You know that a busy, active life gets better with a pet by your side—and that you and your pet look to each other like family. These stories celebrate the ways we all lead a #NOBL_Life.
Pet Food Dogma and the Masses
Posted by Jim Galovski on This article first appeared on LinkedIn   dog·ma / ˈdôɡmə / noun - a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true. Nutritionally Mediated - Dilated Cardiomyopathy (NM-DCM) is a very real and scary condition. Dogs can exhibit no outward signs until they are in the...
Pet Food Labeling Requirements: Why the Industry Needs New Standards
Posted by Jim Galovski on This article first appeared on LinkedIn   "Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come." - Victor Hugo I know...this topic has been addressed before (but only a few hundred times). Lately I have witnessed a lot of people referencing AAFCO and the FDA in...
Liar! Liar! How Truth Lost Out to Marketing in the Pet Industry
Posted by Jim Galovski on This article first appeared on LinkedIn   The 17th century Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracian once said, "A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity" and in regard to what the pet industry has allowed, he couldn't have been more accurate! Commercially prepared pet food has been around since...
The Age of Pet Food Romanticism
Posted by Jim Galovski on This article first appeared on LinkedIn   Classical Romanticism was a period between the late 18th to mid-19th century. Many scholars would agree that it was a direct response and reaction to The Enlightenment and the Age of Rationalism; a way of pushing back against facts and science. Romanticism...
The Pet Obesity Epidemic
Posted by Jim Galovski on This article first appeared on LinkedIn   The most recent Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) report stated that 56% of all canines and 60% of felines in the US were overweight or obese. If you've followed APOP and Dr. Ernie Ward, you know he has been sounding...
"All That Glitters..." The Practice of Sidestepping Regulatory in the Pet Food Industry
Posted by Jim Galovski on This article first appeared on LinkedIn   Over 5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians would ingest gold for mental, physical and spiritual purification. They believed that gold was the "perfection of matter" and that its presence in the body would cure a multitude of diseases. This practice continued throughout...
Learnings from a Business Start-Up set to Music
Posted by Jim Galovski on This article first appeared on LinkedIn   ...and now for something completely different. For those of you that don't know, for the last year I've been busy creating a different kind of pet food and a different kind of pet food company with Ryan Yamka. Pleased to say...
Amino Acids, Product Formulation and Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM)
Posted by Jim Galovski on This article first appeared on LinkedIn   Just because you are in the pet care industry, it doesn't mean you know a lot about pet nutrition. Before I co-founded Guardian Pet Food with Dr. Ryan Yamka, I thought I was pretty well versed. Truth be told, I didn't...
"Déjà Moo" Marketing!
Posted by Jim Galovski onThe Merriam-Webster definition of "déjà vu" is the feeling of having already experienced the present situation. A lesser cited definition is "a tedious familiarity." THAT, my friends, is Déjà Moo! It's the feeling of having seen the same old BS marketing tactic so often that it no longer resonates. This...
Puppy Power: The Economics Behind the $29 Billion Dollar (and growing) Pet Food Category!
Posted by Jim Galovski on This article first appeared on LinkedIn   In the world of pet care mergers and acquisitions (M&A) there has been at least 14 so far in 2018. It is a smorgasbord: companies are (re)entering the space (General Mills), expanding within the category (JM Smucker), strengthening their services (Central...