Natural Pet Food Group eyes growth following B Corp accreditation.
A leading New Zealand pet food exporter is positioned to expand its already substantial global market presence following international recognition for its work in producing high-meat, high-protein natural pet nutrition.
The Christchurch-based Natural Pet Food Group (NPFG) has become a Certified B Corporation (B Corp) signifying it meets verified international standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
The group’s CEO Brett Henshaw says becoming a B Corp business will massively help its operation globally, particularly in Japan and North America where New Zealand provenance is already highly regarded by consumers and where the company has recently expanded its portfolio with the launch of new products.
Although NPFG has built a significant business in New Zealand since it was founded in 2006 with its key brands of K9 Natural and Feline Natural products for dogs and cats, Henshaw says 98% of its products are sold to overseas markets including the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and other countries in Asia.
“Being a B Corp business gives us independent recognition of what we stand for and third -party endorsement that our processes and product stand up to global benchmarks and scrutiny,” he says.
“It gives us huge opportunity for growth in places like the US where we are still not in every state, so we will be looking to expand within the US and other countries we export to over the next few years.”
But the certification also recognises the company’s “doing good beyond the bowl” philosophy. As Henshaw says: “If we make food to help pets thrive, the way we run our business must support people, communities and the environment too. Certification affirms the progress we’ve made and raises the bar for what great looks like in pet nutrition.”
Almost all the ingredients that go into its pet food are sourced in New Zealand from grass-fed, free-range and pasture-raised animals, to cage-free chicken, sustainable seafood and fertile soil-grown vegetables. No unnecessary ingredients, fillers or additives are used.
“At the heart of what we do is the companion animal, the pet that is part of the family,” Henshaw says. “People are more discerning and thoughtful about what they eat themselves, and they want the same thing for their pets.
“Consumer expectations are high; they want to know where the produce is from, they read the back labels, seek third party views and go online to research. Transparency and responsible sourcing are therefore becoming more important in global food markets.
“Our approach - which originated with the company’s founder who wanted to give his police dog the very best in food - is inspired by what pets would instinctively eat in nature; everything we do starts with that.
“From early on the company did a lot of work on how best to use freeze-dried food and preserve its nutritional value,” Henshaw says. “We do a lot of work with Massey University to measure the performance of our products, particularly on things such as palatability and digestiblity testing for our freeze-dried diets.”
Henshaw says education of staff in the retail outlets where NPFG products are sold is also a key to the company’s operation because they are the people who have to talk to customers in-store.
NPFG partners with many premium suppliers in New Zealand including Silver Fern Farms, Sanford, New Zealand King Salmon and Ovation Lamb. All ingredients are sourced through a strict supplier approval process that verifies origin, traceability, manufacturing standards and regulatory compliance – a level of scrutiny that helped make supply-chain transparency a stand-out strength in the B Corp assessment.
Certification is carried out by global not-for-profit network B Lab and is achieved through evaluation of the entire business model of a company, involving rigorous assessment across governance, workers, community, the environment and customers.
Andrew Davies, CEO of B Lab AANZ (Aotearoa New Zealand) says NPFG demonstrated a real commitment to all these domains and to a holistic approach to supply chain transparency.
The certification also reflects environmental measures NPFG has put in place including powering all New Zealand offices with 100% renewable energy, prioritsing sea freight to reduce emissions, increasing recycled content and removing unnecessary plastics in packaging. This has resulted in a reduction in plastic across core products by about 12% and a saving of 2.5 tonnes of packaging material each year.
The business also invests in its people and communities, contributing more than 500 staff volunteer hours annually and donating over 8500kg of pet food through the New Zealand Food Network.
While NPFG is pleased with the progress it has made, its Chairman Andy Routley says what matters is what it does next. “B Corp sets the standard, but it’s up to us to keep lifting it and if we can help raise expectations across pet nutrition, then that’s impact we can be proud of.”
For more on Natural Pet Food Group’s B Corp certification visit https://www.k9natural.com/pages/bcorp