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The Better Fresh Dog Food Subscription Service
The twenty-first century is not just about an active lifestyle and routine exercises; but is largely influenced by our alternative choices of healthier, more nutritious food. Day by day we individuals are becoming more and more focused on our nutrition consumption and other health factors related to our diet.
However, while we replace our greasy bacon sandwiches with healthy avocado toasts, we often overlook what our furry buddies have been chomping on. We pamper our dogs with the most comfortable bed and their favorite chew toys, but when it comes to their diet, we often resort to the typical ‘popular’ dog food.
Just because the television is bombarded with advertisements of how it’s the ‘world’s best dog food’ and just because our furry buddies wag their tails nonstop when we open the bag of processed dog food, we make ourselves believe that we’ve chosen the best diet plan for them. Few of us may even wish to cook food for our dogs every day, but everyone in today’s world runs within time constraints, and can hardly take out time for things. Hence, we mostly end up settling for processed dog food for our pets.
Start-ups like Ollie and Petplate come ahead with a ‘delicious’ solution to the problem, as they provide freshly cooked home-style meals for dogs, delivered right to our doorsteps. Even though both are heroes without capes, providing our furry babies with a bowl of goodness, we can compare both to find the stronger hero.
How bad processed dog food actually is?
Even though several processed dog food companies claim to be globally recognised best dog food brands, it’s not correct to say that these are the absolute best for our dogs. Just like we prefer fresh, nutritious food over frozen food stuffed with preservatives, our dog’s taste buds also favour fresh food over packaged dog food, but it’s just that they can’t speak up.
Processed dog food is not always healthy as it often uses meat by-products instead of actual meat, such as bones, claws, feet, etc. which even though provide the same nutrition on paper, aren’t actual meat. Processed dog food is also not organic as it has several artificial flavours and colouring added to it. Along with that, these packaged dog foods also have synthetic flavours and taste enhancers added to them, which are absolutely not healthy options for our pet’s diets. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a very commonly used taste enhancer in many processed dog food packages, which is found to be a very harmful component for consumption and has been linked to several cardiac deaths. Once you know these facts, you’ll never look at processed dog food the same way again.
What are Ollie and Petplate?
Both Ollie and Petplate are two US-based start-ups that took the initiative to bring fresh, healthy and nutritious dog food to every doorstep of the country. Both are fresh dog food subscription services that provide delicious and fresh meals for our dogs on a subscription basis.
Ollie vs Petplate: Which one is better?
Ollie is a US-based startup that delivers ready-to-serve, freshly cooked meals for our dogs, tailor-made on the basis of our pet’s nutritional needs. Each meal is prepared in human-grade kitchens with proper emphasis on its ingredients and each recipe is created with the help of a board-certified vet nutritionist. These meals meet the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) standards and necessary safety measures are taken for their preparation. Ollie provides meals which are pre-cooked and pre-portioned in containers and uses absolutely fresh products in the making of each meal.
Ollie provides four types of meals, prepared with the base ingredient as Chicken, Beef, Turkey and Lamb along with lots of fresh veggies and fruits and proudly denounces any form of preservative or artificial flavouring in their meals.
Is Ollie Organic?
Ollie claims that each of their meals is prepared with natural ingredients, however, they aren’t yet certified organic. According to them, Organic Certification doesn’t always portray the entire picture as even though they use all-natural ingredients, they need to be processed in order to increase their shelf life, which in turn reduces most of their nutritional value, which then needs to be supplemented. Ollie focuses more on the overall nutritional value and the best natural ingredients for the preparation of their meals.
How much do their meals/subscriptions cost?
Ollie food starts at less than 2$ a day for small dogs who are fed Ollie exclusively, with an average of 6$ per day depending upon the size of the dog and the portions they’ll want to eat. Ollie also offers meal plans with smaller amounts of food which lets us decide how much of Ollie food we want to feed our fur buddies.
For small dogs (15lbs), the cost might range from 4$/day to 28$/week.
For average-sized dogs (55lbs), the cost might range from 9$/day to 63$/week.
For big dogs (95 lbs), the cost might range from 15$/day to 105$/week.
They provide a discount of 50% on the first meal order and also donate 1% of their revenue to rescues and shelters like the Sato Project.
Where do they ship?
They currently ship their meals mostly all across the United States of America, all 48 continental states to be exact and are free of cost.
How long do the meals remain fresh?
Ollie uses vacuum-sealed packaging to keep the food fresh and avoids the use of any preservatives and chemicals. Hence, if the packages are stored in the freezer unopened, they can last up to six months. Even after opening, if the food is kept in the container properly and refrigerated, it will remain good to serve to our dog for up to 4 days.
How does Ollie tailor the recipe to my dog?
Ollie has developed a proprietary algorithm with the help of a board-certified vet nutritionist which tailors the right meal with the proper nutrition and correct portion for our dogs, calculated on the basis of our dog’s weight, age, breed, activity level as well as body composition. They also take care of allergies and prepare meals likewise to suit our dogs.
Petplate, on the other hand, is another US-based startup that defines itself as a subscription service that provides freshly cooked, ready-to-serve meals for our dogs, which are completely flexible and personalised according to our dog’s nutritional needs. They deliver straight to our doorsteps and boxes are shipped out every Monday.
After noticing the lack of proper ingredients and low-standard processes used in the production of packaged dog foods, the founder of Petplate, Renaldo made his mission to find an alternative solution to this problem. Dr Renee Streeter, a vet nutritionist formulates all the meals prepared by Petplate and they are completely prepared in a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) facility with human-grade ingredients.
If the name Petplate strikes a chord, yes, it was one of the start-ups that made its arrival at one of the episodes of Shark Tank. Even though none of the sharks invested in it, it shouldn’t make you underestimate their quality or service.
Is Petplate Organic?
Currently, their meals are not entirely organic. However, all of their meats come from USDA farms. According to them, it’s a challenge to meet all the nutritional needs of our pets in a single serving using completely organic ingredients. Petplate also focuses on the nutritional value provided in each of the meals they prepare.
How much do their meals/subscriptions cost?
Their plans start at $1.50 a day and include free shipping. Every dog is different and the complete pricing of their meal plans depends on several varying factors such as the dog’s weight, age, activity level and more.
For small dogs (15lbs), the cost might range from 4$/day to 28$/week.
For average-sized dogs (55lbs), the cost might range from 9$/day to 64$/week.
For big dogs (95lbs), the cost might range from 12$/day to 89$/week.
Petplate also provides a discount of 50% on the first meal order.
Where do they ship?
They offer free shipping of their freshly prepared meals in the United States of America, all across 48 states.
How long do the meals remain fresh?
Petplate provides absolutely fresh food and hence needs to be refrigerated or frozen for the purpose of storage. The containers arrive to the customers frozen, which is then needed to be defrosted in the microwave or fridge. After defrosting the container, it should be kept in the fridge and consumed within 5 days. The unopened containers can be stored in the freezer for up to 12 months and used subsequently. They also have dates mentioned at the bottom of the container which can better guide the owners in the storage and usage of the meals.
How does Petplate tailor the recipe to my dog?
Every Petplate meal is properly balanced and complete, containing the correct ratio of nutritions and minerals required to satisfy the nutritional needs of our dogs. There are four flavours/meals Petplate provides; Chompin’ Chicken, Tail Waggin’ Turkey, Barkin’ Beef and Lip Lickin’ Lamb. These meals are customised and personalised according to our dogs and the best-suited meal is delivered to our doorsteps. All we need to do is provide them with our dog’s unique characteristics, such as weight, age, body composition, activity level, etc. and they will create the perfect meal plan on the basis of a proprietary algorithm developed by a board certified vet nutritionist.
Ollie vs Petplate: Final Thoughts
Ollie and Petplate, both of them are heroes without capes, providing our furry babies with the healthiest and most nutritious food, made with the best of ingredients, which is nowhere near the substandard packaged and processed dog food. Both Ollie and Petplate provide delicious meals for our dogs prepared with Chicken, Turkey, Beef and Lamb along with fresh vegetables, which are shipped to 48 states all across the US, free of cost. Both Ollie and Petplate provide extremely flexible and personalised meals based on the lifestyle needs and nutritional requirements of our dogs along with their unique characteristics such as age, weight, activity level, etc. and both Ollie and Petplate provide meals which are free from artificial flavouring and preservatives and strictly use fresh ingredients only. However, we would choose Petplate as the better Fresh dog food subscription service over Ollie, simply because of two-minute factors.
Firstly, even though not too significant, the cost of the meal per day and per week is a little low when it comes to Petplate in comparison to Ollie. At the same time, the meals supplied by Ollie are delivered in vacuum-sealed containers and hence, cannot really be sealed once opened, along with a shelf life of about 6 months. In the case of Petplate, their meals arrive frozen and can be further frozen and preserved for around 12 months. Even if they are opened or defrosted, they can still be refrigerated and remain good enough to be consumed for about 5 days.
Hence, our choice of preference over the two is Petplate.
However, one can always seek differences and customise plans according to the needs and identify the better plan. Even though the world is dominated by substandard processed dog food, at the end of the day, what we feed our fur babies rests completely upon us, and as we get more health-conscious day by day, it’s also our responsibility to make sure our tail-waggers get the best of the nutrition as well.