Peak Performance: ZIWI Remains Committed to High-Quality Options to Raw Pet Food

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Widely recognized for its award-winning recipes, New Zealand-based pet food brand ZIWI is the innovator of air-dried pet nutrition. The success of the company goes hand in hand with its continued efforts to innovate and provide a high-quality, biologically appropriate, alternative-to-raw option.

Pet Age recently spoke with Karlyn Kubin, ZIWI brand manager, to learn more about the brand’s air-dried technology, which allows the development of new product lines, and how ZIWI remains a global leader in the pet food category.

How did ZIWI take the air-dried process and incorporate it into an innovative new form of premium pet food?

As the original innovators of air-dried nutrition for pets, we are always looking for ways to create new processes that can result in a solution for pet parents. Our air-drying process is a modern take on centuries-old meat preserving techniques where our technology locks in the goodness of our raw ingredients, without the use of artificial preservatives. Over the past five years we have been developing a novel process that has taken our nutrition locking air-dried technology and added delicate micro-steaming to create a new affordable category in premium alternative-to-raw pet food. Our two stage Z-Microsteam™ process delicately micro-steams blended raw animal ingredients along with functional ingredients to create a uniquely aerated texture before gentle air-drying removes pathogens and locks in nutrients to create a complete and balanced, easy to serve meal.

What are the fundamental health benefits of the ingredients found in ZIWI’s recipes?

We know that pet parents are looking for high meat, minimally processed diets for natural nutrients that promote health and wellbeing. We take great pride in sourcing the best ingredients that New Zealand has to offer. We are true believers in providing functional ingredients for functional health benefits in all our recipes. Each ZIWI recipe includes large amounts of meat, organs, bones and seafood to reflect the whole-prey carnivore diet. For our Air-dried recipes we also add New Zealand green-lipped mussels, which contain glucosamine and chondroitin for optimum joint health and mobility as well as contain Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids which promote healthy skin and coat. Green tripe is also added to support digestion and increase palatability for even the pickiest eaters. For our Steam & Dried recipes we have taken fruits and vegetables that are high in fiber and act as natural prebiotics and added them to support digestive health for dogs while our cat recipes feature whole fish that are high in Omega-3s to support skin and coat health. These recipes are complete and balanced for all breeds, and all life stages and are highly digestible, which means your pet will be able to absorb all the nutrients they need and will feel satisfied longer.

What makes New Zealand a special part of the ZIWI story?

From our very beginnings we have wanted to bring the pure nutrition and ethical sourcing found in our home of New Zealand to the rest of the world. Our commitment to New Zealand goes hand in hand with our commitment to our environment. New Zealand is recognized worldwide for having clean and ethical farming practices and superior quality in their meats. Since we craft all our ZIWI recipes in New Zealand, we partner with farmers that we know and trust while our temperate climate allows for open pasture grazing year-round. This means that we can source meat that is always grass-fed and grass-finished, GMO-free, and free of added growth hormones and antibiotics, providing more nutritional benefits. Being eco-friendly is something that is ingrained in our New Zealand roots. In New Zealand, the people wholeheartedly believe in their role as “Kaitiaki,” or guardians of the land, sea and its creatures. They understand that it is up to us to take the steps to preserve the beauty of nature and take care of the earth’s creatures.  Built into our values, we hold the Five Freedom Principles at the forefront, meaning that our farming standards ensure livestock is free from hunger and thirst, discomfort, pain, injury or disease, and fear and distress, and free to express natural behavior. We are committed to our home and have recently opened a new kitchen in New Zealand that features recycled and reclaimed wood furnishing, water collection systems to water and regrow nearby vegetation, and replanted native foliage to encourage repopulation of endangered birdlife, bees and insects. In addition, we have also added solar panels and innovative technology that cleans and purifies the air from our air dryers, ensuring they are free from odors and contaminants.