GREEN CHIP COMPANY

COCKTAIL FACT

SAVE TO MY BITES

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home ›   tip library ›   Aug 06,2008

Ever considered taste-testing your dog's dinner?

The Bite:

You would if you had human-grade pet cuisine from The Honest Kitchen. THK chefs select organic, GMO-, hormone- and antibiotic-free ingredients to create fare like Prowl for cats, Force for dogs, and Smooches for pooches (one of Cricket's all-time fave cookie treats), all of which really make a Biter rethink the meaning of "fit for human consumption."

Company Background

The Honest Kitchen founders Lucy and Charlie Postins "have always believed that pets deserve the same high-quality, healthy food we'd choose for ourselves." In 2001, Lucy started cooking up recipes in her San Diego kitchen for her Rhodesian Ridgeback, Mosi, taste-testing them herself to make sure they were just right. Today, the tradition continues at THK's CA HQ, with weekly tasting sessions (cat, dog, and human participants) for the company's minimally processed, largely organic, all-GMO-free meals and treats. You might have trouble keeping your paws in your own dish.

Why Care?

• All products are free of synthetic chems, fillers, and by-products of any kind (packaging too: no bisphenol-A, lead, melamine, mercury, or phthalates).
• Its packaging incorporates recyclable bags enclosed in a 100% recycled box made from unbleached paperboard, printed with soy-based inks.
• The line is widely available at more than 1,000 small retailers, coops, and holistic vets.
• THK donates a percentage of profits to various animal welfare, humanitarian, and environmental causes each year through Pawlanthropy (in 2007, THK donated approximately 25% of net profits to orgs including local shelters and rescue organizations, the Sierra Club, and the Morris Animal Foundation).
• Currently undergoing application process for membership in Coop America, an org that verifies which companies are using business as a tool for positive social change.



• Biter exclusive: Get 15% off your online order. Just enter the code IDBT0706 during checkout.

Keeping It Real

The company's products are a little more costly than your average pet fare due to the high cost of quality ingredients, but THK is about to launch Keen, a budgetwise brand made with human-grade turkey and certified organic oats. Also, not all of the Kitchen's ingredients are organic...yet. Today, says cofounder Lucy Postins, going 100% organic would make the products "unaffordable for almost everyone." The company continues to add organic ingreds to its line when possible, and is on the brink of a deal with a CA farmer to supply 100% free-range, humanely raised poultry for its products.