Pumpkins are hanging out on stoops and lighting up porches, but what about the ones left over in the patch? One company has a unique and sustainable solution: turn them into pet food.

Shameless Pets aims to reduce food waste by upcycling surplus ingredients like pumpkins into edible products for cats and dogs. 

Finally, a chance for your pooch to go green.

The company was founded in 2017 by Alex Waite and her business partner James Bello. After working in retail for CPG brands, Waite couldn’t help but notice the substantial amount of waste that occurred throughout the supply chain.

Even with a mitigation strategy, sometimes it was unavoidable. 

“It got the wheels in my head turning to the point where I’d walk down the grocery store aisle, and wonder, ‘How did that oatmeal get made? What are the byproducts?’” Waite tells Replate. “I realized the volumes were likely immense, and that composting was one solution, but there must be something better. We started Shameless Pets to work towards upcycling as much material as we could into high quality dog and cat treats.” 

Shameless Pets products primarily contain surplus fruits and vegetables. Think sweet potatoes, blueberries, bananas and other superfoods, all of which provide additional and diverse nutritional profiles for pets. The company sources materials from farmers and food processors, and utilizes dried powder materials for consistency and form. 

In five years, they’ve scaled substantially. Consumers can find Shameless Pets online and through major retailers like Target, Chewy, and Petco. Products range from jerky bites to soft baked goods to crunchy toppings for the dinner bowl.

“Sometimes seasonal items can be tricky,” Waite notes. “Pumpkin is a great example. There will be a lot of surplus this month. We have to look ahead at our annual needs and so it's really like forecasting that crystal ball, to understand how much we need to get us through. Sometimes we can source from other places that have longer seasons or different seasons.” 

As the first upcycled pet brand on the market, Waite and her team are learning as they go, and embracing opportunities that come with initiating a concept. Retail buyers were quick to stock their shelves with Shameless Pets products, and while consumers may not yet grasp the upcycling trend, they’re happy to have a healthier, sustainable alternative for their pets. 

“They're buying our products because they're interested in different attributes of our brand and our business,” Waite explains. “We're like, great, let's have a voice around [upcycled foods] so that people can better understand it.”

For more info on Shameless Pets, visit their website.

Learn more about Replate here!