Carnivore Meat unveils sustainability efforts
Maker of raw frozen and freeze-dried pet food Carnivore Meat is aiming high with its latest sustainability goals. The Green Bay, Wis.-based company has shared its plans to overhaul production and packing of some of its branded lines to increase production capacity and reduce its electricity consumption while cutting down on shipping materials.
"Since we kicked off efforts in 2019 to reduce our overall impact on the environment, we have continued to make incremental changes toward improvement," said Carnivore Meat CEO and owner, Lanny Viegut. "We are proud that we have been able to preserve the cost of goods to our clients without a single price increase in nearly three years because of these measures.”
The company, whose freeze-dried products division also supplies private label, co-packing and ingredients to global customers, said it would be updating its Vital Essentials and Vital Cat frozen and freeze-dried lines. Among the changes is increased production capacity achieved by manufacturing its mini patties in squares instead of rounds, as well as case configuration changes that will allow products to be packed, inventoried and shipped more efficiently — which the company said would reduce overall materials consumption.
"By making slight machine adjustments and forging new plates, the frozen and freeze-dried mini patties will transition from round to square, increasing output by 30% per batch," said Brian Lakari, Carnivore Meat vice president of operations. "More significantly, however, will be the reduction in electrical consumption by 200,800 KW per year."
Lakari noted that using a larger shipping case enables the company to increase its pack density per unit and thus reduce overall cardboard consumption by 30%. More product per case also will translate to more efficient transportation, with Lakari estimating 343 fewer miles per year in moving finished goods between facilities — a 16.9-metric-ton reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
"We serve more than 6,000 pet retailers throughout North America, ship Vital Essentials and Vital Cat to 14 countries and sell online with e-commerce partners like Amazon and Chewy. This phase will propel us forward in meeting the expectations of our customers to become a more socially conscious steward of our community's resources locally and globally," remarked Viegut.
The move comes as the company unveiled additions to its Nature’s Advantage brand of freeze-dried food and treats, including six new treats and four new food flavors that include beef, chicken and salmon options. The company plans to launch a line of freeze-dried cat food and treats in early 2021.