Introducing Proudi’s New Look Sustainable Packaging: An Update
Official statement
Thank you so much to everyone who has offered their feedback to us since our start back in 2017. We hope the changes we make have positive implications for you, your fur kids, and our planet! The feedback we get from consumers is vital to helping us improve and create the very best for dogs, cats, and their humans to serve and enjoy.
We would like to address some queries around the recent Proudi packaging changes! We pride ourselves on being an ethical and transparent small business.
Same recipes, new look!
We would like to assure our customers that despite these packaging changes, our recipes have not changed, nor has the quality of the ingredients we use to create the very best nutritious food for your companion animals. We source free-range, grass-fed and 100% human grade ingredients from trusted human grade suppliers. Our premium, prey model raw formulas do not include any additives or fillers, including fruits or vegetables. The quality of ingredients together with our complete and balanced formulation of our recipes will always be of the utmost importance to Proudi.
You Asked, We Listened!
The changes we have made to our packaging have been implemented in response to an influx of feedback that Proudi have received from our valued customers over the past few years. We are thrilled that after much discussion, planning and preparation, these changes are coming into effect.
The feedback we received predominantly fell under three main categories:
- The amount of plastic waste involved with using Proudi;
- The potential for freezer burn and ice build-up on patties; and
- The potential for the inner plastic packaging to leak as the patties defrost.
After careful planning, we decided to implement packaging changes that would address the above issues and create a more user and environmentally friendly product for our customers.
The Bigger Picture
Our new packaging is a carboard outer box, disposable via regular kerbside recyclables collection, and our inner packaging is vacuum sealed soft plastic that is recyclable by means of soft plastics programs commonly located in supermarkets. We have partnered with APCO (Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation) and are in the process of partnering with RedCycle to ensure we continue to provide the most sustainable packaging possible while maintaining our strict human grade safety standards. We were advised by these professionals that the new plastic vacuum seal packaging is a more sustainable and recyclable material compared our previous plastic packaging. If recycled appropriately, our new packaging creates zero waste for consumers. So, you can purchase Proudi knowing you are doing your best to reduce waste.
Some Teething Pains!
Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to implement an effective and efficient change, we have been issued with packaging that does not adhere to our or our customer’s high standards and expectations. While we are aware of these issues, we have decided to push through to keep stock on shelves and ensure there was no lapse in product available for our customers. We are striving to grow and learn as a small business, and we consider these issues an important learning curve for our team for future product development.
The initial run of cardboard boxes were found to be inadequately structured, particularly after freezer storage. We are currently in the process of upgrading the integrity of the cardboard, and the new and improved boxes will be in stores in the next coming months. The new, sturdier cardboard can still be disposed of in regular kerbside recycling.
There have been some minor issues with the plastic vacuum seal packaging, mainly being difficulties using the peel tab, and some minor leaking as the patties defrost. We have been adjusting our manufacturing to fix these issues as they appear, and the new stock coming through to stores should have corrected plastic packaging integrity.
Improving and Advancing
As part of our new packaging roll-out, we had a full-scale machinery upgrade to accommodate for our new packaging method. This upgrade has allowed us to produce higher quantities of product more efficiently and sustainably. This upgrade has resulted in changes to our method of mincing and freezing. Previously, Proudi patties were snap frozen with a rapid blast of nitrogen before being packaged into their individual plastic wrappers. The new vacuum sealed packaging has allowed us to use a more natural freezing process and has also minimised the issue of freezer burn and ice build-up that was occurring when the meat was snap frozen.
While these issues didn’t impact the safety and nutritional qualities of the product, it may have contributed to additional liquid forming inside the inner packets as the patties defrosted. There may now be a difference in texture and colour to the product when defrosted due to these improvements.
The size of the mince grind in the Proudi dog products is the same as our products prior to the machinery upgrade. Our cat products are now a slightly courser grind allowing a “chunkier” texture to encourage chewing and jaw health. It is worth noting that being a natural product, the texture of our products can vary from batch to batch.
The vacuum sealed packaging has resulted in a quicker defrosting time for our customers, and for easier clean up! The vacuum seal will eliminate the risk of newly formed liquid leaking as the Proudi patties defrost in your fridge.
Pack Size Update
The new machinery only allows our new inner plastic packaging to be manufactured in sheets of 4 patties, and so you will see a reduction in the number of patties per box from 14 to 12. The price per patty has therefore slightly increased. Like all businesses, Proudi are faced with inflation in an ever-changing economic environment impacting the cost of manufacturing our product. In addition, the cost to move to a more sustainable product is more expensive to produce.
We are experiencing cost increases in our supply chain, from the raw ingredients, such as human grade meat and offal, to the fuel used for transport. To ensure that we can continue producing our premium raw food, without making any substitutes for the quality of ingredients we use, we decided to reduce the quantity to 12 rather than increasing to 16 to sustain our business.
We will only make changes to our pricing where it is absolutely necessary for the sustainability of our business and to date, have only had one price increase in all products, excluding the Turkey & Chicken and Kangaroo & Beef patties for dogs which have never had a price increase. The other dog varieties faced a price increase in October 2018 and the two cat varieties in July 2020, when we switched from the low cost introductory pricing to a standard retail price.
Our Ethos
We are proud to produce a premium product, sourcing grass-fed, free range and 100% human grade produce from reputable Australian suppliers. Our product is manufactured in our own Safe Food QLD accredited, human grade manufacturing facility. These standards do come at a cost; however, we would never sacrifice any of them as our priority is to produce the best quality, safest and most nutritious food for dogs and cats.
Sales!
To move the old packaging quicker, allowing the new and upgraded packaging to arrive on shelves, we have offered our independent retailers ongoing discounts. The discount for the original silver packaging will continue until stocks last, and various discounts for new packaging will be available until the end of April 2022.
Thank you
We would like to express our gratitude to the stockists and consumers who would love to see more Proudi recipes hit the shelves. We are excited to announce that we have new recipes in the early stages of development that should be ready for release throughout 2022.
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about any of these changes or about Proudi in general, please reach out to info@proudi.com. We would love to hear from you!
