As someone who has a lot of cats, I’m usually looking for new purchases to spoil my furbabies. This can be in the form of toys, food, and even new food options that are better suited to their health needs.
Given this interest, the internet started sending me ads for RAWproof—a personalized dog food service.
And according to the brand, it is one of the first in Malaysia to provide NRC (National Research Council of the National Academies) tailored raw nutrition.
Dictionary time: The NRC is a non-profit organization that provides evidence-based scientific reports in the fields of science, engineering, and medicine.
Focusing on dog diets
Iris, theRAWproof’s founder, shared that they also take care of cats, as she also gets inquiries from cat owners.
However, he shared that his service is more targeted at the canine population.
You see, Iris herself is a dog owner and has been since childhood. He is currently the pet parent of a German Shepherd and a Golden Retriever.
However, growing up, he noticed that the dogs in his life didn’t necessarily improve in terms of health. One of her first dogs, a mix spitz named Hilda, died from liver failure at a young age. He also noticed that the pets of his friends and relatives would develop skin problems.
So he decided to get to the root of these health problems by creating a properly formulated fresh diet.
Employing to learn
“I’ve always been very fond of animals and I wanted to be a vet, but it wasn’t in my cards then,” she said.
Instead, he previously held various roles in various MNCs for 15 years, including TetraPak, Nike, Coca-Cola, and Colgate-Palmolive.
Which begs the question of how he got into this industry.
“I reskill myself,” Iris answered simply. He took a course under the Companion Animal Sciences Institute with a focus on Canine Nutrition and became the first (and only, at the time of writing) Malaysian graduate.
After completing his course, he began preparing diets for the dogs in his own life and those around him. Soon after, Iris set up RAWproof and officially opened her customized nutrition services to the public in 2020.
So… what is a raw nutrition diet?
At this point, you may be wondering, what exactly is tailored raw nutrition and what is the basis for this diet?
The term itself is pretty self-explanatory. It is a nutritionally based diet tailored to your pets needs. But unlike the usual mass-produced pet food, Iris focuses on serving fresh raw food.
This is because Iris subscribes to the belief that raw diets are more nutritious when compared to processed foods like kibbles.
His goal with RAWproof is to obtain nutrients as much as possible from natural food to form a complete and balanced diet for pets. Because of this, all ingredients used are human grade and do not include meat dust.
For context, meat dust is the small pieces of meat that stick to meat slicers. This is not bad in nature, but some butcheries cut different types of meat. The mixed and unknown components of the resulting meat dust make its nutrient composition less clear.
To ensure that her offerings meet the nutritional requirements of pets, Iris refers to the Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats published by the NRC. The report provides nutritional recommendations for pet diets.
Does not fool the pet’s health
“In Malaysia, we often find ratio-based fresh diets. For example, 60% meat, 30% vegetables and organs, 10% herbs and oil. These are generic diets intended for the masses, cut into all stages of life and may have nutritional gaps or imbalances based on the NRC Guidelines,” explained Iris.
Therefore, the diet plans he creates are personalized to each individual pet. This is based on the pet’s weight, life stage, breed predisposition, activity level, and current health needs.
How it works, customers first have to fill out his “Tailored Raw Nutrition” form. Once done, Iris will schedule a call to further discuss and better understand the customers and their dogs. “We will discuss the diet, and the choice of protein is determined,” he explained.
Next is making the formulation, which requires a fee between RM50 to RM100 depending on the complexity of the diet. Iris will then share her proposed diet plan for five working days detailing its components and nutritional facts.
Upon confirmation of payment, Iris will begin preparing the food to be delivered in the following days. On average, a total of 14 working days are required to create a raw diet from scratch, just for one pet.
“Our food is prepared at cold temperatures to lower the potential for spreading bacteria,” explains Iris. “We sometimes joke that dogs have better food preparation than us humans.”
You pay for quality food
Still currently based at home, RAWproof offers customized meals sold in frozen packs of 30 to one month. Customers only need to dilute the food and feed the pets one packet a day.
Unfortunately, however, the personalized nature of these diets means that trial packages are not available. To minimize food rejection from picky eaters, Iris assured us that the brand does everything it can to cater to pet preferences.
In terms of pricing, it differs from dog to dog. For larger dogs that are healthy, the usual starting price is between RM30 to RM35 per kilo of food. For smaller dogs like poodles, it is a bit higher and starts from RM35 to RM40 per kg.
While canned wet food is probably cheaper, it’s not a fair or accurate comparison to fresh raw food, especially one with the level of detail that Iris put into it.
Because what Iris offers is not only about food, but the assurance that it is of good quality and is tailored to your pet’s personal dietary needs. This is similar to how you would consult a dietitian to come up with a personal meal plan for you.
“Our service rests on the core belief and foundation that nutrition is never one size fits all,” he said.
- Learn more about RAWproof here.
- Read other articles we wrote about Malaysian startups here.
Featured Image Credit: theRAWproof
