Why Yarrah uses residual streams for pet food

If you ask Yarrah, residual streams aren’t waste. Some (parts of) products that aren’t used in the food industry, make for excellent pet food. That is why Yarrah processes these residual streams into its pet food. Here is the how and the why.

Yarrah and sustainability

Yarrah is committed to sustainability. We care about animals and ourselves, but also the world around us. Yarrah puts a lot of effort into making its pet food and the manufacturing process as sustainable as possible. That is why Yarrah works with residual streams.

What are residual streams?

Residual streams are (parts of) products that are not processed into food for human consumption by the food industry. They are redundant or considered waste. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The high-quality meat used in Yarrah’s pet food is sourced from residual streams and comes packed with important nutrients. In addition to the meat itself, we also use residual streams for other ingredients such as baobab.

Residual meat

Yarrah uses residual meat for its food. This may sound a bit odd, but these are perfectly good parts of meat that remain after our steaks, beef strips, chicken fillets and such have been cut away. A lot of meat isn’t used for human consumption but does make for excellent pet food.

Value added chicken is a great example of how animals can be deployed in a sustainable way. These organic laying hens are kept to lay their eggs. They aren’t slaughtered until they consume more food than the value of their eggs (after about 14 months). These chickens had a better life, with ample space to move around in and a strictly organic diet. At the end of a chicken’s life, the farmer gets a fair price for his laying hen and the chicken meat can be used for products such as our organic pet food. Back in the day, the entire industry revolved around the egg. The chicken itself was treated as a waste product. Today, the entire value-added chicken is put to good use and nothing goes to waste.

Further reading: What type of meat is used for pet food?

Residual streams for other products

On top of residual meat streams, Yarrah uses other ‘residuals’ as well. An example is the baobab. Our Dog Adult, Sterilised Cat and Vegetarian kibble contains ‘organic baobab oil seed press cake’, a residual product that remains after the oil has been pressed out of baobab seeds. The oil is used in cosmetics, among other things, but the cake comes with perks of its own. Rich in vitamins, fibres and antioxidants, it makes for a great addition to our kibble.

What other contributions to sustainability does Yarrah make?

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Yarrah is committed to sustainability. Because keeping a pet is something you can do as sustainably as possible too. In the article ‘How environmentally friendly is the life of my pet and how can I contribute?’, we offer more tips on keeping a pet in an environmentally friendly way. In addition, all of Yarrah’s food is organic. The article ‘Why give my pet organic food?’, explains why organic food is good for your pet and the world around us. On top of that, Yarrah is always looking for opportunities to make our products even more sustainable. This goes for food and snacks as well as their packaging. We will tell you all about it in the article ‘Sustainable pet food packaging, what is what?’.