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This Is Not Your Father's Dog Chow
The Associated Press
Mitch Stacy
October 31, 2004
Spot was ailing. The little cat suffered from kidney and digestive complaints, a nasty skin rash and other problems. Veterinarians said she was incurable and recommended putting her down.
Andi Brown, who had adopted Spot from a shelter, wouldn't hear of it.
A friend who happened to be a chef and herbalist suggested that something other than cat food from the supermarket might help. He went into Brown's kitchen and whipped up a stew of chicken and vegetables, and the three of them sat down to eat.
"It took about four days, but every mysterious symptom of that cat's diseased state started to turn itself around," Brown said. "He grew into the most gorgeous, healthy cat you'd ever want to see, and it blew our minds."
That was 1986, a time when Brown was running a small printing company. She soon began cooking for other people's pets with health problems, seeking to show that animals - like people - are what they eat. And they could do better than processed pet foods with questionable byproducts, fillers and chemicals.
In 1991, she took $3,000 of her own money and started Halo, Purely for Pets, on the side, peddling natural pet care products such as herbal ear wash and natural flea dip.
At the urging of people who saw how good food could improve their pets' lives, she rolled out Spot's Stew in 1998 - canned dog and cat food made from the same wholesome chicken and veggies your grandma uses in her homemade soup.
Brown has found a niche in about 4,000 natural food stores and specialty outlets around the world. Today she presides over a $5-million-a-year company with 23 employees in Tarpon Springs, 25 miles northwest of Tampa. The food is now cooked in a U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved industrial kitchen instead of in her own, but she still tastes every batch to make sure the meat is savory and the carrots, zucchini, squash and other vegetables are tender and sweet.
The ebullient Brown also became a spokeswoman of sorts for natural and holistic treatments for animals, appearing on "Good Morning America," Montel Williams' talk show, Howard Stern's radio program and the game show "To Tell the Truth," on which the panelists ate Spot's Stew before they were told it was dog food.
Who's crazy? Many stores now offer some natural products and "human-grade" food for pets. But when Brown started in the business, it wasn't an easy sell. She considers herself a pioneer.
"When I got into this, we were laughed at because everyone said, 'Who the hell is going to buy natural pet products? That's absolutely crazy.' They thought we were scamming them," she said. "Veterinarians kicked me out of their offices."
Brown, 48, likens traditional pet food, with its fillers and byproducts of no nutritional value, and use of "4-D meat" ("dead, dying, diseased or disabled"), to a human subsisting on a diet of potato chips and beer. Dogs and cats can live on inferior chow, sure, but why should they when there's better stuff out there?
"I'm not saying we can cure everything, but what I am saying is that if you're eating a junk-food diet and you begin eating more healthy, you will look and feel better," she said. The same goes for animals.
The testimonials are voluminous. This one from a pet owner in Milton, N.Y. is typical: "Since (my dog) has been on Spot's Stew, his allergy symptoms have just gone away and his coat has gotten very soft... . It's such a weight lifted off me that I've finally found such a wonderful food for my baby."
Because of their higher price - you can buy three or four cans of premium pet food at the supermarket for the $3.39 price of a 15-ounce can of Spot's Stew - Halo products likely will never be a major player in the $12.5 billion U.S. pet food market.
That's fine with Brown. She said she's resisted the kind of growth that would be required if Halo products went into the large chain pet stores. She's focused on keeping her existing distributors happy, and also selling the products on the company's Web site.
"They are much more focused in the sense that they do a few things very well, as opposed to a big company that tries to fill all sorts of niches," said Susie Kupfer, who sells Halo products at her St. Petersburg specialty pet food store and also feeds Spot's Stew to her eight cats.
"People should eat that good," she said.
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