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I have been raw feeding for the past ten years and got my start by connecting with some wonderful people who ordered in bulk from a raw food company. I learned what they had going was called a co-op, and their hard work and dedication to bringing these wonderful products to the local community was making raw feeding accessible to anyone who wanted to try raw.
When we relocated from Virginia to Florida, I assumed there would be another co-op where I was headed that I could join and continue my raw feeding journey. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. While a couple of groups did not buy from companies that produced blends, I felt comfortable feeding my dogs. One of the main things that got me started feeding raw was wanting the healthiest and best possible food for my dogs, and feeding things like denatured meats or 4D (dead, diseased, dying, destroyed) meats felt like a huge step in the wrong direction. So I called the company I had been making co-op purchases from in Virginia and asked, “OK, how do I do this?”
The reality is that it is going to be different for each group. What works for one group in one region may not work for a group in a different region. I had two goals:
- make raw feeding affordable and accessible for anyone who wants to try raw.
- fully vet any company I was considering working with. I wanted to ensure they met a set of criteria so that I could feel proud and confident in feeding my dogs and offering to my community.
If I wouldn’t feed it to my dogs, I wouldn’t expect a fellow co-op member to either.
How to Find Products/Vendors
I found brands to sell through Ruff Pak LLC in a few ways. The first brand was one I purchased from in the past; so I contacted them when I set up the new co-op. Albright's Raw Dog Food, a raw food brand out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, found me. Many companies reach out to me these days, requesting to be offered through my co-op.
Also, group members requested that I look into brands. I will call and speak with the company (or conduct a Google search) to confirm that the brand meets the criteria for being sold through Ruff Pak.
Local farms are another great resource. However, I no longer work with farms because their product availability isn't consistent, and their products have varying degrees of quality. There is a local farm that processes rabbits, and because I don’t currently have rabbit products, I will refer people directly to the farm.
Technically, you are the distributor when you start a raw food co-op. If you work with a distributor to gain access to products from a company, your prices may be higher as you account for the middle person.
Criteria for Products/Vendors
For products, vendors, farms, etc., to be sold through RuffPakRawFeeding.com, they must meet the following criteria:
1) must be a USDA-inspected facility. This is non-negotiable for me.
2) must be human-grade ingredients – caveats include that Green tripe can never be considered human-grade per USDA. While raw pet food cannot be deemed “human grade” or “fit for human consumption,” I expect the ingredients to come from human-appropriate sources. Asking questions about the company's sourcing and processing will quickly reveal the quality of the product you are receiving.
3) I am not a “no recalls ever” person. Recalls can happen, and the raw feeding community is under great scrutiny by the FDA. I also understand the difference between a salmonella-related recall versus a Listeria-related recall. However, they must have full transparency and a good way of communicating quickly with their distributors and identifying if a distributor has purchased a recalled lot number.
Knowing how they track this is very important. Furthermore, I don't particularly appreciate seeing multiple recalls in a year. I have dropped brands before due to having too many recalls. Recalls, especially those related to certain pathogens like listeria, can put your co-op business at risk. If a pet or pet owner becomes ill due to the food you sell them, you can be held liable, which is why I insist on carrying general liability insurance (outlined later in this article).
4) I like companies that offer AAFCO complete grinds. It makes it easy for those who are new to raw and those of us who have very busy schedules and want to weigh each meal and serve. The companies I work with offer AAFCO complete grinds and various supplemental proteins that appeal to DIY raw feeders. That way, there is something for everyone.
The Business Side of Owning a Raw Food Co-Op
Hire a CPA (certified public accountant)
The first step I took, and would advise anyone else to take, is to work with a CPA. You will need to begin collecting sales tax because the companies who sell in bulk may not charge sales tax, and the law requires that you either pay a use tax on those goods or collect a sales tax and remit it to your state.
Doing this alone felt daunting, and I wanted to ensure I did it right.
Among the things you will need are…
You will need to make sure you are filing your federal taxes accordingly. Remember that all recorded sales under your co-op will count as income, so you must document your expenses. Your co-op is a business; whether you choose to turn a profit or not is up to you, but regardless, in the eyes of the IRS, it is income. Unless you are an accountant, I strongly advise you to work with a CPA to help manage these things since every state has slightly different requirements and regulations.
Learn Your Cost of Operations
You will want to take a hard look at your cost of operations. What is it going to cost to ship, store, and deliver the food? You will want to factor all these overhead costs into your pricing and build in some padding. Things go wrong, freezers break, gas prices fluctuate, and so much is unpredictable that you will want to pad your cost of operation for the unknown.
Liability Insurance
I strongly advise you to take out a liability insurance policy on your LLC for the unknown. The liability policy will protect you if a customer purchases a product and files a lawsuit alleging any harm the product may have caused to either themselves or their pet. While we all believe in the companies we buy products from, a lot can go wrong. You must be prepared and protect yourself against the unknown.
For example, a product can reach room temperature and remain for longer than two hours, either by your fault unknowingly or by the customer’s fault. This product may become unsafe, and the animal fed the product or the person handling the product is sick. This could open the door for a lawsuit you aren’t prepared to handle alone. The insurance cost will need to be factored into your base of operations cost. It isn’t expensive and protects you and your family’s assets from the unknown.
Will You Offer Delivery or Pick-Up
Next, we have to look at logistics. Will you offer delivery to your customers – group delivery, individual home delivery, or will it be pick-up only? COVID changed the way I operate my co-op. We moved to a home delivery model with a few people still picking up from my home. While COVID initially was the reason people didn’t want group deliveries, I think the changes made the co-op available to people who could not make a group pick-up due to distance or scheduling.
We hire a driver, and 100% of the delivery fees go directly to the driver.
Co-Op Website and Membership Fees
Another thing to consider is building a website that helps collect orders and educate potential co-op members. We operate through our website as well as a private Facebook group. The group allows our members to connect, get order updates, ask raw feeding questions, and get other help.
Some co-ops have membership fees. Ours does not. It was a choice I made because I felt if I could build the pricing appropriately and fairly into the cost of the product, that would be enough to keep the operation sustainable. In addition, Florida has a lot of people who come on vacation or snowbirds who only live here part-time. I like that everyone can access our co-op, whether they live here permanently or are traveling.
A Raw Food Co-Op Business is a Labor of Love
Overall, running a co-op is a labor of love. Most importantly, a love for your dogs and helping others learn how to feed their pets better. I have met some truly wonderful people who have come to me wanting to solve their dog’s allergies or GI issues and made some great friends along the way. Watching my dogs shine in good health and witness the same for our co-op members has been a great joy. The most rewarding thing at the end of a very busy (read that as exhausting) delivery day is to have someone tell me how well their dog is thriving after switching to our food, and that makes it all worth it.
About Jessica Troup:
I am a mom of a 4-year-old daughter, three dogs, and one horse. My passion for keeping everyone healthy started when I studied biochemistry as an undergrad. Then, while working on my Master's in Medical Science, the pieces began to come together that health and wellness start with the things we eat and the environment we create for ourselves.
I watched raw food transform my itchy dogs into shiny, thriving beings. I also watched how providing my adopted thoroughbred a species-appropriate diet helped him thrive and perform better than ever before. Two species with vastly different diet requirements showed me that when you feed them what they were biologically designed to eat, they blossom into the best versions of themselves.
I now run a co-op in Central Florida and serve the raw feeding community throughout Florida. I love helping people, whether new to raw feeding or old pros, find the best food for their dogs at affordable pricing and sustainable solutions for long-term use.
- RuffPakRawFeeding.com
- Instagram: @RuffPakLLC
- Facebook: Orlando Raw Feeding
