Pet Food Processing - May 2024 - 52

COMPANY PROFILE
in select independent grocery stores and pet retailers
in Missouri, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, South
Carolina and Tennessee. Four- and 10-oz sizes are also
sold on the company's website.
" If you walk down a pet food aisle, all the packaging
looks the same. There's no originality in the packaging, "
Cooper said. " You can say what you want about
our treats, but you can't say that our packaging and our
brand is not original or authentic or cool. "
Formulation first
Even though the company's branding message and eyecatching
packaging are cornerstones of D.R.E.A.M.'s
mission, the product's healthy formulation profile is also
bedrock.
" It's a two-pronged approach, " Cooper explained.
" You can have all the cool marketing and branding in
the world - which we feel like we do - but if your
treats aren't healthy, there's no benefit. It's not going to
matter how cool you are. "
During the early stages of product development,
Cooper and Paige researched formulation options to learn
the best ways to incorporate the flavor profile and ingredient
benefits they hoped to deliver in their pet treats.
" We took a number of formulations classes; we went
D.R.E.A.M. Pet
Food Co-Founder
Paul Paige's dog
Apollo shows off
his love for the
brand.
Paul Paige
Attracting attention
Getting noticed in the saturated pet treat category can
be a daunting task for any new brand, but Cooper and
Paige felt confident that their nostalgic hip-hop concept
would resonate with customers as long as their packaging
successfully stood out on the shelves.
" As a consumer, the packaging is the first thing you see,
so we wanted our packaging to stand out, " Cooper said.
" We wanted people to feel the same thing that we feel
when we saw the package, which is a feeling of nostalgia. "
Each package features Benny, the D.R.E.A.M. mascot,
sporting a tracksuit, gold chain and signature hip-hop
Kangol hat. The playful packaging design aims to appeal
to both kids and adults.
" A kid walking down the pet treat aisle will see Benny
and will be like, 'Mom, that's cool.' And an adult will
see it and notice the tracksuit, and the gold chain and
Kangol hat and they'll be like, 'I recognize that, I remember
that.' And then, you've got them - at a minimum
they're going to pick up the package and take a
closer look, " Cooper said. " In the CPG space, you've got
to figure out a way to get people's attention. Especially in
the pet industry, we're all vying for attention. How do we
get attention? For us, the first entrance was through our
packaging. "
The treats are sold in 10-oz bags on Amazon and
52 PET FOOD PROCESSING | May 2024 | www.petfoodprocessing.net
to K-State to work with Dr. Greg Aldrich. We wanted to
get it right, " Cooper said. " When we started creating the
product, it was clear what we wanted it to be. We wanted
the treats to be very limited ingredient and wanted them
to be tasty. When we set out on our journey, those were
the two must-haves. "
That's the reason we
decided to start D.R.E.A.M.
- for representation and
inclusion. "
Jaime Cooper, D.R.E.A.M. Pet Food
The end result is a limited-ingredient baked pet treat
currently available in three flavors. Chicken+Veggie
contains barley flour, palm oil, honey, rolled oats, chicken,
oat flour, flax, coconut oil, sweet potatoes and parsley.
Honey Cinnamon contains barley flour, palm oil,
honey, rolled oats, oat flour, flax, coconut oil and chia
seeds. Peanut Butter contains barley flour, palm oil, honey,
rolled oats, peanut butter, oat flour, coconut oil, flax
and peanut flour.
The treats contain no artificial flavors, preservatives
or dyes and can be fed to dogs of all breeds and ages.
D.R.E.A.M. treats are recommended for treating and
training.
http://www.petfoodprocessing.net
Pet Food Processing - May 2024

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