WEBVTT 1 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.519 Welcome to the bear hunting magazine Hunt Cash. With me 2 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:16.879 Koby Moorehead, We're gonna nerd out on bears hunting and 3 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:21.239 the outdoors. We'll tell stories, talk biology, tactics, gear, and 4 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:23.920 the fight to protect the pursuits that we hold dear. 5 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:26.960 So grab your bino's, lace up your boots, load up 6 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:29.440 your barrels, and gather the hounds as we venture on 7 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:42.399 this journey together. So today I'm with Brandon White from 8 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:47.079 Next Level dog Food, And before we get into today's podcast, 9 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:49.880 we've been talking here a lot about all of our 10 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:52.920 buddies out in North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee and just 11 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:56.359 all the things going on out there, and we just 12 00:00:56.359 --> 00:00:59.520 want to wish off them the best. And you know, 13 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:02.719 it's been really encouraging to see how the communities gathered 14 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:06.760 around each other out there and how it's just Appalachians 15 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:10.359 supporting Appalachians and then all the people that know them 16 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:14.680 and are just helping out the best they can. And 17 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:16.719 it's good to know that there's people on the ground 18 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:20.439 out there that you can trust to be responsible with 19 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:22.640 the things that they were sent. We were just talking 20 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:25.879 about how there's so many different organizations that pop up 21 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:29.439 that really are asking for this, or that you just 22 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:32.560 don't know who you can trust, especially with I mean, 23 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:35.280 even some of the rules coming out of that area 24 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:38.799 just are kind of kind of dumbfound you. It's been 25 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:42.200 really great to see how the communities rallied around each 26 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:45.840 other and just done a solid job of supporting each other. 27 00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:50.879 So hats off to you guys. Today we're going to 28 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:53.640 talk about kind of the science behind dog food and 29 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:57.040 see what we can learn from just the production process 30 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.000 and lean on a lot of the knowledge that brand 31 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:02.439 and has. But first we want to find out some 32 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:08.840 of his background and some of the background behind Next Level. So, hey, Brennan, 33 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:13.919 going good, good, So give me some of your your background. 34 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:17.560 I know you're a diehard tree guy, a treehound guy feiler, 35 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.879 and uh, how you got involved with Next Level. And 36 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:23.240 before we get into that, I want to say that 37 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:26.719 the way that the way that I got connected with 38 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:31.080 you guys is uh is kind of not normal. My 39 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:35.360 dad lives in the same town like I'm from, East Texas, 40 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:40.639 where you guys are located your corporate headquarters and want 41 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:46.639 your production plant. And uh, my dad saw somebody come 42 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:48.520 in to the place that he was eating lunch that 43 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:52.560 had Next Level on the on their polo, and he's like, 44 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:57.599 they need to talk to my son. So my dad's 45 00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:58.879 not pastful. 46 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:02.120 East Texas. Well, I don't know too many bashful people 47 00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:02.599 down there. 48 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:07.560 Yeah, so it's cool because like this actually come from uh, 49 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:11.479 this relationship come from just uh. I mean, it wasn't 50 00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:13.960 like a cold call. It wasn't like, oh hey, check 51 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:16.599 out our media kid. It was like it was just 52 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:17.639 my dad being friendly. 53 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:22.919 Yeah. I think he met our president, Hayden Hayden Fox, 54 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:25.800 that sounds right. Yeah, at a restaurant and Hayden called 55 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:27.560 me like, hey man, you need to talk to kids. 56 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:29.400 I think this is really a cool deal talk about 57 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:32.439 bear Hunt. Yeah, so you're our hand guy, go for it. 58 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:38.800 No, we've we've really uh we've really enjoyed starting to 59 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:40.599 get to know you. Guys are still pretty early, but 60 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:43.759 we're looking forward to getting up there and touring the facility. 61 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.199 But yeah, let's go ahead and dive into it. Me 62 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:49.560 some of your I'm really interested in your background because 63 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.960 the more that we talked, the over the phone or 64 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.400 even here this morning, it's it's clear that you have 65 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:00.000 a lot of depth to your to your helm background. 66 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:03.919 Yeah, you know, I'm I tell everybody, I pay taxes 67 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.879 in Southwest Missouri, but I live in a Hilton hotel 68 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:08.879 all day in most of the time. Yeah, I traveled 69 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:13.879 so much. But uh, my family growing up in Southwest Missouri, 70 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:16.600 my uncle's all coon hunters, you know, had coonhounds and 71 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:18.800 and uh on one side of the family. The other 72 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:21.079 side of the family, you know, they coon hunters. It 73 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:23.279 was just something we always had, always had coon hounds 74 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:26.240 or beagles or something. And on my mom's side they 75 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:28.600 were blue tick folks. And on my dad's side, they 76 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:29.480 were black and tans. 77 00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:29.800 Uh. 78 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:32.720 Some of your listeners may know. I remember a general 79 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:35.879 named Harold Bailey had Bailey's black and tans and he 80 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:39.240 won the world way back in the seventies. But I 81 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:41.319 just landed with blue ticks, and I thought they were 82 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:43.639 kind of cool. You know. Everybody that where I lived 83 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:45.720 had a lot of them, had walkers, you know, tream walkers, 84 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:48.519 which are good, good hounds, and yeah, I just wanted 85 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:49.920 something a little different, and it was a blue tick, 86 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:51.759 you know. And yeah, the joke is I can hunt 87 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:53.680 my forty acres all night long and not worry about 88 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:57.279 getting out of pocket. But uh, you know, I graduated 89 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.399 high school back in uh from age You're back in 90 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:02.680 nineteen eighty nine, went to the military, served in the 91 00:05:02.759 --> 00:05:07.639 army for eight years, got out and went to work 92 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:11.160 driving a truck actually for a which is now called 93 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:14.680 FedEx Freight, used to be American Freightways out of Harrison, Arkansas. 94 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:18.519 And you know, had had a pretty good hounder. I 95 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:20.160 thought he was pretty good, and we won a little bit, 96 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:22.639 and I was just enough of a redneck ram, just 97 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:27.800 enough of redneck that won a bigger event. And dog 98 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:29.560 would come say, man, when you were our hat, you know, 99 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.079 put our logo on your ads, we gonna give me, 100 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:34.360 you know, how can I turn this in to help 101 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:39.160 pay my expenses? And anyway, this particular company, we worked 102 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:42.480 out a deal and they were gonna quote unquote sponsored me. 103 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:46.959 But side note, nobody sponsors anybody. Yeah, in the doctor world, 104 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:49.199 they're gonna get something out of it too. But you know, 105 00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:51.240 I got some things. We worked some things out, which 106 00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:54.720 just kind of introduced me into the pet food sales. 107 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:57.639 I thought, that's pretty cool. This guy's getting paid to go. 108 00:05:57.920 --> 00:05:59.360 He's a bird dog, got to go to bird dog 109 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:02.399 hunts and honey events and trade shows. And that's all 110 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:04.920 he does. And I made a joke to him one time. 111 00:06:04.920 --> 00:06:06.480 I said, I like to have your job. And I 112 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:08.720 had a pretty good job, I thought, you know, or 113 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:11.879 did at FedEx, and he said, be careful what you 114 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:16.439 wish for. And then a few months later FedEx offered 115 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:20.680 a buyout and I was thirty nine years old, married 116 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:23.399 and had two kids, and that company offered me a 117 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:26.560 full time job as a field sales rep. I said, man, 118 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:29.319 this is perfect. I can go do well I always 119 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:32.240 wanted and get paid. And so I took a leap 120 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:34.759 of faith, and man, that was an education I learned 121 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:36.920 at that point on to get everything in writing. Don't 122 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:39.800 agree to nothing that's in writing. Yeah, but uh, that 123 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:42.240 was kind of my my introduction to pet food sales. 124 00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:44.959 And then I went to work for a whostsale distributor 125 00:06:45.160 --> 00:06:48.600 where you know, as manufacturers, we sell to hostel distributors 126 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:52.399 who sell to retailers you know, and do online to consumers. 127 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:55.839 So I fell in love with it. I was ordered 128 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:57.759 for a distributor out of out of Rhode Island actually, 129 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:00.920 and I covered Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska, and that's where 130 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:05.040 I met Scott Glover and Antoine album It's the guys 131 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:07.360 that owned US pet Food Next Level. At the time, 132 00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:09.800 they were the owners of Mid America Pet Food. Some 133 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:11.759 of you folks may know that they were the original 134 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:15.079 greadors and original owners of Mid America, which made Victor 135 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:18.959 dog Food. At the time, that's where I met those guys. Man, 136 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:22.920 we just hit it off like brothers, you know, just 137 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:26.839 just a perfect for perfect connection. They offered me a job, 138 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:30.839 and I glad they took it, and no looking back, 139 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:33.160 and be with those guys now since about twenty thirteen, 140 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:36.600 and just super great people and know their families very well. 141 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:41.439 And I'll follow those guys anywhere. But that you sold, 142 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:43.360 you know, they had had been America Victor dog Food 143 00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:46.600 had that company sold it in twenty twenty had a 144 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:49.279 two year non compete and they couldn't hire any of 145 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:51.079 us directly because they're non compete. So I had to 146 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:53.199 go somewhere else for a while and then come back 147 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:55.600 with them in the fall of twenty twenty one, and 148 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:57.480 they were just starting to break ground on what's now 149 00:07:57.480 --> 00:07:59.639 called US pet Food, our plant there on Highway two 150 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:04.240 seventy one south of Mount Pleasant, And we have two brands. 151 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:07.079 Next Level is one of our brands are our super 152 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:10.000 premium brand. Then another one called Stratus, which is more 153 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:13.000 of an economy brand, feeds very well but just a 154 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:17.160 little bit easier on the pocketbook. But that's our two brands. 155 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:19.959 And during our non compete there for a little bit, 156 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:22.079 I was able to sell supplements, So I traveled east 157 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:26.720 coast from Florida selling supplements, and then we launched Next 158 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:30.959 Level in September of twenty twenty three. It just took 159 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.879 off like a rocket ship. And you know we mentioned earlier, 160 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:37.600 sales is all about relationships, and there's lots of different 161 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:39.519 dog free brands that there are people to choose from. 162 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:42.399 You know, there's only thirty five forty manufacturers in the 163 00:08:42.519 --> 00:08:45.679 United States, but yet there's five thousand different brands. And 164 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:49.159 some of the brands that we know, some people know, 165 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:51.360 they't even they don't even own their own manufacturing plant. 166 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.879 They're paying somebody else to make it for them. That's 167 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:55.440 one of the things that gives us a little different 168 00:08:55.639 --> 00:08:58.080 little leg ups. We own our own plant, we built it. 169 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:04.159 Yeah, I really like it. Whenever someone finds success inside 170 00:09:04.200 --> 00:09:08.600 of a lane and then there's got to be something 171 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:10.320 inside of them and make someone want to go back 172 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:11.559 and do that. Same thing again. 173 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:14.679 You know passion These guys are so passionate. 174 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:15.320 Uh. 175 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:19.279 You know they come from from the feed meal industry. 176 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:22.200 A little bit. How that those guys kind of their 177 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:27.200 relationship started. People often wonder how how did it? How 178 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:28.720 did it start? You know, tell us about it because 179 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:29.919 we're very transparent. 180 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:31.120 Uh. 181 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:34.360 You know, Antoine went to college Scott. Scott's family on 182 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:36.559 the feed meal there. Whoever feeds your dad probably knows 183 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:40.799 members at brack in the old days. And uh, Scott 184 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:44.120 went to college and then he bought a feed meal 185 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:47.039 in Little Rock, Arkansas, te Bolt Milling or T Square Milling, 186 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:49.320 and that's where he met Antoine. Hired Antoine to help 187 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:52.919 him run that, and then that fell apart. They had 188 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.720 to they got a fire or something. Anyway, Scott moved 189 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:00.000 to northeast and Antoine back to southern Arkansas doing lands 190 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:03.679 aping and excavating and whatnot. And Scott come back and 191 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:05.759 he wanted to build a female his parents were retiring. 192 00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:09.120 He wanted to build a dog food plant and just 193 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:12.240 a little four state multi regional dog food plant. He 194 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:15.720 called Dan Twine up still had his phone number. Antoine 195 00:10:15.720 --> 00:10:18.679 moved to Northeast, Texas and they built men America pet 196 00:10:18.679 --> 00:10:21.559 food from the ground up and jumped in a car, 197 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:24.360 went around and didn't come home till they sold the 198 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:26.639 first truck of dog food. And they got it done, 199 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:29.039 and that was in two thousand and eight, two thousand 200 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:32.320 and seven, two thousand and eight, and minute just word 201 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:36.559 of mouth. The product fed so well, just took off 202 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:38.919 its word of mouth. And those guys took a lot 203 00:10:38.919 --> 00:10:41.399 of their knowledge they have from the dairy industry and 204 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:44.879 applied it to dog food. We feel like they kind 205 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.399 of set the bar down gut health and pet food. 206 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:49.919 A lot of people talk about having prebodics probotics in 207 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:51.799 their food, but it's just a tag what do you 208 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:54.559 call a tag dress, just a little pixie dust so 209 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:56.639 you can have it on the tags that looks good. Well, 210 00:10:56.679 --> 00:10:58.440 these guys really used the stuff on it, and you 211 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.480 can tell the big difference in the digestion and how 212 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:03.720 the dog performed and gut health. So that kind of 213 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:07.039 changed the pet food world. People have to start following suit, 214 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:08.960 you know, because you don't want to feed the dog 215 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:11.679 food and then go back out to the kennel or 216 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:14.159 in your house whatever and have a big, big mess, 217 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:16.480 you know, or land mines out in your yard so 218 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:19.879 they're not digesting you that. It took what we learned 219 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:23.000 from that venture and even improved on even more to 220 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:25.559 take it to quote unquote the next level. Yeah, and 221 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:27.240 some of the things that we've learned, you know, house 222 00:11:27.240 --> 00:11:28.879 they're getting to be too much calcium. Some people think 223 00:11:28.919 --> 00:11:29.799 you got to have calcium. 224 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:30.399 Well you do. 225 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:32.519 Got to have calcium. There's a minimum of one point 226 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:35.000 one percent and a maximum of no more than two 227 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:37.960 point five percent in a dog food. You know, too 228 00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:41.480 much calcium causes growth deficiencies, to cause the bones to 229 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:44.879 get a little walking and it really blocks the dog's 230 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:47.000 ability to absorb zinc. And you need zinc for a 231 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:49.200 lot of things. Yeah, number one skin and coat, but 232 00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:50.799 just whole body health. You got to have zinc in 233 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:53.960 your diet. And if you can't, if you can't absorb that, 234 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.360 if it's getting blocked by too much calcium, you're not 235 00:11:56.360 --> 00:11:58.039 getting no benefit of it. So you'll notice that in 236 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:00.519 your skin and coat. You know, I spend a lot 237 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:02.639 of time in studying and the hired doctor George Collins 238 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:05.679 on nutritionness out of Saint Louis. Been in the industry 239 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:07.639 for years and worked for all the big major companies 240 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:13.000 and just focus on keeping the protein levels high higher 241 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:15.559 and then the calium levels low. And there's ways to 242 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:18.200 do that with with you know, using the whole hidr 243 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:20.440 lifed chicken, a little devil of blood and meal and 244 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:23.720 so on and so forth, and buying a quality premium 245 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:28.799 product that we use. People some manufacturers are buying a 246 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.440 cheaper meat meal and they're getting more bones and ash, 247 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:35.559 and that's why the costminers are so high. But the 248 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:38.120 government says no more than two point five percent and 249 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:41.480 in a back of dog food. So yeah, big, big difference. 250 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:44.080 And you know, these guys just spend a lot of 251 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:46.440 time and a lot of money h studying it and 252 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:48.120 they do have a passion for it. But they take 253 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:51.039 took their knowledge from the real feed meal time and 254 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:52.679 put it in. It's not just an investment for them. 255 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:55.320 They're not just throwing money in it and spending a 256 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:58.919 wheel hope that lands on jackpot. That's not what they're with. 257 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:02.320 Their purpose is and they really do make believe in 258 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:06.039 and have a passion for animal health. Yeah, and we 259 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:09.440 believe we're the best nutritional value on the market. Are 260 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:11.919 we the cheapest though? Are we the most expensive? Lord? 261 00:13:11.960 --> 00:13:12.120 Though? 262 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:16.120 But nutritionally, we're the best value on the market and 263 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:18.639 in our state of the art facility they built. You 264 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:20.879 can go back on the Facebook page you can see 265 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:23.279 a video Scott put out back in April. He's gets 266 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.559 a whole tour. Not I don't know if any other 267 00:13:25.559 --> 00:13:27.600 pet food companies ever done that. Just open the doors, 268 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:30.200 wide open, video and go through video the whole thing 269 00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:31.840 in the public size that for anybody to go look at. 270 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:33.960 I've been to a lot of pet food plants and 271 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:35.240 most of them you have to leave your phone in 272 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:38.159 your vehicle and sign an NBA before you can come 273 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:42.000 inside it. Ours is wide open. Not wide open that 274 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:43.440 they just came off the street and walk in it. 275 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:46.519 But you know, if you've got business to tend with us, 276 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:48.279 you know, basically wide open because they have to video 277 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:51.200 on Facebook. But it's pretty pretty neat, you know. We 278 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:53.240 get your We have a lab so when the trucks 279 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:56.480 come in our facility, they weigh in and then they 280 00:13:56.519 --> 00:13:58.399 go to a lab. Truck drivers get out and they 281 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:01.080 go into a breaker in the bottom of the lab our. 282 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:05.000 Lab techs come out probe the trucks take it inside 283 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:08.799 and we've got a machine that's a wet chemistry machine 284 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:11.159 and they can test for anything. We know exactly what 285 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:14.919 cowsum levels are, we know the peroxide values, how old 286 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:19.320 the product is, test for salmonilla, all that, all that stuff. 287 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:21.000 We can test for it, and if it's good, it 288 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:22.879 moves into the receiving pit of us. No good to 289 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.919 turn around, they leave and uh so our our suppliers 290 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:28.679 who we buy our products from, no, we're going to 291 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:30.480 do that. So they send us good product. They're not 292 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:32.039 going to take the time and sending us a product 293 00:14:32.039 --> 00:14:34.080 that's not any good knowing we're going to reject it. 294 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:35.679 Then they got to try to sell somebody else or 295 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:37.799 get do something else with it. So we get we 296 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:40.519 get premium product, and the grains come in, they go 297 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:42.279 to the to the grain side, and negga n loaded 298 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:45.440 and the silos. Any of the meat meals that we use, 299 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:48.360 like a beef meal, chicken meal, portmeal, fish meal goes 300 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:51.399 inside and we can receive four trucks an hour. Well 301 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:53.080 why does that matter? Because if you can only receive 302 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:54.919 one truck an hour, that's all you can make. And 303 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.840 so we can receive four trucks an hour. So somebody 304 00:14:58.840 --> 00:15:02.480 plays the truck truck loload order today. You know, day's Wednesday. 305 00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:04.399 We can deliver it to my Monday, you know, so 306 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:06.679 we can get it made pretty quick because of the way 307 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.360 they design this facility, Yeah, built in scalability. 308 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:10.840 Yeah. 309 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:13.039 And so they come into the to the receiving pit, 310 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:15.440 receive the meals, and all that stuff goes into big, 311 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:18.279 big storage towers. If you look at the plant's like 312 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:20.879 a big stack in the air, but it's all different 313 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:23.279 storage bins. And then when we're going to make a 314 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:26.519 we're going to run a formula and augusts mixed together 315 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:28.399 into batching and then all of that product goes in 316 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:30.679 you know, their rices, the grains and the meat meals 317 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:32.840 all go into a hammer meal if you know what 318 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:34.919 a hammer meal if you don't think about a cylinder 319 00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:37.360 or a coffee can, so to speak, with a rod 320 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:38.559 through it and a bunch of little hammers on the 321 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:41.159 inside of its spinning real fast. So it just crushes 322 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:43.639 it all up into a powder. And we grind that 323 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.440 so much where it goes through a three sixty fourth 324 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:48.759 screen has to fall through the three sixty four so 325 00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:51.759 it's almost like a real fine powder. Yeah, And it 326 00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:55.639 goes from that into the extruder extruders that if you 327 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:57.320 want to call it an oven or cooking process, it's 328 00:15:57.320 --> 00:16:00.759 where it gets extruded. So they take steam and pressure 329 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:04.440 into this extruder. So if you look at the carbohydrates 330 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:06.600 under a microscope our kibble, it pops it like a 331 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:10.320 like a piece of popcorn kernel, and then it streets 332 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:12.240 out into a kibble. The knives cut it into a 333 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:14.559 kibble and that goes up pneumatically over into the dryer, 334 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:17.919 and so on and so forth. But the unique thing 335 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:20.120 about that three sixty four screen is we're not so 336 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.639 much worried about how many tons can we make per hour? 337 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:26.080 Right in a pet food manufacturing plant, the more tongs 338 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:27.799 you can produce an hour, the more money you're gonna make. 339 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:30.559 You know, tons per our tons p hour. We slow 340 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:33.360 our down a little bit. We want quality more than quantity, 341 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:38.039 so we slow our ours cooking process, so to speak, down, 342 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:40.919 grind a little bit longer to get a finer it's 343 00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:43.720 just going to help with digestibility. If you take a 344 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.519 handful of popcorn kernels just right of the bag or 345 00:16:46.600 --> 00:16:49.240 the jar and you swallow them, you're gonna see them again, 346 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:51.320 and you're gonna have a belly ache. We all know 347 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:54.120 that about corn, right, you pop them in the popcorn, 348 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:57.120 you never see that again. You digest it. Right. So 349 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:02.000 with the carbohydrates, we pop all those really well, we're 350 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:03.759 gonna get a good digest. We know they're gonna get 351 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:05.440 a digest and the dog is gonna be a good 352 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:07.599 a lot of use of the product. So it goes 353 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:10.640 over in our in our facility kind of like a 354 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:13.319 hall of separation, and it goes from the extruder over 355 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:17.119 to the dryer through air. You show up shot over 356 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.640 in the in the pipeline. That's a break right there. 357 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:23.480 If there's any contamination salmonella, that's gonna be on the 358 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:26.240 raw side. So the people who work on the on 359 00:17:26.279 --> 00:17:28.839 the feed meal side, so to speak, the extruder and 360 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:30.839 all the receiving pits there, they never intermingle with the 361 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:33.920 people on the post cook side. They have different break rooms, 362 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.359 different time clocks. They see each other. They come to work, 363 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:37.839 and they see each other they leave. They don't intermingle 364 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:41.599 during the day. That's how you control food safety contamination 365 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:44.640 one way. So it goes over into the dryer, comes 366 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:46.759 in about twenty percent moreture. We drive down to about 367 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.319 eight percent and then it goes into the fat coder 368 00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:53.079 cooler and over into the backing uh, and it gets 369 00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:57.440 bagged up into the warehouse. It's pretty simple, but slow 370 00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:01.839 and steady wins their race every time. Yeah, buying quality ingredients. 371 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:04.400 If we buy quality ingredients, we can produce a quality kibble. 372 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:08.640 Yeah. And I think that it's just really clear while 373 00:18:08.680 --> 00:18:12.839 you're talking the how matters, you know. And I think 374 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.200 having that level of transparency and being able to I 375 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:20.680 mean like, I mean, it's not like you're a scientist 376 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.440 or like a nutritionist in there doing the work, but 377 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:26.480 I mean they're share It sounds like they're sharing most everything, 378 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:30.200 even with the sales guy, you know, the rep, the 379 00:18:30.200 --> 00:18:33.319 the guy that's out there interacting with people. And uh. 380 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:37.480 I think the a company that's willing to be transparent. 381 00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:40.960 And I like the fact that there's there's two two owners, 382 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:44.440 you know. Also the fact that they've worked together for 383 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:47.759 so long, like kind of proves that they trust each other. 384 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:50.880 And they must be some pretty good old boys. They're 385 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:52.880 good and shared passions. 386 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:55.960 You know, they're there their family, you know, family minded 387 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.599 family meaning and we're all one big family work here, 388 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:02.079 and we've all worked with them in the past and and. 389 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:05.240 Uh, so every back comes with a little bit of family. 390 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:09.039 Absolutely exactly right, you know it. Uh, it's it's just 391 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:12.079 not a big, big capital venture. You know, there's some 392 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:13.880 brand there's some good brands out there, but they're owned 393 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:17.799 by big, big corporations and it's just you know, there's 394 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:19.839 not much passion into it. You know a lot of marketing. 395 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:24.720 Yeah, it seems like there's a lot more bioavailability inside 396 00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:27.599 of the product you guys are putting out versus other. 397 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:31.519 Absolutely, there's there's there's different forms of minerals you can get. 398 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:34.559 You can get rock form, or you can get organic. 399 00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:38.720 We use organic for for example. UH, selenium is a 400 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:41.160 great product. It's great. They're using selenium to slow down 401 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:44.240