When Lanny Viegut, chief executive officer of Carnivore Meat Co., is asked to describe his business, he simply says, “We’re a meat shop for dogs and cats.” But the Green Bay, Wis.-based manufacturer of raw frozen and freeze-dried pet food and treats, parent company to the Vital Essentials brand, is definitely more than a simple “meat shop.” The company is a pioneer and leading private-label provider in the raw and freeze-dried pet food space.
Its business has grown year after year since its inception in 2009, and with a new 235,000-square-foot greenfield headquarters and manufacturing facility set to open at the end of 2023, the company has the capacity to keep its business growing for years to come.
“From Day 1 we decided we always have to have open and available capacity — part of our culture is putting ourselves in a position to always be able to say ‘yes,’” Viegut said. “It’s true today and it’s been true throughout our history, we’ve always had extra open availability and capacity to take on more customers.”
With 41 freeze dryers in the existing Carnivore facilities and the potential for four times capacity slated for the new greenfield facility, saying “yes” to existing and new customers shouldn’t be a problem.
Butcher-shop brand
When it comes to talking about his pet food business, Viegut always starts and ends with “butcher cut protein.”
“The focal point of our business is producing and providing a second-to-none protein source for our pets, whether it’s chicken, beef, rabbit, turkey, duck, salmon, tuna or anything else,” he said.
With a background in the meat business — Viegut spent 15 years of his career working in meat processing — it’s no surprise that his company focuses on the protein side of its products.
In 2009, Viegut was approached to help save an almost-bankrupt pet food company in Green Bay that was producing frozen pet food out of a 3,000-square-foot production facility. Even though he was new to the pet food business, Viegut liked the idea of creating high-quality, protein-centric products for dogs and cats. He immediately took on the task of revitalizing the business and strategically planned the introduction of a new raw dog food line, called Vital Essentials, at the 2009 SuperZoo tradeshow.
“With the conception of Vital Essentials, it all began with the ingredients that are the basis of our foods, snacks and treats,” Viegut said. “High-quality, nutritious whole-muscle meats and whole organ meats are not only ‘vital’ to the health and wellbeing of carnivores — such as dogs and cats — they are ‘essential’ in providing all the key macro and micronutrients that dogs and cats require in their daily diet.”
In the following years, the Vital Essentials brand grew and expanded its distribution, which led to the need for an increase in production capacity.
In 2011, Viegut bought a facility on Ontario Road that provided 20,000 square feet of production and 4,000 square feet of office space — and Carnivore Meat Company was born.
“After we created Carnivore, we started building our own freeze dryers,” Viegut said. “We really kicked in the innovation. We now had more space, got new equipment, and we added talent that allowed us to innovate.”
As a CEO, Viegut subscribes to the philosophy outlined in the book “Blue Ocean Strategy” — “Look for open doors. Go where others aren’t.”
In the case of Carnivore Meat Co., freeze-dried pet food was the segment of the industry where, at the time, not many competitors were.
“Freeze drying was the ‘open door,’ it was in its infancy at the time,” he explained. “At that time, our business was more than 95% frozen, but we decided to start focusing on the freeze-drying side of the business.”
Freeze drying allows for the preservation of nutrients in the product, and in the case of Carnivore Meat Co., the product is butcher-quality proteins. Viegut is quick to point out that it’s essential to start with quality ingredients, because quality cannot be improved.
“We aim to safeguard the natural nutrient profile, color, flavor and aroma of our proteins,” Viegut added.
Starting with quality proteins is the first pillar of Carnivore’s business model — sourcing, process and variety.
“First, we source high-quality proteins,” said Eleonora Daireaux, brand vice president. “Then, it is minimally processed — we don’t add any fillers. And we offer variety to our customers. From a formulation point of view — from our raw bar to toppers to treats to meals — we offer a variety of products because all pets have different needs.”
Through the years, Carnivore has chosen to unveil new product varieties at the Innovation Station that’s featured in the company’s booths at Global Pet Expo, held in Orlando, Fla., and SuperZoo.
“As leaders of innovation within our category, distributors, retailers and consumers have eagerly awaited new product ideas that we would bring to the industry trade shows,” Viegut said.
In 2016, the Vital Essentials Raw Bar was launched featuring a variety of freeze-dried “animal parts” including bully sticks, duck necks, pig ears, cod skins, duck feet, salmon skins and turkey necks.
“We’ve become the innovative thought leader in our space,” he said.
Freeze-dried duck heads are the No. 3 seller in the Virtual Essentials raw bar line. (Source: 3 Ton Group)Growing category
Being one of the first companies in the freeze-dried and frozen pet food category helped solidify Carnivore’s position in the market. It also helps that the company builds its own freeze dryers.
“Getting a new freeze dryer in today’s market could take up to two years,” Viegut said. “Others in the category don’t have enough capacity to accommodate future customers and the growth in the category.”
Even though the category is experiencing rapid growth, it is still only approximately 1% of the entire pet food industry. But Viegut believes the growth will continue, and helping the category grow as a whole will benefit all companies involved, not just Carnivore.
Carnivore’s first freeze dryer took over a year to build. Five years ago, the company had 16 custom-built freeze dryers in operation; now they have 41 Generation 1 and Generation 2 dryers.
“This could only be done because we engineer and build our own freeze dryers. It’s certainly a difference maker,” Viegut said.
Above and beyond
With more than 55,000 square feet of processing space at its Ontario Road location (after acquiring a neighboring building in 2021 and adding 31,000 additional square feet), 24,800 square feet of packaging at its Yeager Drive location and 24,000 square feet of warehouse space on Henry Street, Carnivore Meat Co. was maxed out from a processing and production standpoint.
“We couldn’t afford not to build a new facility,” he said.
The company considered converting existing production facilities or buying out neighboring buildings, but nothing was big enough for the size of expansion they were looking for. The focus then turned to building from the ground up in a greenfield location. It was at that time that private equity firm Arbor Investments approached Carnivore about a partnership.
The new partnership provided the necessary capital to purchase the land and move forward on building Carnivore’s new 235,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing plant in Green Bay’s Grandview Industrial Park. Schuh Construction broke ground on the new site in August 2022 and the plant is set to begin production, with its Generation 2 freeze dryers, at the end of the year.
The future growth includes the infrastructure to ultimately have four times the current capacity.
“There are a number of types of automation that will be featured in the plant,” said Brian Lakari, vice president of operations. “We looked at technology used in other operations — from the baking industry to warehousing and vegetable sorting — and we’re applying it to suit our needs. We’ll have everything from industrial robots to co-bots to autonomous mobile robots.”
However, even with an increased focus on robotics and automation, there will be a need for more than 70 people to work operations in the new facility. Carnivore will work with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to find automation engineer and technician interns.
“If we have three or four young people coming in as interns, we’ll have the opportunity to hire some of them or prepare them for wherever they go to work next. It’s a big win-win for the community, the university and for us,” Viegut said. “And for our customers — because we have access to talent to run the equipment to make sure they get their product on time.”
In addition to production, packaging and 27,000 square feet of office space, the new plant will feature an in-house Innovation Center to help with product development of the Vital Essentials brand.
Carnivore's new 235,000-square-foot greenfield facility is set to open at the end of the year. The new plant will feature robotics and automation technology. (Source: 3 Ton Group)A new look
As a part of the company’s look to the future, Carnivore’s Vital Essentials has debuted a rebrand of its pet food products. The rebrand includes new kraft paper and twine packaging, reminiscent of that from a butcher shop.
“We consider ourselves to be a meat shop for cats and dogs,” said Lydia Xiong, brand manager. “Because of that, we used the butcher shop concept to inspire our new logo and brand look.”
According to Vital Essentials, the rebrand includes a renewed companywide focus on creating connections with customers and consumers.
“There are so many brands out there, but we believe that only Vital Essentials offers the ‘butcher cut’ protein pets need,” Viegut said. “As we say in our offices, there are no shortcuts, only butcher cuts — and we’re committed to helping our retailer partners bring the best quality protein to their customers.”
