CC Correspondent
Dogs are not just meant to eat dried brown pallets for every meal. Like humans, dogs also need nutrients in adequate amount in order for them to thrive. There is a drastic shift in pet food from dry food to fresh food. Pet parents prefer to order food from the brands that are offering fresh food for dogs. Many pet parents realized that they need to make diet changes in their pets. The main reason behind the shift from packaged food to fresh food is the transparency as you can actually see the real ingredients of food. With fresh food pet parents have observed the visible changes in their dogs as it aids healthier digestion, better coats and more active lifestyle.
Fresh food should contain an appropriate balance of protein, carbohydrates, fiber, fats, vitamins and minerals all of which attribute to sustained energy levels, shinier coats, healthy skin and aiding in digestive health, for dogs of all breeds and ages. Many pet owners, who have made the switch to fresh food, observed the diet has improved their pet’s coat, energy levels, and other health conditions.
Dawgie Bowl
Dawgie Bowl founded by two best friends Abhishek Agarwal(CEO) and Nitin Madaan (COO) are the pioneers of vacuum dried pet food in India.
According to Abhishek, “We serve pan India with there Vaccum-Dried pet food. We have a whopping 75% repeat order rate with weekly packs and a 94% renewal rate with there monthly subscriptions.”
This kind of pet food is 100% natural, species-appropriate, balanced and complete, ready-to-serve. The food contains no by-products, gluten, corn, or soy-based fillers, preservatives, colors, flavors, or taste enhancers like MSG. Dawgie Bowl was launched on August 26th, 2016 on International Dog Day with the intention to provide pet parents nutrition food for their furr balls in the most convenient way possible. It all started when Abhishek finally decided to adopt a dog, and bringing home a dog means taking responsibility for their health and wellness. After researching for two years on pet nutritions he come up with recipes. Initially he tried with his own, with his friend’s pets and street dogs. Bit by bit he started getting requests for dog food. This made him realize, that people were finding value in his freshly cooked meals and were ready to pay a fair price for the value. Hence, this is how the journey of Dawgie Bowl started and the rest is history. Currently they are offering products like Frozen Chicken Meals , Frozen Fish Meals, Vacuum-Dried Chicken Meals, Vacuum-Dried Fish Meals.
Doggie Dabbas
Doggie Dabbas founded by Rashee Shah Kuchroo, are the pioneers of preservative-free pet-food in India. They believe that the right nutrition at the right age can potentially enhance your pet’s life. Every new product they curate is handcrafted with love and has detailed nutritional research and testing behind it. Rashee shared her story “My own dog was facing obesity issues, excessive shedding and low stamina. So I began to dig deeper into the problem and I realized a lot of his issues were diet related”.
Her research on canine nutrition made her change her dog’s diet. The results were remarkable and everyone noticed the big difference in her Labrador, Sloppy. People started requesting a similar product and Doggie Dabbas was founded. It started off with just Fresh Meals, now we have a huge variety of Meals, Jerky treats, training treats and have even expanded to cat treats!” Rashee has built the brand one step at a time and has curated honest products. She is extremely passionate about pet nutrition and wants to make every pet parent’s life easier by assuring them of supremely healthy food.
DogSpot Meals
DogSpot Meals came into existence as an idea to help pet parents raise their pets. Today DogSpot.in has created monopoly in the market as they are the single largest destination for people seeking premium content and a seamless online shopping experience for pets. The CEO and Founder of the company Rana Atheya, believes that food should be simple, transparent and honest.
According to Rana Atheya, “The world’s largest kibble making companies started to focus on Indian market in the late 90s. I was 18 then with experience of feeding homemade dog food to our dog. My dad being a vet and PhD in Animal Physiology taught me how to make balanced food for dogs. It was simple and straightforward with minimal ingredients. Dogs were happy and used to live longer. Then came Kibble which appeared to be the most convenient food and it has so many ingredients. The food was complex, not simple anymore. Food has to be simple, transparent and honest.” Keeping that in mind, DogSpot uses minimal ingredients while preparing the meals in order to achieve a balanced diet. Ingredients like Chicken, Rice, Pumpkin, Carrots and Coconut oil are used. There are no preservatives, chemicals or other additives present in the food. The food is powered by super food turmeric. While preparing the meals they use standardized extract of turmeric which has more than twenty five different health advantages for the dogs. DogSpot Meals delivers meal for pet pan India.
Fresh For Paws
Fresh For Paws started in 2018 by a pet enthusiast Srishti Bhatia with a vision to make food a healthier, nutritious and tastier experience for your pet dogs. The company has won the People’s Choice Best Chef Award in the Delhi Pet Fed 2018 ; 2nd Runner Up in the Pet Entrepreneur Of The Year (Female) Category in the Indian Pet Industry Awards hosted by IIPTF in April 2021.
According to Srishti, “ My own pet, Vanilla was the driving force behind it. Fresh For Paws is one of the first movers in the Ready-To-Eat dog meals in the Indian Fresh Food Market. We make 100% natural nutritionally balanced meals with a life of two years. Products do not have any special storage requirements as the technology used is one of its kind.”
Fresh For Paws offers homemade, grain free, ready to eat pet food. No defrosting or no guesswork is done while preparing the meal as all the meals are perfectly portioned based on their veterinarian or nutritionist’s recommendations. Fresh for Paws has a pan India presence through both off line and online mediums and are constantly looking to evolve both in our product range and market-wise.
Benny’s Bowl
Benny’s Bowl was founded by Aashna Jain and Akshay Gupta they both share the passion for pets and have experience in pet industry. They both are the alumnus of Delhi University and have been a part of the same venture Pet Fed , India’s Biggest Pet Festival. Akshay comes onboard as an Investor for Benny’s Bowl. Aashna creates the recipes for Benny’s Bowl herself with the help of an expert nutritionist.
Benny’s Bowl are fresh food manufacturers for dogs inspired by their friend Karan’s dog Benny. They believe dogs also deserve to eat fresh and healthy food as humans.
“We consulted expert nutritionists & vets and perfected our recipes to ensure that they are nutritionally-balanced. ”
The food is cooked fresh, using whole and real ingredients, only fresh meat & fresh vegetables without any preservatives or additives at any stage. It is packed using sophisticated retort technology (the same tech used to pack food for astronauts) which allows shelf life of two years withoutrefrigeration. The are four categories such as Chicken and Pumpkin meals, Lamb and Fresh Beans and Paneer and Brown Rice all these products are offered in combo packs.The food is prepared keeping in mind all the nutrients required for a growing and healthy dog.
Akshay shared his experience with customers, “Customer feedback has been amazing, pet parents especially love the convenience of feeding fresh food without having to cook at home.” Benny’s Bowl ship products pan India.
Nuts Over Mutts
Nuts Over Mutts started with the Founder Manvi Gupta being nuts over her mutt. The concern of a pet parent, like finding the perfect diet for their pooches is what made her start the ‘Nutts Over Mutts’ with co- founder Mahima Pandey. The brand was started with the sheer love for ‘Poppy’ that is founder, Manvi’s pet. Her concern to get the perfect diet, got her spending endless hours of research in finding the perfect ingredients filled with nutrition for her mutt. This led to the brand ‘Nuts Over Mutts. The brand offers the wholesome goodness of fresh, home-cooked meals. Meals are customized according to the dogs individual requirements. Nuts Over Mutts offers Chicken Bone Broth to Chicken Feet and both veg and non-veg meals. There are 28 products in bucket of Nuts Over Mutts.
Nuts Over Mutts founders said “The ingredients are hand picked from farms and are locally sourced to ensure overall well-being for the dogs. Along with food, we have a range of Guilt-Free, healthy, preservative free, nutritious treats & supplements like, dehydrated meats and biscuits.”
Nuts Over Mutts offers packs of 2 to 4 meals as trial meals.
FurrMeals
FurrMeals Fresh Dog Food is a fresh pet food initiative by pet parents who are passionate about their pet’s health. It all started from a small family kitchen in Delhi with a need to keep their own furry baby alive and healthy!
Sujata Bhattacharya, Founder FurrMeals says – “Like all dog moms, my life also changed when she brought home my first Beagle baby, Buddy. My life started revolving around him and his needs.”
Soon to double the trouble and to give Buddy company, she brought home another feisty beagle girl, Hazel, filling the home with joy. However, this happiness was short-lived. Buddy started losing weight, was throwing up frequently and falling sick again and again. Then the diagnosis came in. At the age of 2 years, Buddy was diagnosed with acute Pancreatitis. And like in most cases of Pancreatitis, diet was the main culprit.
“I researched and realized that what is labelled as dog food is not always what is best for them. Like us dogs too need a diet of fresh, wholesome, natural and preservatives-free food. This was the motivation to start best food for dogs that can fulfil his nutritional needs and improve his health.”
Driven by this passion to provide better nutrition to Buddy, Hazel and thousands of other furry babies, FurrMeals was started in September 2018. We researched the best food alternatives and ingredients that can safely replace the packaged food and still provide the convenience that pet parents want.
Today FurrMeals is a familiar name as a Fresh Dog Food brand amongst pet parents in Delhi NCR.They are pioneer in the Multi-Recipe, Vacuum Sealed, Frozen Dog Food segment.
FurrMeals offer FurrMeals Frozen Fresh Meals– Herbed Chicken & Rice, Fresh Cottage Cheese & Peas, Chicken & Pasta and Lamb & Brown Rice.
Doggos
Doggos, was founded by Payal Shukla and Raj Tolasaria with a vision to make the world full of happy Monsters. Giving healthy alternative options to commercially available dry food, Doggos began its journey in mid-2020 delivering door to door. Today, it is available in all parts of Bengaluru within minutes and also delivers Pan India.
As a pet centric company, they see themselves as responsible to uplift the state of stray dogs, with an initiative called ‘The House of Doggos’. With being the pioneer in Instant Bone Broth, and Accepting Crypto Coins, they see themselves leading change in the industry, by breaking technological barriers and giving a longed for experience to customers.
As the Founders say, “Doggos is a fresh dog food that has been made keeping in mind every dog’s health needs without compromising on the quality of the food. Dogs have special needs in nutritional, texture and general wellness. Fresh food is the best alternative food which is naturally compatible with their bodies and hence, it stands way higher in terms of giving your pet a prolonged healthy and balanced life.”
Bringing a revolution in bone broth, Doggos’s Instant Bone Broth cuts down the cooking time of a bone broth from 10-12 hours to just under 10 seconds for pet parents. Whereas Doggos’s Chicken Bone Broth is a nutrient-dense drink giving a shinier coat to your furry monster’s coat.
Payal has spent a good amount of her childhood with her furry monster Tuffy who enjoyed home-cooked meals over commercial foods, this played an important role in her desire to provide nutritious meals for all the furry monsters. She eventually discovered that most of the dog food was made of by-products and has preservatives, with the passion towards furry babies they started “Doggos”.
Raj was terrified of dogs as a child due to his limited exposure to them. He eventually met a friend’s pet and saw how loving and forgiving they can be. When Payal and Raj collaborated on the concept of Doggos, they realised they were trying to solve a problem for our four legged friends.
CAPTAIN ZACK, READY TO EAT HEALTHY HOME-STYLE MEALS FOR DOG PETS TO LIVE LONGER & HEALTHIER
The brand launched ready to eat Paneer & Chicken Pulao infused with Ayurvedic goodness of Ashwagandha & Turmeric to boost your pet’s immunity Captain Zack, established in 2017, started as a pet hygiene brand and transitioned into a holistic pet care brand that specialises in creating chemical free, pH balanced, safe and ISO certififi ed products. They are the fifi rst brand in India with veterinary licensed products to ensure that the customers pets are happy and healthy.
The meals are available in sizes 100 gm, 300 gm, 500 gm, 1000 gm 1500 & 3000 gm ranging across INR 170 to INR 2600, depending on the size chosen. The products are available on the Captain Zack’s website, Amazon & Supertails retail store.
The packaging solution used for the meals is retort packaging. Once packed, the food can have a shelf life of 2 years unless the packet is opened.
Dr. Mohit Lalvani, Founder, Captain Zack says, ‘’Captain Zack’s mission is to ensure customers get the option to provide meals combining taste, nutrition, and natural ingredients with all the love and care of a meal prepared at home to their pets.
‘’ Captain Zack wants to lengthen the relationships customers have with their pets with their wholesome ‘Ghar Ka Khana’ balanced meals which are easily digestible and enable dogs to live longer.”
Conclusion
The Indian pet industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. With tons of food brand for dogs is making there way in the market, pet industry is booming. Hence, the choice of dog food is overwhelming. Nowadays pet parents are gravitating towards fresh food for dogs.
In this busy world, where we do not want to miss the rat race, fresh food brands are making up for time starved pet parent’s pet nutrition. It offers quality food for dogs and makes it convenient for pet parents. Fresh food brands are saving time for the pet parents by providing them meals loaded with nutrients right on the doorsteps.
