Boulder, Colorado’s Bond Pet Foods announces it is launching its flagship product, the Protein-Packed Dog Treat Bar. The company uses biotechnology to make animal-free and protein-rich pet food. In December last year, we reported Bond Pet Foods had completed its seed funding, totalling $1.2 million, led by Lever VC.
It’s estimated that if America’s dogs and cats were their own country, their meat protein consumption would rank fifth in the world (PLOS One, 2017). Pet food to some, is the next frontier in the fight against animal agriculture. In a piece titled Pet Food: The Paradox of Meat contributed to vegconomist last year, Bond’s CEO Rich Kelleman said, “In the U.S. alone, our 163 million dogs and cats consume nearly 30% of all meat products sold. The growing trend of fresh-meat inclusion in pet food recipes (vs. by-products and meals) amplifies this consumption, further contributing to issues around farm animal welfare, antibiotic use/resistance, food safety and sustainability.”
Bond implements the same fermentation technology, like craft brewing, that is used to produce ingredients for cheese making or insulin for diabetics – the process is just adjusted to instead harvest high-quality meat proteins like chicken, turkey, beef, pork and fish, but without the animal.
Bond’s first product to market is a dog treat which offers 29% minimum protein content, compared to 12-20% protein in traditional dog treats. The bar is also peanut-free, for pet owners and pups with allergies.
Nick Cooney, Founder and Managing Partner at Lever VC stated following the seed funding announcement in December 2019: “What makes us so excited about Bond Pet Foods is that it’s the first clean-meat company producing meat protein in a way that doesn’t require major technological breakthroughs to get to price parity with conventional meat. We don’t think there’s any other company out there with the potential to disrupt the $100 billion pet food market as much as Bond Pet Foods.”
Available for pre-order now, MSRP of $20 for a box of four 1.75-ounce bars, with limited-time free shipping.
