OUR STORY
RawTernative is an air-dried alternative to raw frozen pet food from the makers of Grandma Mae’s Country Naturals, the independent pet store brand.
Grandma Mae’s Country Naturals was founded in 2007, when a group of independent pet store owners became concerned about the number of premium brands being acquired by large corporations or investment groups. Often, this led to short-cuts that prioritized profits and compromised quality. To provide their customers with a product of the high standard they demanded, these small business owners pooled their funds to create a food that would instead make the well-being of pets its only objective.
Today, with more and more pet parents choosing Raw and Freeze-Dried foods, we have created RawTernative. We wanted to offer all the benefits of raw meat but to make them more accessible, convenient, and even healthier. RawTernative is lightly air-dried, a process which maintains the nutrients and natural taste of our ingredients. Without the need to defrost or add water, RawTernative is easy to feed as a complete diet or topper, and can even be taken on the go. The texture of hearty chunks, just like real meat, is super appealing to pets too and they always gobble it up!
WHY CHOOSE RAWTERNATIVE?
AIR-DRIED: ALL THE BENEFITS OF RAW
RawTernative is air-dried in small batches with a technique that has been used for centuries to preserve meats. The gradual, gentle process maintains the nutrients and natural taste of raw ingredients, resulting in a nutrient dense food which is free from any pathogens or bacteria that could be found in raw meat.
COST EFFECTIVE AND EASY TO FEED
RawTernative has a lower cost per feeding compared to many major brands. Also, since it is ready to eat straight out of the bag, pet parents who regularly feed raw use it as an alternative while traveling or when a neighbor or dog sitter is feeding their pet
COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENT
At RawTernative we care about the environment too, which is why we are now certified Plastic Neutral. This means we are recovering as much plastic from nature as we use in our packaging. Through our support of rePurpose Global’s Saaf Samudra project in Goa, India we are helping them prevent the leakage of at least 50 million lbs of low-value plastic waste into the ocean.
Our bags also boast the Susta-Pak® logo, which represents our trademarked program of sustainability efforts. This includes our partnership with rePurpose Global as well as the planned expansion of our current Grandma Mae’s partnership with Clearloop, a carbon solutions platform, to include the RawTernative brand.
ENGINEERED AS A COMPLETE DIET
RawTernative is engineered as a complete diet, containing all the vitamins and minerals required to meet your dog’s needs. While fresh meat is a healthy choice for dogs, meat alone does not satisfy all their nutritional requirements and so we supplement the meat in RawTernative to make your life easier. This means RawTernative can replace your dogs’ old diet completely, or, for dogs who still enjoy kibble and/or canned food, it makes an excellent topper to up their nutritional game.
MADE ETHICALLY IN NEW ZEALAND
We make RawTernative in New Zealand because of the nation’s high environmental standards and ethical farming practices. Our primary ingredients—pastured-raised, free-grazing, grass-fed beef and lamb and cage-free chicken—are sourced from small family farms across the New Zealand countryside, so the ingredients in every bag can be traced back to the source. Grass Fed and Pasture raised means more with RawTernative, as in New Zealand, grass fed animals are grass fed for life, while in the US they need only be grass fed for a short period of time for their meat to carry this title.
NEW ZEALAND GREEN-LIPPED MUSSELS
New Zealand Green-Lipped Mussels are found only in New Zealand, and are another reason we choose to make RawTernative there. They are nutritional superstars: completely natural sources of glucosamine and chondroitin, which are excellent for your dogs’ long-term joint health, and packed with heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids and other ocean-rich vitamins and minerals. Green-Lipped Mussels are also sustainably raised and harvested and are rated among the top eco-friendly seafoods in the world.
SUPPLEMENTED NATURALLY AND SENSIBLY
RawTernative is supplemented naturally and sensibly with heart-healthy flaxseed, packed with fiber and protein for your dogs’ digestive and immune system health. Flaxseed is also an excellent source of protein, as well as Omega 3s and 6s which keep your dogs’ coat shiny and luxurious. Vegetable glycerin is our choice to keep RawTernative moist and chunky, so it is ready to eat with a texture like real meat. Vegetable Glycerin is a unique ingredient that is not metabolized as sugar and so will not cause blood sugar to rise. Our vegetable glycerin is always human food grade, which is 100% safe for both pets and people to eat.