THEMES

Hello, very nice to meet you.

One day I had a random thought. If animals could talk, wouldn’t they tell us they wanted food that tasted better? What if dogs and cats were fed raw meat, like they originally did? Would that make them more lively and energetic? And then I tried various different things and was finally able to start my own business. My name is Ishida, thanks for being here.

Raw meat for pet food was very costly and I hesitated somewhat at first, but after giving my own pet cat raw food for over six months, I started to notice a difference, as did my friends with their dogs and cats. Their coat became shinier, the eyes were twinklier, and there was a noticeable reduction in the odor of their stool, as well as tear stains. I began thinking how great it would be if I could turn this into a business. However it is also true that I came across many setbacks along the way.

In my relentless pursuit of both high quality and freshness, I scrambled around looking for cooperation from many companies in order to be able to provide expensive cuts of meat for the lowest possible prices. I continued to search for a way to import flash frozen raw pet food from various overseas and domestic locations via cold shipping, so that I may bring this deluxe raw pet food to more people. Over a year later, I have finally been able to set up a selling environment.

I had many of my friends and acquaintances try out all the products for months on their cats and dogs during this preparation period. I am grateful for the support in this time, as I got to see and hear about their pets seeming to love the raw food, so much so that they tried desperately to hog it and save none for sibling pets. I also learned that dogs generally favored lamb, and cats preferred a mix of chicken and lamb. I had many inquiries about wanting to purchase the raw food, and I was so very happy.

I have personally never been someone who prioritized SDGs and the like in my everyday life, but as I began to work with lamb and chicken meat, I became increasingly interested in food waste. That’s when I had the idea to start Food Waste Project. And with the help of my business partner, I was fortunate enough to gain the cooperation of renowned Ghenghis khan restaurant Hitsuji Sunrise as well as renowned yakitori restaurant Minami Aoyama Nana Chome. Needless to say, I have yet to secure a reservation at either eatery…but I am delighted that your beloved dogs and cats will have the opportunity to enjoy their gourmet eats ahead of me.

Also, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to have in our lineup Mr. Yoichi Ogata’s special honey blend for dogs and cats. Mr. Ogata is a friend of mine and is known as the “honey hunter” on TBS’s program, Crazy Journey. My thanks to Mr. Ogata.

Finally, I’d like to say that switching out even just half of your regular pet food for raw food will bring about dramatic changes in your pets.

As we want to continue to put emphasis on freshness, we may only be able to sell our products online, but I do hope to one day meet you and your furry family members in person.

Today, June 29, 2025, marks the start of natiy+k. Apparently today is a very auspicious day.

Hoping for continued opportunities to bring happy smiles to more and more people.

See you around!

natiy
President and CEO

Naoko Ishida