We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful David Highducheck. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with David below.

David, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

In April 2017, our first dog Bo, a black lab, passed away from several different health issues. Yes, we fed her processed kibble and had to change brands often. We didn’t realize there was a better way to feed our dog. Bo had fat deposits or bumps on her skin, a hip issue and other health problems.

It was awful when we lost her, but it made us want to feed her “sister”, a 6 month old Australian Cattle dog named Pepper with something better. We knew and read all about the recalls and issues kibble can cause, so we researched feeding our dog raw food and even talked to several Veterinarians. In May 2017 we researched and made the change for Pepper because we wanted a healthier, happier dog and a greater chance at prolonging her life. Today, Pepper is 10 years old and has been eating raw food since May 2017. Pepper is in great shape, with a shiny coat and she runs/walks 2 miles with us every day. In July of 2017, we rescued another dog, Billie, who is 7 years old and has been on a raw diet since we adopted her. Since 2017, we have been making raw food for Billie and Pepper. At first I thought we were crazy for spending all this time and money making raw food, since it was a long process and messy. However, today I realize it was the best decision I ever made for the dogs.

So in 2020 I started BP Raw Pet Foods because I thought it was a healthier alternative to feeding dogs. Many of my customers were coming to me because their dog had health issues. Some dogs had skin issues, allergies, loss of hair, or a some senior dogs that stopped eating. The change in diet had changed their dogs lives and their dog owners are so happy.

In summary the feedback from customers keeps me motivated to growing and expanding BP Raw so more dogs have the chance to a healthier and happier life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started BP Raw because I saw the difference a raw diet made on my dogs Pepper and Billie. I loved the soft fur coat and less “dog” smell but the thing I like best is the smaller and firmer stool. So easy to pick up when walking my dogs. Its like tootsie rolls.

The name BP comes from my dogs name since I could not come up with anything else. Now I have a “Billie” meals and a “Pepper” meals. Billie has broccoli and blueberries and Pepper has just muscle meat, organ and bones.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I started making my dog food in my kitchen. I was using a small meat grinder and I had been doing that since 2017. When I started the business I had continued making it in my kitchen and selling direct to consumers and online. I even upgraded my grinder to a larger size that could double my output. In 2022 I wanted to sell direct to pet stores and needed to make my food in a commercial kitchen.

In March 2022 I contacted one of my meat distributors and asked if I could rent space in their commercial kitchen. She agreed and even bought a commercial meat grinder so I could up scale my production. After several months of working in the facility my business was growing and expanding. So I asked the company if they could manufacture and pack my food. She gave me a great deal and they started making my food so I could make more sales calls.

The next year the company increased my production cosy by 50%. After a few months I decided to bring the production in house. Today I have a warehouse where all the food is produced. I still buy product from the meat distributor and we continue to have a great working relationship.

Have you ever had to pivot?

In February of 2022 I had contacted Robert Tucker the owner “Natural Pet Direct” a pet food distributor and him and his wife Anya also own The K9 shop franchise. Most of my recipes had chicken bone in the recipe. Robert told me to he loved the recipe but wanted the same protein for each meal. So in my beef mix I needed beef bone and not chicken bone. In pork mix I needed pork bone and not chicken bone and so on.

In the summer I made the changes to my meals and only used one single protein. This changed my business. Now I have “cooling” meats like duck, lamb and rabbit. Warming meats like Beef or chicken, and neutral protein like Pork and turkey. This helped my business since some dogs have allergies to chicken or poultry. Now I have food for every health situation. Need to gain weight we serve duck, lose weight serve turkey, skin issues and you feed a cooling or neutral protein.

To this day I continue to thank Robert for suggesting the change to my recipes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bprawpetfoods.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bprawpetfoods/