Today we’d like to introduce you to Melinda Kirk Stenger.
Melinda, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Passion drives me to do what I love everyday. I get to hang out with my four-legged soul mate and cook! I have been cooking for canines for over 20 years. After adopting Ciao Bella ten years ago, a deaf Jack Russell mix with skin issues, I created PetCakes & YumYum Bones, healthy homemade cake & ice cream treats for dogs and cats. Everything is made in the USA and my mixes have no wheat, corn, soy and no salt, sugar or preservatives. They are fast, fresh and fun snacks that are as rewarding to make as they are for your fur babies to eat.
Each kit contains a re-usable pan and mix. You take it home and add water to the mix, pour the batter into the pan and cook for two minutes in the microwave for the cakes or freeze for three hours for the frozen yogurt ice cream. There are four organic and healthy cake mixes to choose from (pizza, cheese, carob, pumpkin spice) and four ice cream mixes to choose from (banana carob, honey yogurt, pineapple coconut, very berry). All of the flavors are available in Refills (3 mixes each) so you keep the pan and re-use it.
It has only been recently, over the past year and a half, that I have transitioned from being a pet treat manufacturer to a full-fledged pet lifestyle & pet party expert. I am a contributing writer to a local pet magazine and I now use my mixes to create high-end parties, brunches and happy hours for all animals. Creating these events and watching canines and their companions bonding over the food I made with love makes me incredibly proud and honored.
I know how important your furry friends are to you, which is why I created DIY pet party boxes and a brunch box club so you can now make your own human-looking fido friendly dishes for your dogs! Pet Parents can now create their own pet party for small or large dogs complete with a frosted bone-shaped cake, hat and balloon for the guest of honor and ice cream with sprinkles and bone-shaped cupcakes for all the 4-legged guests.
PetCakes Brunch Box Club is a “Blue Apron” inspired quarterly subscription service for your pooches that love to brunch with you! Each month you get to make them appetizing dishes like Woof Waffles or Canine Quiche that look just like your waffles or quiche but have no harmful additives. You and your Best Furry Friends can brunch in style and all the while knowing that 10% of each sale goes to a different pet non-profit each month.
Passion, purpose and partnerships are the new focus for our future. We hope you enjoy making PetCakes as much as your fur babies enjoy eating them!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been a roller coaster of emotional and financial ups and downs. I started in the male-dominated pet food world in 2019, during the recession, with a brand new concept as a complete unknown. So yes, I had a very hard barrier to entry into this segment, especially since I have never worked in this industry before. I started PetCakes out of the love I have for feeding my dogs healthy and because I truly enjoy cooking. I did not start out working at a pet treat company and realized there was a niche market that was not being fulfilled.
I created the 1st ever organic, microwavable pet treat called PetCakes and launched it at Global Pet Expo, the largest pet trade show to the industry in the USA and won “Best New Product” of the year! I got a lot of attention and accolades that year. However, because no one had heard of me or my company and there was nothing like it on the market, it took years to prove myself. It was also at that time that all-natural was just hitting the market.
My persistence has kept me going because I believe in my products and know they are what other pet parents want for their K9 kids.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the I Love PetCakes by Lucky Paws story. Tell us more about the business.
I created the first and only organic microwavable pet treat in 2010. I have 3 patents on my 3 pans. I have the intellectual property on all of my formulas/mixes. My ice cream for dogs has collagen and turmeric which helps with hip and joint support. Everything is made in the USA (even my pans) and my ingredients are human-grade, blended and bagged in a human-grade facility.
I am proud of my patents, but I am honestly most proud of my new PetCakes Brunch Box Club for dogs. Pet parents can actually make human-looking, brunch inspired dishes for their dogs each month. The box I designed is absolutely adorable, the recipe cards are gorgeous and provide step-by-step photos of how to make the dishes and each month I donate 10% of all sales to a pet non-profit. It’s a true win-win.
Everything I have done in the pet segment is truly revolutionary from DIY cakes in minutes to ice cream that actually helps hip and joint support, but this is completely novel. It’s like Blue Apron or Fresh Market for dogs. Each box contains three months of mixes to make three different brunch items that are completely healthy for your dogs. You can now take your dogs to a restaurant that has a pet-friendly patio and they can eat their brunch that you made ahead of time while you enjoy your meal.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck is persistence, sweat and karma. If you love what you do, do what you love and do it for the right reasons it will pay off.
Pricing:
- All kits (pan & mix) are $10.
- All refills (3 mixes) are $8
- Brunch Box Club is from $10 – $20 per month
Contact Info:
- Website: www.iLovePetCakes.com
- Phone: https://www.instagram.com/ilovepetcakes/
- Email: https://www.facebook.com/ilovepetcakes/?ref=bookmarks
- Instagram: https://www.pinterest.com/ilovepetcakes/
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