Oma's Pride Raw Pet Food hosted its inaugural Raw Roundtable, bringing together leaders from Green Juju and We Feed Raw to discuss innovation, accessibility and the future of raw pet feeding.
Bryan MacDonald, director of E-Commerce at Oma's Pride, moderated the discussion with Kelley Marian, founder & owner of Green Juju; Billy Hoekman, VP of Nutrition & Formulation at Green Juju; and Amy Zalneraitis, co-Founder & chief brand officer at We Feed Raw.
Accessibility and education
The panelists addressed challenges in making raw nutrition more approachable for pet owners.
"How do we, as brands and as a category, embrace the newfound interest in fresh food instead of sitting back?" asked MacDonald. "Let's grow the frozen category together. Let's figure out how to get people who feel like organs in the bowl is too harsh. Nutrition is important, but the biggest issue is how do you get people over?"
Zalneraitis added, "We welcome people however they want to feed raw. Topper, mixer, every other meal … we hold people's hands through the process. Educating the consumer is still very important — how raw can be safe, how raw can be complete and balanced, and that there is a safe way to do it."
Marian noted pet owners have the control. "If there's one message for pet parents: you have control. You can make a difference. You don't have to abandon everything overnight; small steps matter. Even a little raw added to kibble makes a difference."
MacDonald noted, "That's something we really leaned into last year. A little raw is better than no raw. That became a big retail message for us."
The panel discussed alignment between human and pet nutrition trends, including focus on whole foods and metabolic health.
"There's also a lot of work being done in the human space. Metabolic health, animal protein, organ meat — those are becoming more accepted, even more 'sexy' terms," Zalneraitis said. "Our customers love to have that light bulb moment. When you explain why raw is the best way, why it's the most bioavailable or biologically appropriate, it makes sense. Once you switch your dog, you start seeing benefits within the first week."
Marian noted 60% of dogs are overweight; 50% get cancer by age 10. "Something is wrong," Marian said. "Feeding real food can be the biggest change we need to see."
Freeze-dried food is psychologically bridging the gap, said. Hoekman. "It looks familiar, and people understand it. We need to keep pushing forward…what's the thing that extends dogs' lives by another ten years? We have a great foundation with whole, unprocessed food, but we can't stagnate."
Format innovation
Participants also discussed format innovations to reduce barriers to raw feeding.
"We launched one pound grab-and-go products, everything from Complete Meals to Signature Mixes, so people could add sardines, salmon, toppers. Just add a little. It lowered the financial barrier, which is a big unlock for the category," MacDonald said.
Hoekman noted, "In neighborhood pet, everything started frozen. Now you see a lot more freeze-dried. Even though thawing and rehydrating are basically the same amount of work, people like keeping food in the cupboard."
Oma's Pride said it plans additional roundtable discussions. The Avon, Connecticut, U.S.-based company is a fourth-generation family business.
