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"People are skeptical about highly processed foods, but they also take a critical look at their animals' feeds," said Amy Zalneraitis, co-owner and brand manager for 10-year-old We Feed Raw. Raw meal plan service based in Maine.
"They think: how can a product with a shelf life of a year be better than real fresh food?"
Petco plans to open a series of other kitchens over the next four years, in collaboration with California-based Just Food For Dogs, a company created in 2010.
When the two companies announced their merger, Rebecca Frechette, executive vice president of Petco, described Just Food For Dogs as "the most radical inventor of change in the pet food industry ever since." decades. "
"We have done extensive research on the fresh and humane pet food market," she said, adding that the company was "at the forefront of a new trend that is rapidly changing the world." sector".
And it's not just Manhattan's pampered cabotins who eat fresh, organic meals.
Based in San Francisco, NomNomNow, which produces proportionate, fresh meals specific to each animal, sends hundreds of thousands of meals a month to customers in 48 states.
"The general health conscience of Americans is to switch to their pets, because we consider pets to be part of our family," said Lynn Hubbard, general manager of NomNomNow's production site in Nashville, Tennessee.
But the trend is expensive.
NomNomNow service costs up to $ 3.80 per meal for a 35-pound dog and up to $ 2.80 per meal for a 12-pound cat. Normal pet food can cost about 55 cents a can.
Just Food For Dogs, for its part, sells its venison and squash dish for $ 11.95 – the company is the largest consumer of human-quality venison in the United States.
But some veterinarians have questioned the tendency to give dogs a human-grade food, especially if it's just meat purchased from supermarkets.
"There are so many essential nutrients of all clbades that you have to take into account," said Lindsey Bullen, a pet nutrition specialist at the Carolinas Veterinary Hospital.
"If they are too high or too low, or in an inappropriate proportion, it can cause significant problems for that animal that the client may not see for months or years."
Mrs Bullen said that she recommended her clients to add dog and cat supplements to the supermarket's fresh foods, in order to guarantee the animals the proper nutrients.
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