27,520 interesting consideration to sort of look at the options for 135 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,600 meat sourcing, whether it be domestic or international and 136 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:36,360 sort of where factory farming or confinement style agriculture 137 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,280 fits into that picture. You know, and there are some 138 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:45,600 staggering statistics about how much of factory farmed meats is 139 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:47,760 consumed directly by the pet industry. 140 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:52,960 And so we focus so appointedly on our companion animals and we 141 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:57,400 forget that we may be directly supporting the negative life 142 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:01,920 experience of an animal that's being consumed or raised for 143 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,600 consumption, you know? Well, I and I think that's 144 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,200 important because I was certainly wanting to talk to you 145 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:14,000 about sourcing today because it is something that and yes, as 146 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:18,760 you just said, being conscious consumers is important. 147 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:25,760 And I personally, I, I do try with as much as I can to feed my 148 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:31,440 pets in a way that I do know where whatever company I'm 149 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:35,480 purchasing their, the food from, where they are getting the 150 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:38,560 ingredients from where that, that I feel comfortable with 151 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:40,640 that. And I try to do the same for me 152 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:44,360 where I am buying meats from, preferably like regenerative 153 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,600 farms and things like that. You know, similarly with 154 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:52,360 produce, having organic produce whenever possible. 155 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:56,240 I think fun. I always say this, that it to me 156 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:00,080 is a privilege to be able to have these conversations and to 157 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:05,120 be able to to purchase these types of foods to understand 158 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,120 that one understand that this is something we need to be paying 159 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:12,560 attention to, but then also to be able to source them and 160 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:15,280 purchase them. And what small batch does, in my 161 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:19,720 opinion, it like kind of takes the guesswork out of it for her 162 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,360 parents. And another thing that I wanted 163 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:27,560 to bring up, I've been talking a lot in my live videos recently 164 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:29,960 about greenwashing in the pet industry. 165 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:37,000 And I feel like, you know, one of the first things when I see 166 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:45,600 the name small batch, I'm like, OK, I'm glad I know that this is 167 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:49,000 actually a really good food because that would be something 168 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,680 that like if it weren't anybody else, I would like, I would have 169 00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:56,360 red flags of like, OK, what is this marketing that you are so 170 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:00,280 asking me? Isn't it funny now how everybody 171 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:05,800 in every category, whether it be hard goods or treats or foods 172 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:10,200 now and we have been small batch literally because that is how 173 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,400 the food is produced. You know, like I said, for 20 174 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,440 years now. It's it's not, it's not anything 175 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:20,840 that's been curated with that marketing spin. 176 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:25,840 It is a genuine reflection of, you know, the way that the food 177 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:30,080 started. It was David and Diana making a 178 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:34,600 small batch in their kitchen for, you know, people that were 179 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,480 getting food from them locally. That's incredible. 180 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:40,320 OK. So I do want to go back a little 181 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,360 bit. You, you've said so much already 182 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:47,040 about the sourcing of the food itself, the ingredients that go 183 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:51,520 into the food. Are you so OK, we are very aware 184 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:55,720 of how the animals are raised and the animals are slaughtered. 185 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:00,440 Are we? To me, I also think that that 186 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:07,920 makes the food more nutritious and energetically, which is a 187 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:09,920 whole thing that we don't have to go down. 188 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:14,200 But for me, like the energy of that food is also very different 189 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:17,000 when you know that that animal lived a good life. 190 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:22,400 So are we, are we sourcing primarily in the United States? 191 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,960 Are we, like, can you just go maybe a little bit more into 192 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,480 and, and with the produce as well, 'cause I know it's, it's 193 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:33,440 organic. Yeah, produce, yes to to call up 194 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:39,280 produce 1st 100% of what small batch sources meets the 195 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:41,080 standards that we're going to talk about. 196 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,360 And that unto itself sort of fits in that bucket where we 197 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:49,960 started of what makes small batch different and fortunately 198 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:56,200 or unfortunately marketing and AFCO and what is permissible as 199 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:01,480 far as claims on packaging. They don't let us say directly 200 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:06,200 100% of what we do meets these standards. 201 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:10,160 And that's really where particularly brands in the 202 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,880 freezer have the opportunity to cut corners. 203 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:18,600 It might be 60% of what we do and the other 40% is of a 204 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,040 different caliber, you know, and everything in between the 205 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:28,000 possible span of combinations. But as far as produce and herbs 206 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:32,680 that we procure, 100% of everything is certified organic. 207 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:37,560 It is all domestically procured almost exclusively from the West 208 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:41,720 Coast of the one very one exception is the chia seeds and 209 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:44,120 it kind of fits with the same philosophy as the meat that we 210 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:46,560 procure. There is always going to be a 211 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:53,240 best place for some of these materials to be raised, so where 212 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:57,000 things should grow naturally to be their most robust, nutritious 213 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:58,520 selves is a part of the equation. 214 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:03,000 But meat that we procure, the philosophy has always been to 215 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:09,200 buy as close to production as possible from small farms that 216 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:14,280 we contract with directly. That's one of the 1st and most 217 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,280 important pieces. That is again a difference with 218 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,920 small batch. A lot of production is done 219 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:25,520 through Co manufacturers. Well, they will go out and 220 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,440 actually procure according to whatever set of standards you 221 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:33,120 set forward. But basically you are putting it 222 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:38,280 in the hands of a third party to do what you would do to have the 223 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:43,480 same, you know, stringent evaluation of a potential 224 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,480 potential source. So for us to contract directly 225 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:53,000 with small farms that have demonstrated competency and 226 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:57,760 commitment to the best of animal husbandry that we can find is 227 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,600 piece One. Finding them as close to 228 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,880 production is a component. And then the best quality that 229 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:09,240 we can source to make sure that we can guarantee our production, 230 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,000 you know, and get things as fresh to the facility as 231 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:21,360 possible is piece #2 it's, I don't think discussed enough how 232 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:26,040 fluid the meat industry can be. You know, we've navigated a lot 233 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:30,280 of changes in the last five years, particularly since COVID, 234 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,320 You know, but even small suppliers, they're acquired, 235 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,520 they have new ownership practices may change, 236 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:42,960 certifications may change. So it is kind of an an ongoing 237 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,920 process of adjustment. But as far as meat procurement, 238 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:52,000 90% of what we source is currently all domestic. 239 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,480 The exceptions would be rabbit, which is coming from France. 240 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,920 We had to move our domestic rabbit supplier. 241 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:05,960 But the the partner that we have actually produces for culinary 242 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:10,920 use rabbit and then we have been able to get secondary and 243 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:15,960 tertiary sourcing for certain materials that we use a lot of 244 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,520 beef is a great example. You don't want to pigeonhole 245 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,960 yourself by having one supplier only because then when something 246 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:26,040 happens, what do you do? We've got 1 grass fed beef 247 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:30,440 supplier in New Zealand that has done a little bit for us. 248 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,560 That is an amazing. The quality of the meat and the 249 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:36,360 balance of protein to fat is absolutely beautiful. 250 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:41,200 So it is a little bit flexible, but domestic is our first 251 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:45,560 priority to meet that quality and accessibility to our 252 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:47,240 proximity to production standard. 253 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:50,840 Well, and I think that's a a very good point because I even 254 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,760 may like, I'm like, well, is it US, is it US? 255 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:59,800 But there are certainly cases where you can find better 256 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:01,480 overseas. Absolutely, yeah. 257 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:07,880 We have become very tied to US being a standard and that's not 258 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:12,120 as cut and dry. There are beautiful resources 259 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,240 all over the world. It's what's that particular 260 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,160 supplier that you're looking at? Yeah, exactly. 261 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:23,240 So one of the things that I'm curious about and I hope, I hope 262 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:24,960 it's OK to bring this up. I can edit it. 263 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:30,720 If not, one of the things that I, I was talking with your team 264 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:35,000 about at Super Zoo last year, well prior to Super Zoo, but I, 265 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:40,240 I got to in person was there was there was big to do about a year 266 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:45,560 ago where some of the recipes formulation, some something, 267 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:49,680 something changed, something in the supply chain changed and the 268 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:55,120 formulation needed to be redone very quickly with a couple of 269 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:58,080 synthetic, I don't, I don't remember exactly what it was, 270 00:18:58,080 --> 00:18:59,680 some synthetic vitamins and minerals. 271 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:04,040 It was very minimal, but I know that reformulation was, like, in 272 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:07,960 the works. And just to kind of keep the 273 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:12,600 standard of transparency, that was a thing that happened. 274 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,560 Are the new recipes out yet? Can you talk a little bit about 275 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:17,880 how you do formulate your recipes? 276 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,760 And, you know, when something like this comes up, you just 277 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:26,040 obviously want to make sure that pets are having access to the 278 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,640 food that they're used to having as quickly as possible. 279 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:31,480 Yeah. Absolutely. 280 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:37,160 I think that the nature of utilizing organic materials and 281 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,400 organic being, you know, in their natural form is the 282 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:44,440 inherent variation. It's a thing that we embrace 283 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:49,920 wholeheartedly as the best way to deliver, you know, sound 284 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:55,560 lifelong Wellness to our pets. And then we also have to balance 285 00:19:55,560 --> 00:20:00,120 that with a commercial pet industry and AFCO feeding 286 00:20:00,120 --> 00:20:04,040 guidelines and nutrition panels where we sort of trained 287 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:11,720 consumers to be very stringent in thinking that a recipe will 288 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:17,360 deliver exact nutrients and be uniform with every single feed. 289 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:20,800 And that's actually not nature's design. 290 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:25,200 You will never find 2 pieces of beef that have the exact same, 291 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:29,560 you know, amino acid inclusion or fat to protein ratio. 292 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:33,800 You will never see 2 heads of cauliflower or bunches of celery 293 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,360 that are identical in their makeup. 294 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:40,320 And like we said, that's why animals naturally have 295 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:43,280 variation. But what we were looking at last 296 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:49,000 year was that ongoing process of raw material audits. 297 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:54,040 We are continually balancing any new supplier that might come 298 00:20:54,040 --> 00:21:00,640 into the mix with the individual ingredient analysis for that 299 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:05,120 nutritional profile and then reassessing the impact on the 300 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:11,040 recipe as a whole. It's tricky for us as a brand to 301 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:16,120 negotiate the necessity for that really consistent formulation 302 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:21,920 and nutritional panel with the knowledge that a lot of our 303 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:26,080 consumers don't rotate. They don't rotate between 304 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,360 proteins available with small bats or they're not rotating 305 00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:31,560 between small batch and other brands. 306 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:37,880 And so to look at a single formula and say this has to meet 307 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:42,080 every single standard, every single batch, there are there 308 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:43,720 are things that can shift that balance. 309 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:48,280 So as part of kind of the full audit, we are always going back 310 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,640 to the drawing board to look at, you know, which, which 311 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:55,040 components of this can we shift? Could we add a little bit of 312 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,280 this? Could we use a different cut of 313 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:01,640 meats to offset, you know, something that may have changed 314 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:05,920 as far as raw material supply or supplier like I mentioned? 315 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:09,520 So the decision was made in the freeze dried booths to add the 316 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,720 glycinates, which they're not synthetic vitamins, they're 317 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,880 actually just naturally occurring minerals that are 318 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:20,200 bound to protein. So they are really easy to 319 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,720 absorb. It's the most natural way to 320 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:28,280 supplement anything with the least inclusion in a formula. 321 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:32,200 And for the sake of our consumers, rather than risk, 322 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:35,200 we'll put risk in quotes. Rather than risk having a 323 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:40,680 customer who's using 1 formula exclusively potentially see, you 324 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:45,920 know, a deficit in a single nutrient, we decided we're going 325 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:50,920 to utilize this as kind of a plan for the interim and really 326 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:56,640 evaluate what we can to get these back out of the diet and 327 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:00,720 make sure that we have adjusted. We've always got new information 328 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,920 to to consider and looking for new suppliers for things that we 329 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:08,520 might want to utilize when we're shifting those recipes around. 330 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:13,080 But the really exciting news is the new formulas across our 331 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,200 categories are just starting to roll out. 332 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:22,920 We have already touched our frozen raw cat diets and some 333 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,640 really beautiful brand new packaging, which we're going to 334 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:30,280 be debuting at the big global pedestal coming up in two weeks 335 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:34,600 is just just starting to hit retail shelves. 336 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,760 So in addition to the new styling, those recipe updates 337 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:40,760 are going to be making their way into the landscape. 338 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,520 The raw cat sliders will be the first that we see, and then 339 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:48,240 those dog freeze dried sliders is gonna be the next category. 340 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,880 And then we did a little bit of an overhaul on our frozen 341 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,600 lightly cooked sliders for dogs as well. 342 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:59,520 So it's really been, dare I say, a labor of love and an 343 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:04,400 incredible amount of work. But you know, the effort to get 344 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,800 it right and ensure that nutritional viability and the 345 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:12,080 recipe integrity is, you know, it's not something that you can 346 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:16,840 do quickly for sure. And we want to maintain maintain 347 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:21,680 a really palatable recipe without disrupting, you know, 348 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,080 what pets have become accustomed to. 349 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,440 Because we certainly have a large percentage of the small 350 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:32,000 batch customer base that has found our products for a really 351 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:37,000 particular set of reasons, be it ingredient sensitivities or you 352 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:42,080 know, just a picky pet, but really likes the flavor of the 353 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,200 formula. So there's Thugs of 354 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:49,600 Considerations, but my goodness, it's been, you know, long time 355 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:54,160 coming and we are excited to see these new formulas rolling out. 356 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,400 Yeah. I'm, I mean, I'm glad when you 357 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:03,640 started that you brought up the fact that it is difficult. 358 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:10,840 It can be very difficult to reconcile the fact that when we 359 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:16,800 are feeding whole fresh foods, like no animal in the wild lives 360 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,440 off of, you know, eating off of a spreadsheet, but just 361 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:26,000 inherently being a commercially available pet food. 362 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,880 You have these rules and regulations and guidelines that 363 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:35,400 you have to stick to, to, to be quote, complete and balanced 364 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,880 based on, you know, if the AFCO guidelines that that the FDA has 365 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,160 adopted. And it's really, it's, it is 366 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:47,760 something that I talk a lot about with different brands 367 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:52,480 because the brands that I have on like yourself, it is 368 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:56,080 something that you really wrestle with all the time. 369 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:00,600 Knowing that, you know, at least if we can get there without 370 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:05,520 adding in all these extra vitamins and minerals, heaven 371 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:10,120 forbid a, a premix, right? If we can get there with all 372 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:12,320 whole fresh foods. That's even though some people 373 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:16,040 would argue that feeding every single meal, every single bite 374 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:20,600 100% complete and balanced may not actually be the best thing 375 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:24,400 for our dogs and our cats. At least if we're doing it with 376 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:29,680 all fresh Whole Foods and we're not adding in synthetics at all, 377 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:35,240 then I think their bodies can kind of take what it needs and 378 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,680 get rid of the rest a whole heck of a lot easier than if we are 379 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,320 doing it with synthetics. Yeah, absolutely. 380 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:45,880 That utilization, the consumption, utilization and 381 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:50,480 illumination is all, you know, things that we have to consider 382 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,440 when we're feeding our pets. And we've always looked at it as 383 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:58,520 a nature's inherent design is the best way. 384 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:03,800 If we are really using 100% whole food materials, we've got 385 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,280 that variance built in. Now we have to come up with the 386 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:11,600 formula that sort of does touch those necessary spreadsheet 387 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:18,200 boxes and you know, then delivered the nutrients in that 388 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:21,400 most usable, viable form possible. 389 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:25,000 Yeah. Well, and I think I actually, I, 390 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:30,320 I categorize the idea that every single bite needs to be fleet 391 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:33,680 and balanced AFCO standards as a huge misconception. 392 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:38,200 Yeah, yeah. Are there any other 393 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:42,000 misconceptions that just small batches of brand likes to kind 394 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,680 of dispel for people in the in the pet food arena? 395 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,640 Who likes to dispel? I do think that some of the 396 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:59,560 human food philosophies as far as diet approaches that have 397 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:03,800 been adopted by the pet industry have really interesting to look 398 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,800 at in some regards. There's some interesting kind of 399 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:12,280 over sciencing and idealization of what we want to deliver with 400 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:17,040 every single bite. Like he said, I, I don't know 401 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:21,360 that we could ever impose 1 standard or metric of measure 402 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:25,800 that we could call most ideal for every single pet. 403 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,840 And it's definitely a reflect. It's reflected in the small 404 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:37,160 batch products with the variety of forms that we have come up 405 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:41,000 with and the variety of pets that we feed the other industry 406 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,200 myths. That's a good one. 407 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:46,880 It's OK. I think we, yeah, I mean, we 408 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,160 could talk about cold cuts of meat. 409 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,440 That's not exactly a myth. But since we did touch upon it a 410 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:57,920 little bit earlier, the the sort of greenwashing and assumption 411 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,600 that because food is in the freezer, it's good. 412 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:04,840 You know, we've used sort of jokingly the description that 413 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:10,600 raw food has been capitalized and what was once a much 414 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:16,680 narrower segment has become the focus of a ton of bigger brands 415 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:20,920 that want sort of a piece of the fresh food movement. 416 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:28,440 So it's easy to pay a formulator and use a lot of money to get a 417 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,800 food produced and every single ingredient. 418 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:36,240 And then the summation of the recipe as a whole can be very 419 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:40,400 bottom of the barrel, least expensive possible all the way 420 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:44,840 up to super premium, thoughtfully sourced for the 421 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:49,400 nutritional value and anywhere in between. 422 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:54,320 And there, there are a lot of claims of caliber and quality 423 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,280 that do read really well on bags. 424 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:02,880 But when you start to dig below the surface, meat in particular, 425 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:09,600 there is a whole variety of forms for pieces of meat to 426 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,800 actually procure. And it's incredibly unique that 427 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:17,320 small batches use small batch uses exclusively hole cuts of 428 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:22,880 meat. We don't use any 0 preprocess or 429 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:27,640 rendered trim for mechanically separated meat. 430 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:33,080 Mechanically separated meat is becoming a little bit more of a, 431 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,000 you know, common term in premium pet food. 432 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:41,880 But to do the short summary or definition of it, it is 433 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:45,600 essentially the rendered leftovers after the good cuts of 434 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:50,200 meat have been removed from a carcass to be sold generally for 435 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,920 human consumption in high end restaurant and grocery. 436 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:59,520 So what is left after that processing is some amount of 437 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:04,720 meat, but it is largely skin fat and frame or bone. 438 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:09,600 Those carcasses, dozens and dozens and dozens all get ground 439 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,400 down in a machine. And then anything that can be 440 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:17,880 liquefied is sort of forced through this big sieve in a 441 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,120 centrifuge. So if you think back to years 442 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:25,280 ago when McDonald's pink slime entered people's awareness, 443 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:27,280 that's mechanically separated meat. 444 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,720 And the real interesting realization was people 445 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,400 discovered, oh, wait, there's no chicken in your chicken Nuggets. 446 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:39,320 So if we're using that as a component in what is supposed to 447 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:45,960 be a biologically appropriate way to feed our animals, we have 448 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:51,440 to start to wonder how much usable protein is actually left 449 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:55,520 in that material. Same goes for trims. 450 00:31:55,520 --> 00:32:00,600 There are a whole variety of calibers and qualities of trims. 451 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:05,080 It's a much easier way to procure meat and it is also a 452 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,560 less expensive material to use. You'll generally have a lot more 453 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:15,080 fat in those two forms, and so it's an easy way to hit your 454 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:20,120 caloric meat. It's definitely, definitely 455 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:24,040 prevalent in raw food and it's not something that you have to 456 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:29,400 call out on an ingredient label because ATCO definitions have a 457 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:33,520 lengthy description for what you are allowed to call out as 458 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:39,160 chicken or beef. So it's a way for manufacturers 459 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:42,800 to buffer their supply because it's easy to procure, so you 460 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:44,840 don't have to worry about running out. 461 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:50,480 It's also much, much less, you know, pennies on the dollar in 462 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,840 certain cases to procure those materials. 463 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,800 So it gives you a nice margin, but it also helps stretch 464 00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:00,880 whatever higher caliber or quality materials you are using 465 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,160 so that, you know, the amount of food that you are able to 466 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:10,360 produce goes further. But that's maybe not so much of 467 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:14,200 A myth as a, you know, raw food secret. 468 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:15,920 Yeah. Yeah. 469 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:21,640 And the the length that small batch has gone to, to never ever 470 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:27,160 in any of our 20 years use those materials is I think something 471 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,800 that doesn't, doesn't get communicated enough because it's 472 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,440 hard. It's hard to teach people all of 473 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:37,320 the backgrounds of what raw material procurement can look 474 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:40,240 like. Yeah, well, I think so many 475 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:47,360 people are just completely unaware of, first of all, what 476 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:53,160 the what Afco is actually there for, what the the big pet food 477 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,320 is actually there for. And so they don't understand 478 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,560 that chicken, what they think of as chicken when they go to the 479 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:02,520 grocery store, isn't what the definition of chicken is in. 480 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:05,320 Pet food. Like they just or feed, they 481 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:09,600 don't, you know, it's, it's and it's so complicated and it's so, 482 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:15,199 I mean, you as a consumer, you don't even have access to those 483 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:17,080 definitions unless you purchase them. 484 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:20,080 Like it's it is the most insane thing. 485 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:24,080 Yeah, yeah, an. Insane thing to me but. 486 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,199 And even if you do, then you're reading it as words on a piece 487 00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:31,960 of paper. It's not a visual in front of 488 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:33,760 you. It's to give you that sort of 489 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:37,360 pictographic dictionary. Of what? 490 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,719 What does that mean? What are all the possibilities? 491 00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:43,360 And I do. I know that the consumer belief 492 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,040 that, well, raw food wouldn't use that. 493 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:51,400 All raw food has to be decent. Yeah, that's not at all. 494 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:54,800 No, that's not the case at all. In fact, I mean, there are 495 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:56,800 definitely. I, I actually just looked up 496 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:00,320 another raw food company in Australia recently because 497 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,920 Colgate Home Olive bought them, which is Hills. 498 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,560 And I looked him up online and I'm like, what is this? 499 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:08,760 Who is this? And looks like something I would 500 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:12,240 never in my wildest dreams feed to my animal. 501 00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:16,480 But it's still a raw food and a log that you buy in the freezer. 502 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:20,640 And it's, it's I'm, I'm very interested. 503 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:24,680 As you said, these big players are starting to like see the 504 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,040 writing on the wall and that, you know, consumers want better 505 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:32,600 for their pets And so they are dipping their toes in and buying 506 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:35,000 up. You know, some of these 507 00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:39,400 companies to me, like this one particular company that was just 508 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:43,000 purchased in Australia was like a frozen version of Kim. 509 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,160 But I mean, when I'm looking at the ingredient label, I'm like, 510 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:50,080 yeah, I know. But it's it is very interesting 511 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:53,240 to see. And I'm sure you guys have seen 512 00:35:53,240 --> 00:35:56,040 in the, in the 20 years and I think I don't remember how late 513 00:35:56,160 --> 00:36:01,160 you said you've been there a good chunk of those years, This 514 00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:08,200 change in this trajectory and in the pet food industry overall, 515 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:10,640 which I overall I think is a good thing. 516 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:12,560 You know, I was even talking to somebody yesterday and I was 517 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:15,720 like, as much as I don't like the farmer's dog, for example, I 518 00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:19,200 don't like their recipes. I am very grateful for their 519 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:24,680 marketing budget because they have, they have raised awareness 520 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:30,000 to so many people that you don't have to feed that dry junk 521 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:33,480 that's sitting in your pantry to your pet every meal for the rest 522 00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:35,760 of their life. And I'm like, as much as I don't 523 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:39,480 like their formulation, I am very grateful that they have the 524 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:42,640 I don't have many millions to put a Super Bowl in. 525 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:47,240 Yeah, isn't that wild? How many thousands of dollars 526 00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:52,120 for each second does that cost? But you know, we, we will 527 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:57,680 gratefully say the same because we have had these players not 528 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:01,240 just in fresh food, you know, there were a few in kibble that 529 00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:04,200 actually reached consumers with that messaging. 530 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:07,280 You need to be looking at what goes into the food that you're 531 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:10,280 buying. And it may start with reading it 532 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,080 off of the packaging ingredient by ingredient. 533 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:18,800 And then it, it elevates from there as awareness is 534 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:23,080 established in pursuit of more understanding, you know, sort of 535 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:26,280 sets in. And that's, that's fantastic. 536 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:31,480 We have to spend all of our pennies on the raw materials, 537 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:36,280 the production and distribution out to our, you know, retail 538 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:39,880 partners that we can. No Super Bowl money yet, 539 00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:41,240 unfortunately. Yeah. 540 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:44,320 Well, I, I just have a couple more questions for you. 541 00:37:44,720 --> 00:37:48,400 One is, first of all, I'm actually kind of surprised that 542 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:50,640 you said there's new packaging rolling out, 'cause I feel like 543 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,400 you guys just rolled out new packaging in the past couple of 544 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:58,560 years, which was beautiful. We we started to update you 545 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:01,480 probably are thinking of our super booster by. 546 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:06,320 So those are those are our treat or Topper option and those were 547 00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:11,320 the very first products that sort of gave nod to the new 548 00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:18,200 styling, the diets, the frozen raw cat, the dog raw formulas, 549 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:21,400 those actually not been touched in more than a decade. 550 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:26,840 So this is a big deal for us to redo the look of small batch. 551 00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:33,760 But the reception to it so far has been really, really positive 552 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:37,080 and small batch has such a distinct look on shelf. 553 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:42,840 And I know it's a big deal when anything changes and I am really 554 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:47,040 confident that our retailers and customers are going to have, you 555 00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:51,160 know, a really big, really big positive reactions to the new 556 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:52,160 look. Yeah. 557 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:58,760 Well, I, I do want to touch on the fact that you do have more 558 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,480 than just the food. So if you want to talk a little 559 00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:05,840 bit about like the whole line that you do offer, I'd love to 560 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:08,040 give you that opportunity. Absolutely. 561 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:14,360 The evolution from a great raw food has sort of been a 562 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:19,360 reflection of what the the small batch loyalists have requested. 563 00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:27,320 And that that feeding philosophy that some fresh food is vastly 564 00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:32,440 better than none has always been really near and dear to our 565 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,680 hearts. Because you mentioned we've got 566 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:39,880 a whole variety of influences, be it accessibility to 567 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:45,120 independent retail budget, pet needs, maybe medical conditions, 568 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:49,280 you know there there are drivers for people in what they choose, 569 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:52,000 what they're able to feed, what they choose to feed, what works 570 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:53,880 best for their routine and their household. 571 00:39:53,920 --> 00:40:00,000 And so sort of being able to broaden the variety of choices 572 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,880 has. It's been amazing and certainly 573 00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:05,840 a way for us to get more options into the landscape. 574 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:10,720 So we have those complete unbalanced diets that are in a 575 00:40:10,720 --> 00:40:15,600 few formats in the freezer. We do the raw diets both for 576 00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:21,440 dogs and cats and I always love to mention our cat diets for a 577 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:27,560 raw food are one of the best starter raw recipes available. 578 00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:32,200 The first food that we made was actually for blue the cats who 579 00:40:32,240 --> 00:40:34,920 people have seen recently on our Instagram. 580 00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:40,360 But we sell more chicken cat biters than my gosh, almost any 581 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:44,600 other skew that we produce, which is kind of wild, but we do 582 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:47,840 those complete and balanced raw diets in the freezers. 583 00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:52,360 You will also find the lightly cooked recipes for dogs. 584 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:58,040 That was sort of an adaptation because we had more and more of 585 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:01,360 our consumer base that was looking to do a home prepared 586 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,120 diet. And a lot of them were finding 587 00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:10,040 that for a variety of reasons, Either their veterinary partners 588 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:15,240 had some resistance to raw or they had maybe an animal or 589 00:41:15,240 --> 00:41:22,080 human in their home that had immune issues and they felt like 590 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:26,520 doing something that was very gently cooked was a safer point 591 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:30,640 of entry. So those diets for us are sous 592 00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:34,320 video, they are fully cooked. So the temperature still comes 593 00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:41,600 up to 165° for pasteurization of pathogens per FDA safety 594 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:44,400 regulations. But what we found with those is 595 00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:49,840 the proteins themselves are a bit more digestible for animals 596 00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:53,320 whose digestive tracts just aren't as robust. 597 00:41:53,720 --> 00:41:57,000 And that can be for a whole variety of reasons, be it age, 598 00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:00,240 they're brand new to fresh food for the first time in their 599 00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:06,240 lives, a medical issue like we mentioned, that is a really fast 600 00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:10,280 growing category for us and we're super excited. 601 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:13,800 We're going to be expanding the proteins in those lightly cooked 602 00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:18,160 sliders announcing on my global. So we will have two brand new 603 00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:21,640 recipes to share with our consumers soon, which we are 604 00:42:21,720 --> 00:42:26,520 thrilled about. Outside of the freezers, we have 605 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:29,480 the complete and balanced diet available in freeze dried 606 00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:31,760 formats. So that's going to be freeze 607 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:36,280 dried sliders for dogs. And those recipes are almost 608 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:39,960 identical to their frozen raw counterpart, but made in the 609 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:43,840 shelf stable format so that you can rehydrate, keep them in your 610 00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:46,720 emergency kit. Perfect for all of the travel 611 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:51,440 dog sitter versatility, backup plan needs that you might come 612 00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:52,880 up with. And we have the complete and 613 00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:56,760 balanced freeze dried meal bites for cats as well. 614 00:42:57,560 --> 00:43:02,200 Those are such a cool mix in for people that might do some raw 615 00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,120 for their cats, some canned food for their cats. 616 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:09,240 They're a 98% meat bone organ recipe. 617 00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:12,680 My dogs actually love them as treat bites. 618 00:43:12,800 --> 00:43:17,560 So I use them as a giant bag of, you know, mix insurance and 619 00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:23,280 addition to my training coach when we go on our walks and then 620 00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:27,760 we have a variety of small batch treat options. 621 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:31,520 The Super boosters that we mentioned before, we created 622 00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:37,640 them really to be a check all the boxes super high value 623 00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:44,080 treats or meal Topper recipe. We have 95% meat bone organ in 624 00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:48,960 all of those varieties. Each protein is then paired with 625 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:53,480 a specific superfoods. So we get to have a little bit 626 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:56,880 of variety in that functional benefit. 627 00:43:57,520 --> 00:44:01,320 And then those are also augmented with a fermented 628 00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:04,800 probiotic. So the pairings for those across 629 00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:10,760 the recipes are chicken with turmeric, beef with papaya, 630 00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:17,000 Turkey with cranberry, duck with lion's mane mushroom, which 631 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:22,440 happens to be one of my favorites, lamb with BlackBerry, 632 00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:27,160 pork with chamomile and blueberry, which is probably my 633 00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:31,200 second most favorite, and then a rabbit bite that's paired with 634 00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:36,040 dandelion greens. So you kind of get that ideal 635 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:41,640 super meat centric, minimal ingredient recipe, but with 636 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:46,480 those super foods that might be used to leverage specific 637 00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:49,640 Wellness needs and offer that little bit of digestive support 638 00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:53,360 and you know, versatile, use them how you need as your treat, 639 00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:56,320 as your bowl mixed in and they are appropriate for dogs and 640 00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:59,520 cats. That's I feel like overlooked 641 00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:01,680 thing with a lot of the small batch products. 642 00:45:01,680 --> 00:45:05,440 There's a lot of there's a lot of versatility in what we have 643 00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:08,840 created in the single ingredients freeze dried treat 644 00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:11,000 lane. We have had our freeze dried 645 00:45:11,040 --> 00:45:14,360 hearts for a while. Those are available in chicken, 646 00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:19,720 Turkey, beef, lamb and pork. All of the larger proteins are 647 00:45:19,720 --> 00:45:22,760 chopped up into pieces and the chicken hearts are whole. 648 00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:27,080 And then earlier this year, we added freeze dried livers to the 649 00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:29,640 lineup. So hearts and livers being two 650 00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:32,800 of the most nutrients and organs in the body that you can feed. 651 00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:36,880 And maybe for people that aren't using a fresh food diet 652 00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:42,120 exclusively or they want to add that really nutrient rich organ 653 00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:46,960 meat as just their treat portion of their feed routine of their 654 00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:51,080 freeze dried livers are that one single ingredient chopped up and 655 00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:54,960 freeze dried. I will point out an interesting 656 00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:57,800 thing with some single ingredient treats is that you 657 00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:03,240 can still actually use rendered materials and then repress and 658 00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:08,960 form them into pieces that sort of look like they were once just 659 00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:13,880 cold cuts of meat. But small batches livers are 660 00:46:13,880 --> 00:46:16,960 never pre processed. There's no preservative agents. 661 00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:20,800 They are clean and simple. And those are available in beef, 662 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:26,520 chicken, duck, which is kind of a neat 1, lamb and pork. 663 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:29,960 And then my goodness, I know it goes on. 664 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:34,360 We have the bone broths. We do a simple frozen 3 665 00:46:34,360 --> 00:46:37,480 ingredient broth. That's kind of what we call the 666 00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:41,320 small batch purist recipe. It is bones, water and carrot, 667 00:46:41,880 --> 00:46:45,080 so unique that we don't use any apple cider vinegar in that 668 00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:48,360 recipe. It's just slow centered so we 669 00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:51,760 get all the absorb, you know, absorption or breakdown of that 670 00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:54,920 really good mineral collagen glucosamine into the broth 671 00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:58,040 itself. But it's a choice option for 672 00:46:58,280 --> 00:47:02,240 picky pets that don't like the flavor or the smell of that 673 00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:05,520 vinegar or pets that may have a condition that would put them in 674 00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:08,320 the histamine intolerant category. 675 00:47:09,720 --> 00:47:14,000 So nice that we've got, you know, that option for that crab 676 00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:16,680 doesn't get talked about a lot histamines. 677 00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:21,120 But the other option for the bone broths is our shelf stable 678 00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:23,920 broths. We've called it a restorative 679 00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:29,400 recipe and each of those has a functional, A functional herb 680 00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:33,720 that's kind of an adaptogenic inspired recipe and prebiotic 681 00:47:33,720 --> 00:47:36,320 fiber. The shelf stable broths are 682 00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:40,960 available in chicken, beef, venison and pork and they're 683 00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:46,880 unique for a myriad of reasons. One, we do not use a typical 684 00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:49,640 shelf stabilization process on them. 685 00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:53,040 Majority of the food landscape will use what's called retort, 686 00:47:53,240 --> 00:47:56,600 which is a high heat exposure sort of flash treatment to 687 00:47:56,600 --> 00:48:00,480 mitigate pathogen presence to make it shelf stable or 688 00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:04,360 irradiation. Those are the two fastest most 689 00:48:04,360 --> 00:48:09,160 commonly accessed method. Our broth is actually made shelf 690 00:48:09,160 --> 00:48:13,280 stable with aph neutralization process. 691 00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:17,320 So we leverage that apple cider vinegar that is in these broths 692 00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:21,560 and lemon to make it aph neutral environment that prevents 693 00:48:21,720 --> 00:48:25,120 pathogen growth. So we don't alter the 694 00:48:25,120 --> 00:48:29,120 ingredients themselves with any of those sterilization processes 695 00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:34,400 and we keep the efficacy of the functional pairings sound 696 00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:39,640 because it's great if you put ashwagandha in a recipe, but if 697 00:48:39,640 --> 00:48:43,520 it has been so heavily heat treated or processed, it's not 698 00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:46,400 viable by the time you're consuming it or your pet is 699 00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:48,640 consuming it. Then we've sort of loved the 700 00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:51,840 original intent. But the pairings are a beef with 701 00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:58,480 lavender, the chicken with clove, the venison has the 702 00:48:58,880 --> 00:49:02,200 chicken and then pork with mushroom. 703 00:49:02,960 --> 00:49:06,120 How nice. And the pork recipes and venison 704 00:49:06,120 --> 00:49:09,680 broth are two of my most favorites. 705 00:49:10,320 --> 00:49:13,920 Venison is only found in the shelf stable broth for the small 706 00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:17,160 batch products as of right now. And the bones themselves 707 00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:23,040 actually come from the Maui Nui venison program, which I love in 708 00:49:23,040 --> 00:49:26,240 sort of the holistic community. Maui Nui program has gotten a 709 00:49:26,240 --> 00:49:30,520 little bit of spotlight recently, but yeah, it's it's a 710 00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:33,880 program that really gives reverence to the island 711 00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:38,240 ecosystem to control the population of access deer that 712 00:49:38,240 --> 00:49:43,560 live there so that they, you know, keep the population in 713 00:49:43,560 --> 00:49:47,680 check, but they are then utilizing the whole animal once 714 00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:51,720 those animals are processed in the treat space. 715 00:49:51,720 --> 00:49:56,480 New and coming soon, we are going to be showing some really 716 00:49:56,480 --> 00:50:00,160 exciting single ingredient freeze dried fish treats. 717 00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:05,480 Small batch has not ventured into fish concealed this point 718 00:50:05,480 --> 00:50:10,480 and reasons being finding suppliers that meet small batch 719 00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:14,640 standards is an even trickier undertaking when it comes with 720 00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:18,200 fisheries. There is a lot less visibility 721 00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:21,280 when you take things offshore then when you've got an 722 00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:25,480 operation on land that you can manage with with real 723 00:50:25,480 --> 00:50:27,840 consistency. So we are going to be adding 724 00:50:27,840 --> 00:50:32,360 some freeze dried Pollock, some freeze dried rainbow trout and 725 00:50:32,360 --> 00:50:37,360 some freeze dried blue mussels to the options in the treat 726 00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:41,520 space, which we are thrilled about. 727 00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:44,440 And those are also all labeled for dogs or cats. 728 00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:49,920 So something for everybody. Awesome. 729 00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:53,840 Well, this actually will not air until after global. 730 00:50:53,840 --> 00:50:58,600 So I'm excited for all the new stuff and the new recipes and 731 00:50:58,600 --> 00:51:02,720 just for everything you guys are doing and being like transparent 732 00:51:02,720 --> 00:51:05,320 about your sourcing. I think that's one of the 733 00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:09,680 biggest things for me when I am recommending pet foods is like, 734 00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:14,440 I can't figure out if I don't know if you're not being open 735 00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:16,800 and honest about where you're getting everything from. 736 00:51:16,800 --> 00:51:19,040 Like, I don't. I just don't know how, but but 737 00:51:19,040 --> 00:51:21,760 that's me. That's just me, yeah. 738 00:51:22,240 --> 00:51:26,040 Yeah. Yeah, so I appreciate it and I 739 00:51:26,040 --> 00:51:27,600 appreciate what you guys are doing. 740 00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:31,240 I look forward, I will not be at global I, but I I plan on being 741 00:51:31,240 --> 00:51:33,400 at super Zoo, so hopefully I'll. See you there. 742 00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:37,160 Yeah. And yeah, is there anything else 743 00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:41,440 that I, you've touched on so many things that like I don't 744 00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:42,880 even have to ask questions about? 745 00:51:44,200 --> 00:51:49,080 This is a great conversation and you know, the opportunity to 746 00:51:49,080 --> 00:51:52,760 really talk to our customer base and give them new things to 747 00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:56,440 think about when it comes to picking a raw food, picking 748 00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:59,000 treats, aligning themselves with a company. 749 00:51:59,120 --> 00:52:03,680 You know, I'm, I'm always hopeful that we can give a 750 00:52:03,680 --> 00:52:08,800 little bit of, you know, fuel to the fire, so to speak, not only 751 00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:12,600 not only reiterate that small batch standards, I think are of 752 00:52:12,600 --> 00:52:16,760 a caliber unto themselves, but the products that we've produced 753 00:52:16,760 --> 00:52:22,760 for 20 years have continued to hit that that mark and we're 754 00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:27,640 excited to see what comes. So thank you so much for being 755 00:52:27,640 --> 00:52:32,440 here and for helping, you know, just continuing to educate pet 756 00:52:32,440 --> 00:52:37,920 parents about, you know, it's it, as I just said, like it's 757 00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:40,760 not just look at the ingredient label. 758 00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:44,120 That's a really great place to start that we should all be 759 00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:48,000 doing. But we unfortunately have to go 760 00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:51,040 beyond the ingredient label and say, OK, but where is this 761 00:52:51,040 --> 00:52:53,720 coming from? And like you said, whole cuts of 762 00:52:53,720 --> 00:52:58,680 meat, that's that's there are so many intricacies that we don't 763 00:52:58,680 --> 00:53:02,320 talk about enough. And again, part of that, I do 764 00:53:02,320 --> 00:53:05,600 think is it's a privilege to be able to have these 765 00:53:05,600 --> 00:53:09,120 conversations, to be able to think far enough out. 766 00:53:09,120 --> 00:53:12,080 That's just not how am I going to feed my pet today? 767 00:53:12,080 --> 00:53:15,400 Like I get, but you know, we're privileged to have these 768 00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:19,240 conversations, but they still are conversations that I think 769 00:53:19,240 --> 00:53:20,720 are important and need to be had. 770 00:53:20,800 --> 00:53:23,120 So thank you so much. Yeah, absolutely. 771 00:53:24,280 --> 00:53:27,560 It's a problem for us to get to nourish so many pet bowls. 772 00:53:27,720 --> 00:53:32,720 And we encourage, I think 1 message to take away is reach 773 00:53:32,720 --> 00:53:36,040 out to your brands and ask them the questions directly. 774 00:53:36,040 --> 00:53:40,400 That is a real, real good way to do your best to make sure you're 775 00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:43,520 getting accurate information. You know what? 776 00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:45,560 I actually did have one more question if you don't mind. 777 00:53:45,560 --> 00:53:47,080 I know we're like already in an hour. 778 00:53:47,560 --> 00:53:52,200 But. I, I, it wasn't on my list and 779 00:53:52,200 --> 00:53:55,000 I'm just in my head was like, I want to ask this question. 780 00:53:55,920 --> 00:53:57,920 I hate that I have to ask this question. 781 00:53:57,920 --> 00:54:03,400 Quite honestly, I'm so perturbed by what has been happening this 782 00:54:03,440 --> 00:54:06,240 year. Neither here nor there. 783 00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:10,760 You guys are. I saw, you know, you're on Susan 784 00:54:10,760 --> 00:54:12,800 Thixon's list, which is something I always recommend 785 00:54:12,800 --> 00:54:16,320 people check out, if for no other reason to see what 786 00:54:16,320 --> 00:54:19,880 criteria she's looking for. So that you as a pet parent are 787 00:54:20,240 --> 00:54:22,760 also starting to understand the criteria that you want to be 788 00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:25,960 looking for in a pet food. But that it is all human grade. 789 00:54:26,080 --> 00:54:30,240 And I think that in itself is it's not always something that I 790 00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:34,360 am like dead fast 100% that it has to be. 791 00:54:34,560 --> 00:54:39,440 But when it comes to HPAII think that's a that's a pretty good 792 00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:44,320 standard to have with do have poultry recipes and chicken 793 00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:47,040 specifically and they are raw for cats. 794 00:54:47,040 --> 00:54:50,320 So I don't know if I remember Small Batch put out a statement 795 00:54:50,320 --> 00:54:52,120 just like everybody else but. Yeah. 796 00:54:53,160 --> 00:54:55,680 With what you guys are doing? Absolutely. 797 00:54:56,400 --> 00:54:59,440 It's important to say it first. It's a fluid. 798 00:54:59,760 --> 00:55:04,320 It's a fluid situation, you know, I don't, I don't know that 799 00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:09,800 anyone has a crystal ball for what the most ideal path forward 800 00:55:09,800 --> 00:55:13,880 is. But as of today being closely 801 00:55:13,880 --> 00:55:17,120 connected with each of our suppliers, we talked about that 802 00:55:17,120 --> 00:55:21,760 earlier, our direct contract makes a lot of the communication 803 00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:25,120 with the places that our raw materials are coming from a 804 00:55:25,160 --> 00:55:30,280 whole lot easier for us exclusively human grade are 805 00:55:30,280 --> 00:55:35,280 prepared for human meat channels or consumption is the next most 806 00:55:35,280 --> 00:55:39,680 important thing because the practices that are implemented 807 00:55:39,680 --> 00:55:45,040 at that supplier level is absolutely the most critical 808 00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:47,880 layer of what we have to lean on right now. 809 00:55:48,200 --> 00:55:53,600 So their regular implementation of FDA recognized testing 810 00:55:53,600 --> 00:55:57,720 procedures is crucial. What we are looking at next 811 00:55:57,720 --> 00:56:04,760 though is as more testing potentially becomes available, 812 00:56:04,760 --> 00:56:11,200 anything that is accessible for testing a finished product, 813 00:56:11,280 --> 00:56:16,280 commercially prepared pet food will be what we've got in our 814 00:56:16,280 --> 00:56:19,000 sights. As of right now, that doesn't 815 00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:21,720 exist. So doing the test and hold 816 00:56:21,720 --> 00:56:24,760 procedures for the pathogens that we do regular test 817 00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:28,080 regularly test for is what we've got to focus on. 818 00:56:28,120 --> 00:56:31,880 We do have the freeze dried options for cats. 819 00:56:32,640 --> 00:56:36,760 That is actually an alteration process and the temperature that 820 00:56:36,760 --> 00:56:40,840 is involved in freeze drying mitigates pathogens. 821 00:56:40,840 --> 00:56:46,280 So for people that maybe want a guarantee safer choice, freeze 822 00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:49,800 dried meal bites for cats is a great way to do that. 823 00:56:50,440 --> 00:56:54,360 And then we will also be talking about it a little bit at Global, 824 00:56:54,360 --> 00:57:01,320 but we have had a cooked recipe for cats in the works as kind of 825 00:57:01,320 --> 00:57:04,960 a background R&D project for several years now. 826 00:57:06,080 --> 00:57:08,640 Wow. So not actually in response to 827 00:57:08,640 --> 00:57:13,120 this at all, but because we want small batch caliber materials in 828 00:57:13,120 --> 00:57:16,560 a format that people may find a little bit more, you know 829 00:57:16,560 --> 00:57:20,280 reassurance in that has been focused. 830 00:57:20,480 --> 00:57:23,960 It actually at the end of last year sort of came back to the 831 00:57:23,960 --> 00:57:26,760 forefront as one of the next things that we wanted to get to 832 00:57:26,760 --> 00:57:30,240 market. But we will be having a 833 00:57:31,320 --> 00:57:36,840 perfectly cooked cat slider available in the marketplace 834 00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:40,000 hopefully by late summer of this year. 835 00:57:40,160 --> 00:57:43,960 So, you know, we're kind of coming at it from a few 836 00:57:43,960 --> 00:57:46,880 different directions. But that that real regular 837 00:57:46,880 --> 00:57:51,240 stringent communication with suppliers is absolutely Ground 838 00:57:51,240 --> 00:57:52,800 Zero. Yeah. 839 00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:56,680 Yeah, I appreciate that. So again, thank you so much for 840 00:57:56,680 --> 00:57:58,560 your time. Thank you so much for what you 841 00:57:58,560 --> 00:58:03,840 guys are doing in the industry and for pets and I just 842 00:58:04,360 --> 00:58:07,920 appreciate you guys and hope to see you later on this year. 843 00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:09,800 So thank you again. For good. 844 00:58:10,280 --> 00:58:13,320 Thank you for all of your messaging and advocacy too, 845 00:58:13,320 --> 00:58:17,520 because it's channels like this that we get to have the detail 846 00:58:17,520 --> 00:58:21,560 in those discussions that it's hard to translate in a lot of 847 00:58:21,560 --> 00:58:24,200 other formats. So we appreciate the opportunity 848 00:58:24,200 --> 00:58:26,080 to talk with you and all your listeners. 849 00:58:26,920 --> 00:58:30,120 Well, guys, thank you so much for being here with us today. 850 00:58:30,120 --> 00:58:33,840 Thanks to Nicole and give your pets some extra love from both 851 00:58:34,120 --> 00:58:36,080 me and Nicole today and I will talk to you next. 852 00:58:36,080 --> 00:58:36,400 Week. Thanks. 853 00:58:38,560 --> 00:58:38,720 Bye.