Nature’s Variety tells me that their Natural Instinct RAW, is made at their own plant…… which also produces the organic version of that as well as the freeze dried and treats.
Anything that has *organic* stamped on their products, is required to meet a higher standard of manufacturing and AVIS (see below) gets involved (well, they are supposed to) and nothing else is allowed to be manufactured at the plant but the approved products….
Their dry Instinct is grain free and is outsourced. That is from the lips of the plant manager who also told me that it was not menu foods. I can not remember if he told me who does manufacture it, or if I even asked (back in June or July) I have been meaning to call them again and ask. I do know that there was one on the Menu list, (canned, maybe ?), of things they manufacture, but not sure if that list was accurate, as it was not a major listing.
The owner and CEO of Nature’s Variety is M.I. Industries and the president is Bob Milligan.
M.I. Industries also owns Honey Creek Farms™ which is a line of natural dry pet treats available for grocery and corporate pet chain stores and they also own Happy Pet™ branded treats, which are sold through national and multi-national discount stores. For more information about either of these branding options, please contact Theron Wiggins at <twiggins@miindustries.com>
I have not done any real research on Honey Creek Farms as of yet, or Happy Pet either. But, what I have done is not coming up with much other than where some products are sold.
Nature’s Variety (Offices)
6200 N 56th St
Lincoln, NE, 68504
Phone: (402) 466-8303 (888) 519-7387, (402) 466-8302
Fax (402) 466-5441,
<info@naturesvariety.com>
http://www.naturesvariety.com
Pres/Owner: Bob Milligan,
Mkg/Sales Mgr: Scott Freeman
MI INDUSTRIES <info@miindustries.com>
P.O. Box 29345
Lincoln, NE 68529-0345
Phone: 402-466-8302
Fax: 402-466-5441
These are questions I asked when I spoke to the office (Jessica) and the plant Manager (Chris)
QUESTION: How long has Natures Variety been in business?
ANSWER:The company has been in business 7 years.
QUESTION: Where is your plant located?
ANSWER: 6200 N. 56th Street Lincoln, Nebraska 68504
QUESTION: Where are your offices located?
ANSWER: A few blocks away
QUESTION: Do you manufacture all your own product at that plant?
ANSWER: No, only the RAW DIET, FREEZE DRIED and TREATS…… All other foods are outsourced.
QUESTION: Do you manufacture any other product at that same plant?
ANSWER: No!
QUESTION: Why is there no phone number on your site?
ANSWER: Because this is a small independent company and as of now, there is only one person to answer the phonesand that is Jessica. We are working on a phone situation now though.
QUESTION: Where do you obtain your RAW meats from?
ANSWER: Both Jessica (office) and Chris (Plant) told me that the meat comes from within 200 miles of the plant. EXCEPT, for the lamb. The lamb comes from New Zealand. The site says venison also though.
QUESTION: Is your Organic RAW product, the only one that is USDA Approved?
ANSWER: Not in the human consumption sense. (see organic below)
QUESTION: Where do you obtain your other ingredients from?
ANSWER: Unanswered as of yet. My fault, I must not have asked as I did not write it down !
QUESTION: What do you use as a binder?
ANSWER: No specific binder is used. The veggies and fruits are what holds it together.
QUESTION: Tell me about the bone size in the product please? Is it really ground up?
ANSWER: We use a 1/4 inch grinding plate.
QUESTION: Do we have to worry about pieces of bone being too large?
ANSWER: There may very well be some pieces that may not be ground down as small as the rest.
NOTE: I have used this product since July and I just cross cut a lot before I serve it to Lil-Lea and it is fine.
QUESTION: What is the shelf life of the frozen RAW medallions?
ANSWER: 1 Year from the date on package
STATEMENTS by CHRIS:
Plant was a human grade processing company at one time.
It holds to very high standards for production due to it being Organically Certified http://www.ccof.org/certification.php
The plant is also EU CERTIFIED http://www.fas.usda.gov/gainfiles/200509/146131041.pdf
OVERVIEW OF EU CERTIFICATES http://useu.usmission.gov/agri/certificates-overview.html
THE PLANT IS A USDA AVIS FACILITY http://www.aphis.usda.gov/
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