Petworking

Earlier this year, I had a chance to chat with Dr. James Templeman of Primal Pet Foods, about the benefits of feeding raw, minimally-processed diets. While these diets may not fit everyone's lifestyle or budget, James noted that adding even small quantities of these types of foods to your pet's diet can make a big difference. However, today Primal Pet Foods has really stepped up to the plate to make the nutritional benefits of a minimally-processed diet more accessible to all pet parents, by introducing a new product that addresses the challenging choice between cost, convenience, and nutrition that so many pet parents face. "Kibble in the Raw" is a freeze-dried diet that will be available in the kibble aisle of your local neighborhood pet retail store in January 2024. While the product is freeze-dried, it is made in a “scoop and serve” format, designed to be convenient and easy to use. While chatting with the team at Primal last week, founder and Chief Product Officer, Matt Koss, noted that this product had taken nearly 3 years for Primal to develop. It uses a similar manufacturing process to Primal's other freeze-dried diets, but has a proprietary step that occurs before the product is freeze-dried. And while almost 13 pounds of raw beef, pork, fish, or chicken go into every 9-pound bag, steam-cooked sorghum, cold pressed oils, and air-dried produce are also part of the formulation. The sorghum helps to keep the cost of the product down, but is viewed by Dr. Templeman as a "more ideal source of grain," as it is gluten-free, and adds unique micronutrients to the product. The product is expected to cost about half of what parents could expect to spend if their dog was exclusively fed a Primal freeze-dried formula. That being said, at an SRP of $134.98 for a 9 lb. bag, this is definitely targeted towards pet parents looking to switch their dog from an ultra-premium kibble, or for pet parents looking to find a more convenient way to incorporate a little bit of raw into their pet's diet. I'm hopeful to have Dr. Templeman and Matt Koss join me for another episode of Petworking soon, to discuss this new innovation in more detail. In the meantime, be on the lookout for "Kibble in the Raw" at your local neighborhood pet store in 2024!