PET Food Processing - December 2022 - 35

quality surplus or misfit fruits and vegetables by 2025.
" Imagine a farmer's leftover pumpkins after
Halloween or apple pulp from a cider press, " Bello said.
" We rescue these healthy ingredients so they don't go to
waste causing needless greenhouse gases. "
Labels identify the unique upcycled ingredients
that are in each product. While most
products include upcycled produce, the
company uses other nutrient-dense ingredients,
too. The Break an Egg SoftBaked
Biscuit, for example, contains upcycled
sunflower meal, dried cheese and eggshell meal.
Eco-awareness
Chippin is a sustainable pet food company on a mission
to reduce its eco " pawprint " by utilizing high quality,
thoughtfully
sourced ingredients. The company's
Cricket Jerky and Silver Carp Jerky treats are Upcycled
Certified and include upcycled, US-grown sweet potatoes
that may not have a perfect visual appearance for
human food sales.
" Chippin products are 80% less resource intensive
compared to traditional beef-based treats due to our
intentional ingredient
sourcing, " said Haley Russell,
founder and chief executive officer. " Our treats are powered
by novel proteins like cricket, spirulina and silver
copi, an overpopulated fish.
" In selecting our ingredients, we vet our suppliers
to ensure that they follow safe quality food standards, "
Russell said. " We compare each ingredient based on its
nutritional value as well as the environmental impact to
confirm it meets Chippin's high-quality standards. "
Leashless Lab's treats are baked with barley from
breweries after the carbohydrates and gluten are removed
to make beer. This high-protein and high-fiber
grain, also known as spent grain, is typically sent
to landfills and cattle farmers. Leashless Lab's treats are
more than 40% spent grain combined with a limited
number of human-grade healthy ingredients, such as
cheese, peanut butter and pumpkin.
Portland Pet Food Co., Portland, Ore., uses five upcycled
ingredients - bacon, eggshells, salmon, spent
barley and sweet potatoes - in its meals and biscuits. In
the past year, that has equated to 68,600 lbs of upcycled
ingredients.
" When I founded the company in 2014, I was on the
hunt for fresh, human-grade ingredients from partners
that I could trust, " said Katie McCarron, founder of
Portland Pet Food Co. " Instead of working with large
suppliers and rendering plants, I made a conscious decision
to work with local farms and vendors, as I knew
I could trust the quality of ingredients being sourced.
In working with these local partners, I discovered that
there are a handful of high-quality, fresh ingredients that
are deemed waste. I decided to upcycle these local ingredients
that were being thrown out. "
The misshapen sweet potatoes are from local
farms, while the meat and seafood come from Pacific
Northwest vendors. The latter is mainly " ends and pieces "
that would never be sold at the grocery store.
The spent barley comes from local breweries. It typically
makes up about 85% of a brewer's total waste, since
many breweries do not have time to build partnerships
with companies to utilize this product, according to
McCarron. Last year, the company upcycled more than
13,000 lbs of spent grain, up from 4,300 lbs in 2020.
" The eggshells are a safe way to increase the calcium
content of our products, " McCarron said. " The eggshells
we use are repurposed from products like liquid egg
manufacturers, and last year, we used over 2,600 lbs of
eggshells in our meals. "
Portland Pet Food communicates the use of upcycled
ingredients via educational blog posts on its website and
social media. The company recently rebranded its biscuit
packaging to better highlight the upcycled ingredients.
" Lots of Upcycled
Certified ingredients can
be easily integrated into
any recipe, giving a new
product a competitive
sustainability edge. "
Turner Wyatt, Upcycled Food Association
www.petfoodprocessing.net | December 2022 | PET FOOD PROCESSING 35
Portland Pet Food
Co. uses upcycled
bacon, eggshells,
salmon, spent barley
and sweet potatoes
in its pet food meals
and biscuits.
Portland Pet Food Co.
http://www.petfoodprocessing.net
PET Food Processing - December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PET Food Processing - December 2022
