Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Buckley.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Shawn. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I found out what is in typical dog food and was disgusted because I absolutely love every dog I have ever met… including both my own rescue dogs. I knew there had to be a better solution than “meat in a bag at room temperature for 3 years!”
We started with one kitchen and made about 2,000 lbs. per month. Now have 8 locations, 125 employees and we make over 150,000 lbs. per mo.!
At JFFD we make fresh whole food for dogs from restaurant grade, USDA certified meats and produce and we nutritionally balance the food for long term feeding. Our kitchens are all local and open to the public. We make daily food for healthy dogs, we make a line of prescription food carried in about 50 hospitals around LA and we make custom formulations from blood work for veterinarians anywhere in the country and we have a staff of 7 specially trained veterinarians to handle this work.
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?
Many struggles. If someone wants to open a restaurant they have a million support vehicles – everything from existing kitchen layout/architectural plans to standardized permit protocols and customary operating procedures. We, on the other hand, have invented an entirely new method of feeding pets – fresh whole food diets either refrigerated or frozen so everything from cooking and moving the product to kitchen layout and display become a major challenge.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with JustFoodForDogs – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We started this business because we love pets. I know, it sounds like a marketing line… something we are supposed to say when being interviewed, but in our case it is 100% true and we live it every single day. The letters, emails, Yelp reviews we receive all prove this out. We are the only pet food company in the state of Ca who is authorized to issue CE (continuing education credits) to practicing veterinarians. JFFD is the only pet food company in the U.S. that acts as the nutritional rotation for a university that is teaching veterinary medicine and we are the only pet food company in the country that has executed a one year feeding trial that proved our food is healthier than premium dry dog food (this study was done by two universities and the study was published and peer reviewed).
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Looking forward to the day when everyone feeds their pets’ healthy, fresh whole food and people say… “Remember when we used to feed dogs those little brown pellets that were stored at room temp in a big bag… Yuk”.
Contact Info:
- Address: West Hollywood
7870 Santa Monica BlvdSherman Oaks
13900 Ventura BlvdManhattan Beach
1605 Sepulveda BlvdDowntown
333 S. Spring St - Phone: 213) 246-3845
Image Credit:
Photography by Dogma Pet Portraits
