GREEN BAY, Wis. — Carnivore Meat Company, the manufacturer of Vital Essentials frozen and freeze-dried raw meat pet food, treats and chews, is implementing a sustainability initiative to reduce packaging material in its day-to-day manufacturing operations.

“We’re looking at making incremental changes across the company so we can be better stewards of our resources and, at the same time, reduce our overall impact on the environment,” said Lanny Viegut, CEO and owner of Carnivore Meat Company. “Our hope is that these measures will aid in offsetting rising costs in other areas of our business.”

Phase one of the initiative will begin Oct. 1 with new product packaging and shipping materials for the Vital Essentials’ RAW BAR pet chews.

“New product packaging will reduce the amount of plastic usage by 15%,” stated Brian Lakari, vice president of operations at Carnivore Meat Company.

The company will also convert all its shipping cases to 100% recycled cardboard that maximize pack density and reduce annual usage by 30%. This will decrease waste as well as warehouse space needed for both domestic and international distributors.

“Taking into account our rapidly ascending sales trajectory, the impacts of decisions we make today will be even greater into the future as we continue to grow,” Lakari added.

Carnivore Meat Company was recently listed by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing private US companies, with 204% growth over the last three years.

The company produces pet products for the Vital Essentials, VE RAW BAR and Vital Cat brands, which are sold in more than 6,000 pet specialty retail locations in the US, in 14 international markets and online through Chewy and Amazon.

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