PET Food Processing - March 2019 - 18

PLANT PROFILE

"Pet food processing from an independent,
family-owned perspective is like a chain with
50 links. We're responsible for every link and
every link has to be solid all the time."
Joel Sher, Evanger's
Hunk of Beef is 16% protein. "We get fresh, unprocessed
beef, trim off some of the fat, hand pack it in a can,
seal it and cook it," Brett explains. "It's one of the most
unprocessed canned pet foods on the market. We are
one of the only brands to have a product like this. The
benefit of being one of only a handful of pet food canneries in a market with hundreds of different brands
gives us the advantage to develop these revolutionary
pet food concepts."
One of the company's more recent innovations is the
Against the Grain brand's single-ingredient line called
Nothing Else. Each can contains one single ingredient:
beef, chicken, pork, duck, salmon or turkey. The texture
is a loaf-in-gravy texture, and the gravy creates a natural
bone broth.
As Evanger's expanded their line of canned pet
food for cats and dogs, many of their recipes contained no grain and most of their formulas had a
very limited ingredient list with meat as the first ingredient. Through the co-manufacturing side of the
business, they are known for working with boutique
brands and helping them find a niche. Chelsea explains that the company has always been committed
to the independent pet specialty retailers. "We're independently owned and it's important to us that we
support other independent companies. As Holly and
Joel innovated and grew the Evanger's brand and

PET FOOD PROCESSING | March 2019 | www.petfoodprocessing.net

formulated product for other brands, they helped influence the shift toward more premium canned pet
food, but my generation's focus is back on our house
brands because, as a cannery, we are positioned to be
the most unique and affordable niche product on the
shelves," Chelsea says.

His and hers

Although the Evanger's brand was just a small portion
of the company's revenue in 2002, the Sher's focused
more on new product offerings and growing that segment of the business and less on co-manufacturing.
While Joel mastered the processing side, Holly grew the
Evanger's brand. She is the sole owner of the Evanger's
brand, which is separate from NutriPack, the processing
arm, and she was determined to grow it into a successful
product line.
Holly came into the pet food business with a strong
marketing skill set and a mission to prove that a woman
could own a business, but mostly she says she's just competitive. "Joel had his part of the business and I had mine
and I was determined to show my independent success,"
Holly admits. "Plus, I didn't know what I didn't know or
how to get the distributors to give me the time of day so
I just talked to everyone I could."
While canned products are the core of the Evanger's
brand, other offerings including dry pet food have been

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PET Food Processing - March 2019

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