Who We Are
Who We Are
Who we are
We’re on a mission to transform the lives of pets. We believe that all pets deserve the best life possible. And if you ask us – it starts with food. Let’s satisfy our pets’ need for real food. Let’s stick with what’s natural and keep it simple. And as pure as possible. Let’s follow nature’s lead and give them more raw and stay free from filler, by-product and artificial preservatives. Let’s redefine better. And put the pure, real nutrition of raw into more bowls. Let’s do our part.
Food and how it’s made — less processed, real, whole — has the power to transform lives. And raw food provides unmatched nutrition. That’s why we incorporate raw in everything we do; from our 100% raw frozen and freeze-dried recipes to freeze-dried raw toppers to kibble recipes boosted with raw nutrition, we’re helping pet parents find a variety of ways to include raw in their pet’s routine.
The science of raw food has always been at our core. Our first raw recipes were developed in partnership with the University of Nebraska and PhD level nutritionists. Today, our team of experts has over 50 years of combined experience in pet food and nutrition. In addition, we’ve also partnered with the University of Helsinki’s DogRisk research program, which is studying the impact of raw pet food on dogs’ health.
Instinct recipes start with the highest quality ingredients from vendors we deeply trust and our safety procedures are the best in the industry. Instinct is the ONLY raw pet food company in North America to achieve an "Excellent" Safe Quality Food (SQF) Food Safety rating and an SQF Quality Certification. Read about our SQF Certification here. Also, our raw food is cold-pressured to ensure it’s free of pathogens. This natural process uses high pressure (rather than high heat) for safe raw food, with more nutrients intact than cooked pet food. As a final safety step, all our food is tested by an external lab prior to it leaving our facilities.
Raw food has the power to transform lives, leading to a happier, healthier pet. Pet parents who have switched to feeding raw have noticed positive changes in their pets’ digestion, overall energy, skin & coat health, help with food sensitivities, and increased mealtime excitement – even from the pickiest pets. Read transformation stories from real pet parents to see the true impact of raw!
Since day one, our raw recipes have been crafted in Lincoln, Nebraska. Made in small batches in our company-owned facilities, our raw food is minimally processed and held to the highest quality standards.
Our deep history in raw started when our founder started working with big cats at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo and then Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo. A raw, meat-based diet led to positive changes in the animals, like softer, shinier coats, lean muscles, stronger body formation, better oral health, and better reproductive health. These transformative results inspired us to spread raw nutrition to dogs and cats. The rest is history!
Everything we do is based in our shared purpose of transforming the lives of pets. It’s why we set out on the journey of changing the pet food industry through raw and it’s why most of us joined the team. Whether it’s through sharing our days with our pets at work or through the 5300 hours of volunteer work we’ve done together in our local community, why we do what we do is the reason we get excited to come to work every day. It’s who we are and it makes the power of what we do that much richer.
At Instinct, we are as passionate about our people as we are about the pets we call family. We are committed to inclusion, empowerment, and respect. We believe that just like our pets, what sets us apart unleashes our greatest strengths. We thrive on the ability to not only empower people to transform the lives of pets through raw nutrition, but also to empower each other to inspire a culture that celebrates our differences. Our unique approach to pet food is what makes us who we are as a company, and our individual identities are what makes us a successful, innovative, authentic team.
At Instinct, our raw recipes are meticulously formulated by our in-house team of food scientists and quality control experts.
