Dogs get scratch and sniff book for holidays

‘Is That My Dinner?’ taps into dogs’ keen sense of smell

Red Tettemer O'Connell + Partners (RTO+P) has released a playful holiday scratch and sniff book just for dogs, called “Is That My Dinner?” for the healthy, human-­grade pet food company, The Honest Kitchen.
To showcase The Honest Kitchen’s product and to communicate the benefits of feeding pets healthy grade food, “Is That My Dinner?” taps into the one thing we all know our dogs love – smelling. In partnership with illustrator Annie Davidson, who co-­designed and executed the artwork, “Is That My Dinner?” is a story about a hopeful puppy, scratching and sniffing his way through a holiday party in search of a proper holiday meal. Throughout the book, the readers/smellers are taken through a selection of scratch and sniff scents including pumpkin and peppermint.
“We thought it would be super fun to really think outside of the box and create a slightly retro holiday campaign that would showcase our recipes in a unique way,” said The Honest Kitchen CEO Lucy Postins. “We wanted to highlight the difference between our human grade whole foods for pets and conventional kibble and cans, which most dogs and cats eat. RTO+P has done an incredible job devising the idea of a scratch and sniff book, and we’re excited to show it off as we get closer and closer to extra treat season.”
A perfect stocking stuffer for the holidays, each copy of “Is That My Dinner?” will be available nationwide at retail stores and will contain samples of The Honest Kitchen’s “Embark” and “Love” products as part of the bundle. RTO+P has also created a new website www.isthatmydinner.com, featuring coupons redeemable in stores and will handle the social media on Facebook and Twitter.
“The Honest Kitchen has been a perfect partner throughout this creative process, even helping out with getting our smells right,” said Steve Red, president and chief creative officer at RTO+P. “That’s what we love about THK – they’re not afraid to take risks and like us, they really, really love dogs.”

The Honest Kitchen renews FDA 'Human Grade' claims approval

The Honest Kitchen has renewed its formal Statement of No Objection with the US Food and Drug Association (FDA) to use the term “human grade” on all of its petfood labels. The company’s human grade foods are produced in a human food facility, not in a petfood plant, using 100% human edible ingredients.

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The Honest Kitchen, which began making human grade petfoods in 2004, first obtained an FDA statement of no objection that same year, and elected to renew with the administration in the fall of 2013. The process involves providing detailed documentation from each of The Honest Kitchen’s suppliers to verify the human edible status of every ingredient used in the company’s recipes.
“We require our vendors to provide us with a signed Human Edible Status Verification document each year, along with a Statement of Integrity, which promises that the ingredient we’re purchasing meets a specific set of criteria,” said company founder and CEO Lucy Postins. “They verify that every ingredient is non-GMO, not irradiated, not sourced from (or grown or processed in) China, and also document any applicable sustainability traits, such as organic certification, fair trade, free-range and so on.”
The company has also implemented a system of independent and internal vendor audits, as a secondary measure to ensure that their requirements are upheld throughout the ingredient production process, said the company. 

The Honest Kitchen unveils new packaging for human-grade petfood line

The Honest Kitchen, a producer of natural, human-grade petfood products, has redesigned its packaging. The new boxes will debut at the Global Pet Expo in Florida, March 12-14, 2014, and will hit store store shelves at the end of March.

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"We wanted the packaging to evoke a very natural, culinary look and feel that plays up the beautiful ingredients we use in our human-grade foods," said Lucy Postins, The Honest Kitchen's founder and CEO. "Also, we're placing a heavy emphasis on the meat or fish source in each recipe, along with more clearly defining the life stage and differentiating the grain-free from whole-grain diets, to help streamline the shopping process and allow consumers to more easily select the recipe that's right for their pet."
The Honest Kitchen is also rolling out a smaller 2-pound trial box in their bestselling recipes: Force, Embark, Love and Keen. Each 2-pound box will make 8 pounds of real food when hydrated.
The Honest Kitchen's petfoods are dehydrated, which results in a compact, nutrient-dense finished product, according to the company. Pet owners just add warm water to make a real-food meal in three to five minutes, and because the food is so concentrated, a 10-pound box will actually yield 40 pounds of food when hydrated, and will last a 30-pound dog up to six weeks.
The company collaborated with long-time partner Bulldog Drummond (San Diego, CA) to create the new design concepts. Hand-painted illustrations of the company's ingredients and also Honest Kitchen employees' own pets, which adorn the new boxes, were created by artist Natalya Zahn, and the production and file preparation work was completed by Jen Cadam Design.

The Honest Kitchen releases short film about petfood brand

The Honest Kitchen, a producer of human-grade petfood products, released a short brand film, in which employees' own pets deliver the company message by "talking" about ingredients, procurement, production and quality control.
The short film is shot inside The Honest Kitchen's company headquarters and on the streets of San Diego, California, USA, and was produced by Emota, a local digital story-telling agency. The film centers on the company's human-grade petfoods and also discusses health effects from other diets. 
"We really felt that allowing our office dogs to do the talking would be a unique and fun way to get our story across," commented company founder and CEO, Lucy Postins. "Our pets are the focus of everything we do at The Honest Kitchen. They're the reason we choose to invest in better quality human-grade ingredients, and why we produce our recipes in a human food facility. The choices we make around product integrity and quality are centered squarely, around what is right for the health and wellbeing of pets because we believe they deserve to eat proper food that's healthy, natural and honest. So it makes perfect sense that they should be the ones to convey our message."

Honest Kitchen founder taste tests petfood ingredients, final product

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Lucy Postins, founder of the The Honest Kitchen, taste tests the ingredients in her company's dog food.

Lucy Postins, founder of The Honest Kitchen petfood company, was recently featured in an article for not only sampling each ingredient that goes into the food, but also sampling the final product. 
Postins says she tests each of the petfood recipes for food for flavor, aroma and color. All her recipes are made in a a human food facility, rather than a petfood plant, and the ingredients are sourced from the human food chain, allowing the company to achieve a "human grade" rating from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The dog food she produces includes ingredients like free-range chicken, ranch-raised beef, sweet potatoes, eggs, bananas and dandelion greens. The ingredients are blended together, then the recipe is mixed with water by the consumer. 
According to Postins: "There are a lot of people who think their pets are inferior and don't deserve quality food. But so many people are becoming educated on conventional petfood ingredients and production that they want to make a move away from that.
"By actually tasting the food ourselves I think it's a sound way of walking our own talk and helping to assure people we actually mean what we say about product integrity and quality. Some of my friends think it's an odd thing to do, but most of them have pets they love as much as - or in some cases maybe even more than - their own children so can see where I'm coming from.
"A recent 2013 survey showed 74 percent of customers saw an improvement in the well-being and energy levels of their pets from eating the products. And 70 percent saw an improvement in their pet's skin and coat while 60 percent noticed an improvement in their pets' weight. The proof really is in the pudding and our foods are good enough to eat."

The Honest Kitchen launches petfood testimonial sharing platform online

The Honest Kitchen, an all-natural petfood company, launched a new website, which includes the new social media sharing platform, True Stories.
The True Stories platform allows consumers to make their own cats and dogs into "Official Poster Pets" for the company. True Stories product testimonials allow real customers to be spokespeople for The Honest Kitchen by providing feedback on the beneficial effects of the food on their pets’ ailments, such as skin and coat disorders, digestive upset, ear infections and urinary tract problems. 
Customers can upload their product success stories and pet photos on the site, and the True Stories platform customizes customers’ pet photos into Polaroid-style portraits on the site with the pet’s name and campaign logo. Customers can then share their Trues Story across their own social media networks.
In the coming months, the Official Poster Pets’ images and stories will be made into full-size physical posters, signage, magazine advertisements and promotional postcards for retailers. 

RECALL: The Honest Kitchen recalls Verve, Zeal, Thrive pet food products

Pet food maker The Honest Kitchen is recalling five lots of its Verve, Zeal and Thrive pet food products after learning that one of its raw ingredients suppliers recalled a batch of human-grade parsley contaminated with Salmonella. The parsely, shipped to the pet food company in 2012, was used as an ingredient in the five lots of pet food being recalled.
The recall applies to petfood manufactured between August 2012 and November 2012, sold throughout the US and Canada via retail stores, mail order and online. The lots being recalled, including item code, name, expiration date, size and lot number are:

• V4 + VR, Verve, 8/20/12 through 8/20/13, 4 lb. and 10-lb. boxes, 2332A (batches 1-3)
• VR, Verve, 11/1/12 through 11/1/13, 10-lb. box, 3062A (batches 8-9)
• TM, Thrive, 9/18/12 through 9/18/13, 1-oz. sample, 2622A (batch 3)
• Z4 + ZR, Zeal, 8/14/12 through 8/14/13, 4-lb. and 10-lb. boxes, 2272A (batches 1-5)
• ZR, Zeal, 9/21/12 through 9/21/13, 10-lb. box, 2652A (batches 1-4)
Consumers who purchased the recalled lots of Honest Kitchen Verve, Zeal or Thrive products should stop feeding the products to pets, remove the UPC (bar code) and lot code from the packaging, and discard the petfood products. Consumers can receive a replacement or refund of the affected products plus US$1 to cover postage, by mailing the UPC and lot code along with a completed reimbursement form to: The Honest Kitchen, 145 14th Street, San Diego, California 92101, Attn: Reimbursements. Refunds will be processed within five business days (plus postage time).
Consumers with questions may contact the company at +1.866.437.9729, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., or via email to info@thehonestkitchen.com.
To supplement its quality control processes, The Honest Kitchen is enacting the following additional procedures:

• All dehydrated leafy greens will be steamed to further protect against the possibility of Salmonella and other pathogens
• All leafy greens will receive a second test for pathogens after arrival at the company's manufacturing facility, in addition to the testing conducted internally by suppliers
• The company has discontinued its relationship with the supplier that provided the parsley used in the production of the lots being recalled

Honest Kitchen pet food company founder appears on CBS' 'Food Show'

The Honest Kitchen, a maker of human-grade, dehydrated pet foods, was recently selected to be featured on CBS’ annual "Food Show."
The episode, which aired on CBS, covers recipes, food pairings, food tourism and current food trends, including a growing trend of gourmet food for pets. CBS visited The Honest Kitchen’s headquarters in San Diego, California, USA, where the pet food company’s founder, Lucy Postins, and her team tested out the human-grade foods with their pets and spoke to the importance of feeding dogs a nutritious diet.
Postins was featured alongside Wolfgang Puck and experts from Cooking Light and Saveur.

The Honest Kitchen releases pet food customer survey results

The Honest Kitchen shared customer feedback from its 2011 pet food annual survey.
The survey was distributed through the company’s monthly newsletter and on its Facebook page, and was completed by more than 2,500 customers. 
The company said that nearly 78% of pet owners noted an improvement in their pets' digestion after feeding The Honest Kitchen's dehydrated whole foods. Another 75% of pet owners noted their pets' increased activity level and almost 59% said their pets' weight improved. Nearly 69% of respondents said they noticed a reduction in their pets' symptoms, with 35% saying they were able to reduce their pets' medication. About 70% of those polled noted an improvement in their pets' skin and coat after eating the pet food, and nearly half (49.5%) said their pets' itchiness improved. 
“There is a strong, direct correlation between the foods pets eat and how healthy they are,” said Lucy Postins, founder and chief executive. “Many pet owners notice that their pets’ health improves on a fresh, minimally processed diet, and these statistics from our most recent survey are really representative of the feedback we've been receiving from our customers (and their vets) since our company was founded almost nine years ago.”
The survey was distributed, recorded and analyzed by The Honest Kitchen. Customers used The Honest Kitchen as their pets’ sole diet or as a component of a varietal approach to feeding, the company says, and more than 50% of the respondents have used The Honest Kitchen for more than one year.

The Honest Kitchen offers dog food Taster Kit

The Taster Kit provides several different foods and treats in one package for consumers to try.

The Honest Kitchen launched a petfood Taster Kit that allows new consumers to sample several of  the company's food and treat products for dogs in one purchase.
The pet food kit contains three, 4-ounce trial size boxes of dog food, an 8-ounce box of Pecks Buffalo & Blueberry cookies, a sample of the Perfect Form digestive supplement, a free pet health and nutrition booklet and US$15.00 worth of coupons. The Taster Kit retails for US$18.00, the company says, and it can be purchased in stores or directly on the company's website.
“Most consumers are familiar with how to feed ‘scoop and go’ kibble and canned food, but might need help transitioning their pets to our alternative, just-add-water dehydrated recipes,” said Lucy Postins, founder and chief executive. “We hope the new kits will be a fun way for pet owners to learn about whole food nutrition, how to feed our food, and also spice up their pet’s dish as fido taste-tests our savory, wholesome foods.”

The Honest Kitchen offers 'Recipie Wheel' to help consumers select pet food

The Honest Kitchen's Recipie Wheel attaches to store displays as an aid for consumers selecting petfood

The Honest Kitchen introduced its "Recipe Wheel," designed to aid consumers in selecting a petfood from among its six most popular recipes.
The Recipie Wheel allows customers to choose from among several pet needs, including life stage, health needs, allergies or activity level, in one window, and displays a set of recommended recipes in the facing window. The Recipe Wheel is being rolled out to stores, veterinarians and distributors of The Honest Kitchen’s petfood lines in May. It is designed to be attached directly to the company’s display rack or other store shelving.
“Our line has expanded considerably in the past couple of years, and we began to see that the total range of options had become overwhelming for some - especially newcomers to the line,” said Lucy Postins, The Honest Kitchen’s founder and chief executive. “We don’t ‘pigeonhole’ our recipes by life stage like many conventional manufacturers, but rather encourage pet owners to select a food based on their individual animal’s unique requirements. However, that can become an intimidating process for consumers, so we really wanted to create this piece as a simple-to-use tool, to help them narrow down the choices.”

The Honest Kitchen implements vendor pledge system for petfood ingredients

The Honest Kitchen implemented a system of vendor pledges, which all suppliers will be required to complete and sign prior to providing raw petfood ingredients into the company’s human food grade production facility.
The vendor pledges require formal declaration and annual renewal from suppliers of each petfood ingredient that various criteria are met. These criteria, established by the Honest Kitchen, include: human edible status from harvesting and throughout all handling, screening and cleaning; statement of country of origin and a promise the ingredient does not originiate from China; adherence to good manufacturing practices (GMPs); ingredients that are not genetically modified or subject to engineered recombinant DNA technology; verification that it is free of chemical preservatives; sustainability and fair-trade attributes where applicable; and verification of screening for contaminants in accordance with human food safety standards.
“We’re excited to implement this important new step into our overarching pet food quality-control program,” said Lucy Postins, company founder and president. “We’ve always placed the highest priority on ingredient quality and integrity and have frequently dismissed vendors from even bidding on ingredient prices because we haven’t been happy with a particular aspect of their operations – so it makes total sense to put these pledges in place, not only for our own peace of mind but for our customers, too. Good whole food ingredients that are human-edible do cost more but pets are our priority.”

The Honest Kitchen promotes variety for pet diets

The Honest Kitchen is working to dispel the idea that table scraps—and variety—are off the menu for pets with its line of natural, human-grade petfood.
"There is nothing wrong with table scraps as long as they are healthy and given in moderation," said Honest Kitchen CEO Lucy Postins. "Pets, like people, need dietary variety and seasonal foods to get a semblance of balance over the week for healthful benefits and to eliminate boredom from a monotonous diet." The Honest Kitchen provides natural petfood that meets American Association of Feed Control Officials standards. Recipes call for human-grade food and are taste-tested by company employees. The dehydrated final products include a protein (chicken, beef or fish) and a range of fruits and vegetables. No fillers, byproducts or artificial preservatives, colors or flavors are used, according to the company.
There are, however, five ingredients that should never be fed to cats or dogs, said Postins: Grapes, raisins, chocolate, macadamia nuts and onions can all be detrimental to pet health.

Top scoring petfood brands in eco-friendliness ranking

Just three of 30 popular petfood brands received top scores in a ranking of eco-friendliness by Greenopia.
Greenopia collected data from petfood manufacturers and independent sources about many product factors, such as ingredients, packaging, animal testing policies and green building design. The brands were rated on a green-leaf-system, with companies receiving extra points for the implementation of environmental initiatives.
Top scoring brands got a four-green-leaf award and included the Karma Organics line from Natura Pet Products, The Honest Kitchen and Raw Advantage. Nearly one-third of the brands evaluated got the lowest, zero-leaf rating, including Friskees, Iams and Purina.

Nutritionist releases petfood cookbook

Lucy Postins, pet nutritionist and founder of The Honest Kitchen, an all-natural, human-grade pet products company, announced the release of her first petfood cookbook, "Made out of Love."
Made out of Love includes recipes for toppings, treats, main dishes, and raw cuisines that owners can make for their pets at home.