Germantown, Wisconsin
- CertificationBRC AA+ rated
About
Pet food is the largest variable in pet health span. We started in 2017 to act like it.
It starts with the very first meal. Three expert-led brands (Dr. Marty Pets, Badlands Ranch, and Ultimate Pet Nutrition) each developed in partnership with a veterinarian or an animal advocate who believed pets do better on real, minimally processed food. Golden Pet Brands gives them what most pet brands never own: veterinarian-led formulation, virtually all U.S. manufacturing, and one unified standard across every product.
Golden Pet Brands is a vertically integrated pet nutrition company that makes premium, minimally processed, nutrient-dense food, headquartered in El Segundo, founded in 2017, formerly under the Golden Hippo family of companies.
Vision · Mission
Why we exist.
Our Vision
Golden Pet Brands exists to create a world where pets live longer, healthier lives from their very first meal.
Our Mission
We make minimally processed, nutrient-dense food simple for pet parents, and rewarding for pets, through product excellence, education, and storytelling.
How the brands are built
Every brand has a face. Ours had a hand in the food.
Plenty of pet brands put a recognizable name on the label. Ours helped make what's inside it. Each brand was shaped by a veterinarian or an animal advocate who worked on the food itself, backed by an in-house team of veterinarians, food scientists, and animal nutritionists with more than 100 years of combined experience. The name out front and the team behind it stand for the same thing.
Education as a core function.
Golden Pet Brands produces long-form educational content across national television and digital platforms: pet nutrition, ingredient sourcing, integrative veterinary care. Content runs as a function of the business, not a marketing line item.
Built in-house, not outsourced.
Vertical integration doesn't stop at the kitchen. Creative, media, and analytics are in-house: a full studio of writers, producers, and designers, not an agency on retainer. The team that builds the brands also makes the content and reads the data, so decisions follow what pet parents actually respond to.
Direct-to-consumer roots, pet specialty retail today.
The brands launched direct-to-consumer, then entered retail through neighborhood and independent pet stores in 2021 and national pet specialty, including Petco, in 2026. Amazon and Chewy round out the mix. We knew the customer before we ever shipped a pallet to a shelf.
Operating principles
How we operate.
Eight principles govern how we make decisions across the portfolio.
01
Act like owners
Accountable for the goals and the values.
02
Move fast with discipline
Speed where it's safe. Rigor where it matters.
03
Customers and pets first
Quality and integrity outrank every other tradeoff.
04
Deal with issues directly
Problems do not get buried.
05
Share a clear story
Everyone knows where the company is going and why.
06
Hold a strong ethical line
Do the right thing even when it costs in the short term.
07
Build for the long term
Decisions outlast the quarter.
08
Celebrate our people
Value the team. Acknowledge the work.
Manufacturing and food safety
How the food gets made and tested.
Two U.S. manufacturing facilities. Veterinarian-led formulation. In-house R&D. Third-party lot testing by accredited laboratories. Clean-label formulations, with no unnecessary fillers or harsh ingredients. The only U.S. pet food company that makes both freeze-dried raw and air-dried at this scale, virtually all in its own facilities.
Seward, Nebraska
- CertificationSQF certified, FDA registered
Both facilities operate under one standard, from ingredient receiving through finished-product testing:
- Formulation, Complete-diet recipes meet AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) nutrient profiles for their life stage; treats and supplements are made for intermittent or supplemental feeding.
- Certified facilities, Germantown, Wisconsin is BRC AA+ rated; Seward, Nebraska is SQF (Safe Quality Food) certified and FDA registered.
- Kill step (freeze-dried raw), Products including Dr. Marty Pets Nature's Blend run through High-Pressure Processing (HPP), a gold-standard food safety technology that eliminates pathogens while preserving the nutritional integrity, taste, and texture of raw ingredients.
- Air-dried lines, Cod Cracklers, treats, and chews run a gentle, low-temperature dehydration process that retains protein density and essential nutrients.
- Supplements, Dietary supplement products use a test-and-release protocol.
- Quality assurance, Our integrated model gives us end-to-end control over product quality, safety, and traceability, anchored by our BRC AA+ rated facility.
Corporate social responsibility
Causes we stand with.
Corporate social responsibility at Golden Pet Brands runs through the cause our brands and Brand Champions know best, animal welfare. Across the portfolio, we support organizations that place rescued dogs in homes, train service dogs for veterans and people with disabilities, and advance integrative veterinary care.
