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Freshpet is an American pet food company. Its cat food and dog food products are marketed as fresh, and need to be kept refrigerated. The company’s pet food brands include Freshpet, Dog Joy, and DogNation. The company was the first to distribute pet food in the fresh and refrigerated category across North America. It is listed on the Nasdaq exchange with the ticker symbol FRPT.

History
The company opened its first factory in Quakertown, Pennsylvania in 2006. Freshpet’s early success was bolstered by the 2007 mass recalls of pet food products, which saw many pet owners turn to alternative brands that had not been connected with the tainted pet food. In 2009, Freshpet entered into an agreement with Tyson Foods. Under the terms of the agreement, Tyson acquired a minority stake in Freshpet, while providing the company access to its distribution network for refrigerated foods.

The company opened a new factory in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 2013. In 2014, the company began collaborating with the Humane Society to help animals find permanent homes, to collect supplies and donations for animal shelters. In November 2014, Freshpet went public, raising $164 million in its IPO, with a market capitalization of $447 million.

Freshpet began to distribute its pet food products in the United Kingdom in March 2017, through the British supermarket chain, Tesco. The business announced an investment of more than $100 million to expand its pet food production operations at its Pennsylvania location in 2018. In 2018, Freshpet launched Fresh Start, a charitable program to raise awareness about shelter animals and to raise funds for animal rescue organizations. In February 2020, the company was offered a grant of $2.1 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund to build a plant in Ennis, Texas. As of December 2021, the company’s market capitalization was $4.4 billion.

Products
Freshpet provides several different pet food brands, including Freshpet, Dog Joy, and DogNation.

Rather than shelved dried or canned foods, the company’s products are similar to refrigerated food for human consumption. The company requires its production facilities to operate at standards required for producing human foods. Freshpet main ingredients are meats, fruits and vegetables sourced from local farms. The company’s products have no preservatives and must be sold within 90 days of production.

Freshpet’s facilities employ several systems to improve environmental sustainability, including renewable energy sources to power the facility, landfill-free kitchens, and rainwater irrigation.

Marketing and advertising
In the early 2010s, Freshpet ran a multiyear marketing campaign advertising the company’s products lacked preservatives based on puns involving the names of dog breeds, such as a photo of a pug with a placard around its neck that read “Pug off, preservatives”. In 2013, Freshpet ran a marketing campaign in the United States to emphasize its use of locally sourced ingredients, which employed patriotic themes, music, and imagery.