The profound emotional and psychological impact of pet ownership often serves as a catalyst for the inception of numerous pet brands. This deep, emotive connection with their pet(s) fosters a unique empathy and understanding of the intricate needs of animals, driving individuals to venture into creating solutions that address health, nutrition, comfort, and emotional well-being of pets globally.

I can speak firsthand to the impact that pet ownership can have on a professional career. From the moment I adopted Peony in 2017, it changed my life, and my entire perspective on consulting in the petcare and animal health verticals. From that point on, I had a unique empathy for the love that all pet owners share for their pets, and it brought an added sense of purpose to my work, which ultimately led to the launch of Petworking.

On this week's episode of Petworking, we had the chance to chat with Julie Chen MS, RD of A Better Treat, and she shared a similar tale of her cousin, Boris Chung, the founder of A Better Treat.
Adopting his first dog, Emmy, transformed Boris Chung's outlook on pets, and inspired the birth of "A Better Treat." The brand sources premium wild-caught, organic ingredients to ensure holistic nutrition for pets, matching the quality we'd personally choose for ourselves. Julie noted, when creating A Better Treat, she and Boris "wanted be able to source the way that we personally like to shop for ourselves and give pet parents an opportunity to be able to source that way when they buy our products."

Julie and I discussed the challenges of establishing sourcing relationships as a young company, and the other myriad challenges of launching a pet food brand, such as navigating market entry, being bootstrapped, faced hurdles like minimum order quantities and budget constraints. We also had a fairly in-depth discussion about nutrition, as Julie holds a master's degree in nutrition and is also a registered dietician.

Despite her educational background, Julie explained that she and Boris consulted with a PhD in animal nutrition to formulate their pet food, ensuring it met the best practices and guidelines based on recent studies. She stressed the importance of relying on expert advice rather than following trends or misinformation prevalent in the area of pet nutrition, and highlighted the DCM study from ~5 years ago as a key example of this. The study became a critical point of discussion due to its findings on the potential link between certain grain-free diets and DCM in dogs.

Finally, Julie and I discussed the benefits of a freeze-dried diet for pets, which I had previously discussed with Dr. James Templeman of Primal Pet Foods. However, while Primal advocates for the adoption of all minimally processed diets, A Better Treat advocates strongly for freeze-dried pet food, driven by several compelling benefits that align with the brand's commitment to optimal pet health and convenience for pet owners. Julie outlined several reasons for the brand's commitment to freeze-dried.

In addition to its meat-based, single-ingredient treats, and its freeze-dried inclusions in its kibble, A Better Treat recently launched a freeze-dried pumpkin treat. A great Halloween treat for your dog or cat, the freeze-dried pumpkin treats also provide a mess-free, convenient alternative that retains all the health benefits of canned pumpkin puree. Pumpkin is a great natural remedy for digestive issues your pet may experience, and also doubles as a great training treat, due to the low-calorie content (0.2 calories each).