Here at PAWK, we only do pork (it’s in the name).
But why is this so? Well, it’s because we live and breathe everything to do with Aussie grown pork. You might be thinking “but it would be nice to get some kangaroo and beef treats at the same time”. Yes, you might be right, and we’re all for variety in your dog’s diet – but we don’t grow kangaroo’s and we don’t grow cow’s.
What we have been growing for the last forty odd years in Queensland– is pigs. When we look at the pet treats currently on sale in Australia, the shelves are dominated by imported products, and companies who are overseas owned. The vast majority of treats are full of grains, fillers and preservatives, and quite frankly, we think our dogs deserve something better than that.
Over the past few decades, we’ve amassed some experience on what goes into growing the best pork. What we’ve ended up with is a pig that’s unparallelled for leanness, taste and texture, and also grown using sustainable farming practices. How do we know? Because it’s all done by us!
If that’s not the kind of treat your dog needs – then we’re not sure what is!
What is a value chain?
A value chain is a phrase used to describe the full set of activities that a business performs to create a product and get it on shelves. It encompasses everything from farming and processing and packaging, right through to customer delivery and support.
In the pork pet treat business, it’s very unusual for one company to be managing all of these stages - like we do at PAWK. And there’s loads of benefits in doing it all.
Treat manufacturers will commonly buy their meat on the open market, which is why they offer a huge variety of different proteins. They may also send that raw material to a production partner who dries it, further processes is and packs it for them. This is good from a variety perspective, as you can get everything from your turkey to your goat from the one company – but it’s unlikely those companies have any idea how those goats and turkeys have been raised.
Transparency
Managing the whole value chain gives us full transparency on every stage that goes into getting our PAWK treats on shelves. Our farms and processing facilities are accredited with the highest animal welfare standards in the country – meaning every process we use must meet strict standards which are independently audited many times each year.
Because we air dry and pack all our own products in our Toowoomba facility, we have great control over the quality of the end product. Quality Australian grown pork goes in, then gets dried and packed by our own team with decades of experience in the drying game. Because of this, you know that quality, air dried pork treats are coming out the other end. It doesn’t get more transparent than that!
Nose to Tail
We grow amazing pigs, and we do it for humans as well as pets. You might have heard of our human brand SunPork, which has been supplying major retailers for decades. The pet treat business is a wonderful opportunity to give purpose to cuts not commonly consumed by humans — reducing waste while unlocking their significant nutritional benefits for dogs. And by focusing on a single protein, sourced directly from our own supply chain, we avoid the need to ship a variety of proteins across the country – reducing transport, food miles, and environmental impact.
It’s a simpler, cleaner way of doing things – and one we believe makes PAWK better for dogs, and better for the planet.
