247 | Create Massive Impact By Changing Your Pet's Food with Ryan Bethencourt
Our guest this week on the pod is Ryan Bethencourt. Ryan is the CEO of Wild Earth, a company that makes healthy and sustainable plant-based pet food. He's also invested in 160 future of food and future of biotech companies as an angel and venture investor.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Episode with Ryan Bethencourt on Vegan Pet Food Company Wild Earth
NOTE: While it’s not perfect, we offer this transcription by Otter.ai for those who are hearing impaired or who don’t find listening to a podcast enjoyable or possible.
SPEAKERS
Paul Zelizer, Ryan Bethencourt
Paul Zelizer 00:02
Hi, this is Paul Zelizer, and welcome to another episode of the Awarepreneurs podcast. This podcast is all about the intersection of three things, conscious business, social impact, and resiliency practices. Each episode, I do a deep dive interview with a thought leader in this intersection, someone who has market tested experience, and is already changing many lives. Before I introduce today's topic, and our guest, I have one request, you could go over to Apple podcasts or whatever app you're listening to the show on, do a rating hit the subscribe button, it helps tremendously. Thanks so much for considering it. Today, I'm thrilled to introduce you to Ryan Bethencourt. And our topic is Create Massive Impact by Changing Your Pet Food. Ryan is the CEO of Wild Earth, the company that makes healthy and sustainable plant based pet food. He's also invested in 160 different future food and future biotech companies as an angel and venture investor. Ryan, welcome to the show.
Ryan Bethencourt 01:03
Thanks, Paul, thank you so much for having me.
Paul Zelizer 01:05
You've been in the space for a while doing great things. So I can't wait to help our audience connect with it.
Ryan Bethencourt 01:11
I have I have Thanks. It was actually very exciting. The company Every, which myself and my team at Indy Bio are the first investor in seven years ago, just launched today launched the real egg white macaroon, but without the chicken. So that was that was very fun to see. So it's this delicious looking macaroon that is super sustainable, and uses real egg proteins, but without the eggs. Nice. See, we're gonna find out all kinds of cool things today, right? Because you got your fingers on the pulse on this stuff.
Paul Zelizer 01:46
So before we get into all the great work you're doing, we're called to wear printers online. And one of the ways we like to get to know somebody is to ask you about a wellness or resiliency practice that you personally use to resource yourself for this important work.
Ryan Bethencourt 02:02
Yeah, I mean, one of the things that I that I absolutely love is I have a near daily practice of meditation, especially during the week. And it's something that you know, even if it's just 10 to 15 minutes, every morning, I try to meditate. And I just feel it's a very powerful practice to censure me. So that it's simple, but it's something that allows me clarity of thought in terms of, you know, what I want to do for the day, the week, my life. And it helps me with answering, you know, letting the question the answers come from within. Beautiful, I did seven minutes, most days
Paul Zelizer 02:40
they might have for years, it's so helpful, and there's so much research.
Ryan Bethencourt 02:45
It's amazing. It's amazing, when you can do it in that I agree with you. It's like, it'd be great if you could do it, you know, in an unbroken streak. I would honestly I would love when I get, you know, half an hour to an hour of meditation, I feel absolutely fantastic. But you know, sometimes life is a little hectic. So even if you just get a couple of minutes to meditate, it's just so powerful.
Paul Zelizer 03:05
So Ryan, this whole space of plant based food and the future of food, this is something you've been thinking about for a really long time. If I'm a listener, and I don't know who this guy Ryan is, like, give us just a short version of your backstory of like, what have you been interested in professionally? And what kind of things have you explored?
Ryan Bethencourt 03:26
Yeah, I mean, I actually, so I'm a scientist by background, I actually studied genetics. And I was in the molecular biology space. I came up through the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, I was always fascinated about how we can develop, we can harness biology to really fix us. And when I started to realize the power of biology and biotechnology, I realized not only could it help fix us from, you know, really devastating illnesses like cancer, Alzheimer's, cardiovascular disease, all these things, but we could also use biotech and biology to fix our world in so many different ways. And when I realized that it kind of set me down this down this road of well, how do I do that? How do I help others do that? And I was kind of a frustrated scientist that wanted to help scientists become entrepreneurs. I myself had tried and failed multiple times. And I was like, There's got to be a better way to do this. And so I stumbled across an investor his name was Sean O'Sullivan, and I pitched him and a few others. The idea of helping scientists become entrepreneurs that led to us starting a biotech accelerator called Indy bio. We invested in 88, zero biotech companies, everything from future food, to gene therapy companies to biomaterial companies. You know, one of my favorite biomaterial companies is Michael work. So, we were we were one of the early investors in microwear. So they basically use mushrooms to replace the use of leather. So super sustainable. And just just an incredible product, right? I'm a fan of everything mushrooms. And so to me, the power of biology to transform our world for the better, has just always stuck with me. And that's really what led me on this mission, to not just help scientists become entrepreneurs, but to harness biology to really fix ourselves and our planet. And so, so continue to do that through Wild Earth, I really wanted to make better and healthier food for our best friends. I'm a huge animal lover. I've grown up with dogs, cats, and other assorted animals throughout the years. And so, you know, I really wanted to do something for them. And I, of course, I love my dog lady. She's a she's a 13 year old German shepherd. And so I really wanted to make something that was better for her. I really had lost trust with conventional dog food, especially after learning that things like euthanasia, drugs, melted plastics, were regularly found in dog food, and cat food. And so I wanted to make better, healthier food. And it just felt like, there really weren't very many good options in the marketplace at the time when I started. While they're
Paul Zelizer 06:15
one of the things you said to me, Ryan, before we hit the record button, you said to me, changing our pets, food is one of the most impactful things we can do. And you're referencing in terms of where we are in the human species where we're getting code read messages from scientists who are looking at climate right now. Right? Like, if I'm a listener, I'm saying, you know, it helped me make that connection. I love my dog, I love animals, I got a cat I indoor, you know, friends do or whatever. And here's this guy Ryan saying, Yeah, but it's, it's a little bit bigger than just feeding them quality food, which is also important, you're like, telling us that this has a big impact in this moment, we are on as a human family on this beautiful planet, getting messages like we change or we go off an ecological Cliff from some of the smartest people on the planet. And you're here saying, raising your hand saying change your dog food helped me understand that if I'm a listener,
Ryan Bethencourt 07:11
yeah, it's one of the most surprising things that I discovered, you know, I care. You know, I think like many, many of your listeners, I cared deeply about our planet, not just the animals, but the planet that we exist we all co live on. And it blew my mind when I read a study, I think it was in 2015, by Professor Oaken at UCLA that basically said that 25 to 30% of the meat that we consume goes to our pets here in the US 25 to 30%. So when I started to look at that, I was like, Wait, the most meaningful lifestyle change I could make is to change my dog's diet to a plant based diet, it blew my mind, you know, I, you know, I think we all recycle, we all try and live mindfully, we try and eat mostly plants. And then all of a sudden, it's like, there's this, there's this huge impact that no one's talking about. That's our pets diet. And so that was kind of a starting point for me where it was like, wow, like, the fact that wildearth could have a bigger impact. And Beyond Meat Impossible Foods combined, was just kind of mind blowing to me from an environmental perspective. And it kind of makes sense, when you start thinking about it, our pets, they usually eat, you know, their meals twice, twice a day, always have, you know, animal protein or meat. And, and this protein doesn't have to come from animals. That's perhaps one of the most surprising things for people. And in fact, you know, the more we looked into it, and the more I looked into it, the more surprising a god. And I'm sure many of your listeners don't don't realize this. But meat and animal protein is the number one allergen for dogs and cats. It's, it's like kind of mind boggling when you hear that and you're like, how is that even possible? Turns out there a lot of dogs and cats are allergic to chicken protein. And it's totally, it's not clear why that is. And so, to me, I was like, well, not only can we make a healthier, more sustainable product with plant based proteins, but we might actually be able to remove some of these allergens. And so we've seen that in, in many of the Wild Earth pets, where you know, they've had skin allergies, they've had digestive issues, and it just magically disappeared, and it's not like there's magic in the food, it's that they're not being fed something they're allergic to anymore.
Paul Zelizer 09:34
So after years of like thinking about how positive impact could work and what some of the issues were, was it was about four years ago if I understand correctly, you like started to zero in on Ooh, look at this. Here's a big impact area that hardly anybody's talking about. Our pets are eating twice a day they're eating mostly me and a lot of them are actually you know having allergy Isn't what they're eating. That's an opportunity. It sounds like a social entrepreneur light bulb went off right there. And that was about four years ago. Right?
Ryan Bethencourt 10:09
It was, it was, it was something that, I don't know, it really moved me at a very deep level, I've been so focused on, you know, human health, you know, planetary health. And I just thought about how deeply I personally loved, you know, my dog and the dogs that I'd had and the cats that I've had in the past, and how, you know, the amount of love and, you know, good things and animals put out in the world for us that our pets do for us, you know, for those of us that have had animals, many of us for most of our lives. They're an incredibly important part of our lives. And we love them deeply. And it's like, what are we doing for them. And so, I was like, not only can I do something great for them, but I can do something great for the planet, too. And so that was that was really my lightbulb moment. It was like, this is literally one of the biggest opportunities in my life. And it's one of the strangest opportunities in my life, because it's like, I talked to, you know, I was in San Francisco at the time, and I pitched a bunch of big venture capitalists, and they were like, yeah, no one cares about pets, as a category, and I was like, I was like, why not? And what I realized was, it just wasn't, it was one of those sectors that, you know, it was it was very misunderstood. And so for me, as an entrepreneur, I felt that it was a huge opportunity to really transform the entire industry. And so that's really where wildearth was born. And it wasn't just about starting a company is about starting a movement to transform, not just the, you know, the impact of our pets on our planet, but also their health as well.
Paul Zelizer 11:42
So walk us through a little bit like go back, you know, four years ago, three years ago, like what was it like to go from idea to like getting a product first to market?
Ryan Bethencourt 11:53
Yeah, it was one of the hardest, also one of the hardest things I've ever done. I had a misconception that it would be fairly straightforward. So we, we ended up trying to scale. Koji, which is a type of fungi used to make miso soup and soy sauce. That turned out to be harder than we thought and more expensive than we thought. We switched over to using yeast and nutritional yeast. For those. I don't know if you're familiar with nutritional yeast pie.
Paul Zelizer 12:22
I have a whole bunch then I'm like, I'm a biohacker. I'm offended. I'm totally deeply offended. No, I'm kidding. So it's
Ryan Bethencourt 12:30
delicious, right? If you choose to use the I put it in almost every dinner, I have to be honest, I have a feeling you might as well. I love the taste, but it's also just so full of nutrition in every way. And it turns out, it's actually high in protein too. And that that was really the inspiration for, you know, a cost effective, but very nutritionally complete, and high protein product. And so I thought it would be pretty straightforward. As a business. I was like, Oh, this is going to take six months. And my co founder Abril, she had a lot more TPG experience than I did. And she was like, Ryan, I think six months is like a little ambitious. We'll, we'll figure it out six months sounds like enough time. And it turned out it took us it took us two years to develop a product. And so that came with all the challenges of really misunderstanding, you know, what it takes to make a nutritionally complete food, it was not like putting out a plant based burger. It was, you know, this, this food that the dogs need to survive and thrive for the rest of their lives, literally just eating this food. And so, you know, the ratio of amino acids is important, the ratio of fats and carbohydrates and vitamins and minerals. And then, you know, bringing in the latest, our latest understanding of 21st century science around things like prebiotic fibers for healthy guts, or omega threes, and omega sixes and the ratios. These were things that were not required to be nutritionally complete, but that we know that if you want to increase the optimum health, of any living being, you have to really start thinking about and so the food that we were making was really a food that really rethought pet food from the ground up. Based off of science we have today, many people don't know that most of our pet food was really formulated in the 1960s. And it's changed very little. You know, when we if we think about health, and our understanding of of health for humans, and even for our pets, it's been transformed. And most of this food is basically pretty much identical just repackaged. It started in the early days with you know, kind of the scraps from you know, from from from from the human meat industry. And it's quickly evolved into its own industry, it accounts for 25 to 30% of the meat that we produce and consume. And these are factory farmed meat. So these are very negatively high impact, environmentally high impact process. CES. And so, so so when I looked at this industry I was like, so we can wipe out a huge amount of the negative impact and the vision was really, you know, we're a small company, but we'd really like to challenge the entire industry to change. And, you know, we've started in that process. And so, you know, getting, you know, the two years that it took us to really figure out whether, whether we could develop this this product in the way that we wanted to, we had so many challenges, I'll, I'll give you an example of one of the challenges. So once we figured out what the formulation was, and the science was, it was really hard to find a co packer, you know, so a factory that will produce the food for us, it turns out, there's actually not that much excess capacity, it kind of makes sense, in retrospect, for manufacturing of any type, a lot of manufacturing in the US has gone off shore. And so that's a huge challenge for any company that wants to manufacture in the US. And so we really struggled eventually, we found a great co packer, and now we have multiple, we work with three different co packers to make our products. But you know, at the time, it was just we had so much to learn. And there were these existential moments at every point, you know, how do we finance this? How do we how do we how do we ensure quality, you know, when we when we manufacture we produce. And so we had to work all these things through I mean, one of the other challenging aspects of it, even once we found a co Packer a factory to make our food, we had to figure out the supply chain. And supply chain has its own challenges, I'd never really thought about what does it cost to move a truckload of things from one part of the US to the other. And it turns out, that's actually a very manual process. Sometimes you can call up the trucking agencies and ask them if they can move things from one warehouse to the other. So these were all for me, someone that came from the world of science, just totally foreign ideas. And so yeah, so it took us two years to really get to the point where we could launch. I think that probably one of our our most transformational points in time was when I went on to Shark Tank, and pitch the sharks. And that was probably, again, one of the most stressful times I've ever had.
Paul Zelizer 17:23
Yeah, tell us about what was that like?
Ryan Bethencourt 17:26
That was really crazy. Honestly, like I, I thought I was pretty good at pitching at selling. But then to walk into, essentially a massive studio in Los Angeles. And pitch. The way they do it at Shark Tank is you're not allowed to see or meet any of the sharks before you pitch. And they start filming the moment those doors, those big doors open up in the you know, this, the music ends, you have to start pitching and there's no reduce. So this is why you see like people stuttering, you see people kind of falling and, you know, forgetting forgetting the lines that they've rehearsed with the sharks and and it's because it makes great television. And so So, you know, one of the things that you like going in, I'm like, okay, there is zero room for mistakes. If I make a mistake, I just have to make sure I you know, it's a small mistake as possible. I spent a long time practicing my lines. And and when when those big doors opened up. I mean, it's all inspiring, right? You see, you see five icons for those of us that are that are fans that are you a fan of the of the show.
Paul Zelizer 18:31
I've watched it a few times, but I'm not a huge fan, honestly.
Ryan Bethencourt 18:35
Not it usually Yeah, I mean, sometimes it there's a lot of like, you know, entrepreneurs making things out of plastic and things, you know, things that we would probably not resonate with. But it for me, I you know, I grew up really watching Shark Tank, I was a huge fan of the show and the sharks because, you know, it really helps people across the US really think about okay, if I'm going to start a business, what are my my margins? You know, like really thinking about the basics of business and I think it's a it's a great educational show, it's not not perfect, it ended is definitely entertainment because there's sometimes some very ludicrous companies and entrepreneurs that go on there. But I think it's educational. And so so when I went on there, it was awe inspiring to be in front of these five celebrities really, you know their investors but they're really celebrities and and pitching them and it was they purposely are talking over each other. They're trying to confuse you to make make for better entertainment. And and I'll just start with my favorite my favorite line. Mr. Wonderful was very funny. Very critical, but very funny is like yeah, I get it, you know, plant based dog food, vegan dog food, I get it. But does does the dog have to wear have to wear a tie dye t shirt and Birkenstocks. It was I mean, he was so funny. He was so funny. And he was good. complaining that he himself eats vegan or plant based every Tuesday because his, his son's girlfriend forces him to eat plant based, you know, and he's like, I know, this is the way the world is going. But he was just he was hilarious, right? It was, it was like working with that while, you know, while actually trying to you know, pitch the idea and get the sharks interested. And so, you know, all the sharks kind of went out. And then right at the end, Mark Cuban kind of waited right until the end. And I was like, Okay, well, I haven't made a huge fool of myself, in front of at the time, you know, is the 3.7 million people that watch watched our episode. Sounds like at least I haven't made a fool of myself, you know, Mark is probably going out. But you know, let me keep pitching him and, and right at the end Mark was like, I'll do the deal. And he put in front of us. And I did it. I was like, Okay, we'll do the deal mark, and it was a Sharky deal. Mark got a great a great deal. But, but Mark has been actually a surprisingly involved investor, he really cares about what we're doing. And he totally gets what we're doing, you know, he, he was an early, you know, his interest was really, you know, environmentally focused and alternative proteins, you really, he has a very macro view about the importance of alternative proteins and healthier proteins for, for us, and then for the environment as well. And he's been heavily involved, like he has not, he has not invested in another dog food company since us. And that was, you know, that was nearly nearly three years ago. And so his vision is like, he really thinks that we can really transform both the pet food industry together and, and hopefully do something great for the environment as well.
Paul Zelizer 21:43
What a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing that with us, Ryan. So if you are going to give any suggestions we have awesome founders and people like the whole spectrum, we have people who are literally like the top of their space, the biggest social enterprises or impact oriented businesses on the planet in their space, and we have people who nobody knows they exist, they're in that, you know, getting it dialed in and thinking about the business model, etc. If you were going to make some suggestions to somebody who's on the earlier end of their startup, what kind of things would you suggest having been on the journey you've been on? Right?
Ryan Bethencourt 22:22
Yeah, I would, I would actually. So one of the most powerful things that have been told to me was, was the same to give yourself permission. And I know, it's such a simple thing. But, you know, there's so many people that won't believe or just can't see the vision that you have in your own mind's eye. And I, you know, with founders of the earliest part of the stage, you know, a founder that no one knows of like, like, no one's excited about their, their idea other than themselves. It's give yourself permission to start, like, don't wait for someone else, to say, Oh, that's a great idea, I think you should do it. It's like, I think sometimes in our society, we get so used to, you know, the approval of others, that we forget that actually one of the most powerful things we can do is to approve ourselves. And so, you know, when I first started with Wild Earth, the idea to some people, and I brought up the idea of plant based dog food, they just started laughing at me, they were like, how ridiculous. And I was like, No, but I actually think it's a really big idea. And at the time, it was like, Well, why does why does it exist? At the moment? And I was like, Well, you know, there's he is that for some reason, you know, it takes there's a specific time in history when when they hit. And that's when it really works. And so I kind of gave myself permission. And I started even though, I would say, general sentiment was that it was not a good idea. There were a couple of people that actually really understood where I was coming from honestly, had similar challenges. To me, they were unhappy with what they were feeding their dogs, and wanted something better, healthier, more sustainable. But this was almost like a dog parent problem. And so, you know, give yourself permission when you get started. And realize that, you know, as you go through this journey, part of it is you selling the vision to other people, and so you give yourself the permission to start and over time, you will be absolutely amazed by what you can achieve. And you know, I'll share I'll share a quick story about that I mentioned you know, at the start of our of our discussion, the every company they just launched this animal free egg protein. So this protein is is a chicken egg white protein. It's made in a yeast. So it's basically fermented and it is identical to an egg white protein so basically has the functionality of an egg white protein so that from a from an environmental perspective, it's like 90% more efficient right in terms of making egg white and egg white proteins and it's of course you know, without the use of animals or factory farms or anything like that. The the founder, Arturo when we bought factum, originally we were only able to back in with $50,000. That's how he started his journey seven years ago. And we didn't know how we would get to the next point. I mean, he needed to raise millions of dollars. And we just had to trust that, you know, the future would he would figure it out along the way. And he did, you know, today, he announced that he launched these really delicious looking macaroons that were made with these egg white proteins. And so he's He's created a huge company, this is now a company that's raised, I think, over $100 million to make this, this product to reality. But it was a journey that started with, you know, he just graduated from university, he just met his co founder who had also just finished his PhD. And it was pretty uncertain. You know, at the time, seven years ago, you know, people were like, Who would want, you know, an egg white made in the yeast, that's a really weird thing. And I was like, you know, like, I think people will like, I want this. And so so it was it, you know, it was a weird journey. Now, in retrospect, he's actually one of the leaders in the industry of the future of food industry. And so like, you know, these journeys, they start small, and with very few people believing in you, and you just have to keep building and have faith in yourself and have faith in your vision, even when it gets not. So when you're early in your journey, I would, I would, I would love to inspire you to believe in yourself.
Paul Zelizer 26:30
I got some really good advice early on. And you know, started this podcast when you're talking I was thinking about I started with an $80 microphone, a $20 stand free software to do the editing myself, and like a $10 a month account to a podcast hosting service and didn't know much but pushed go five years ago. And today, it's one of the top social entrepreneur podcasts on the planet.
Ryan Bethencourt 26:57
It's incredible. And Paul, by the way, that that mission and vision is going to keep growing.
Paul Zelizer 27:02
No, yeah, that's what I was gonna say. Right? Like, like, I'm having conversations about how we can create ecosystems for Social Entrepreneurs and impact businesses, with some of the largest folks on the planet. And because of this podcast, because of that microphone, because I hit record. I didn't know what I was doing. I was nervous. You know, the branding. When I look back, I'm totally embarrassed. There's the saying I wanted to pass on to somebody who's listening. Somebody said, There's a saying in the startup world, if looking back, you're not embarrassed, then you waited too long to launch, right? And I think of that Paul Zelizer, five years ago, who was like, I want to do a podcast, I don't I don't understand how it all works. And I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen. And somebody told me, be that person who's willing to be embarrassed. And I look back, I recently had the occasion to go back to episode number one with Vicki Abbott Desco of soul shop, a social emotional learning, at scales, enterprise that worked with hundreds of 1000s of kids using social emotional learning and emotional intelligence and bullying and immigrant communities, all kinds of awesome work. And Vicki was awesome. And I was nervous, and I'm embarrassed, but I'm glad I didn't wait. I'm so glad I didn't wait because we might not be here if I just kept waiting, right? So I tell that story that just kind of cosign what you're saying, Ryan, like, at some point, give yourself permission to start, yes, you'll be embarrassed, but you'll get going. And the opportunities that are coming my way every single day now, because I pushed go are like mind boggling. So I just want to cosign what you said, and to our listeners say, Come on, get going give yourself permission, Ryan told you politics do you could do this
Ryan Bethencourt 28:47
100%. And think about the impact that you've had, personally, Paul over the last five years, imagine all of those listeners that have sat there, you know, maybe they don't have someone at home or where they are, where they're, you know, that supportive of them, building something new or creating something new, they've heard you and have started their journey, and you may not even know the impact that you're having. I think that's one of the most powerful things like when I started to build companies that really focused on harnessing biology for good. Suddenly, I started to see people who, you know, would reach out to me years later and go oh, by the way, this one time we talked, I was inspired by what you said and and I started something and it's like, amazing, and it's they've done something and it's grown incredibly, and I didn't even know the impact. And so I'm certain with so many listeners that you have, you've had over the last five years you have inspired hundreds 1000s to start incredible things and you you know, you may never know some of these positive things. But you might and you know, maybe in five years time you'll find out that like some of the most incredible companies and founders are actually inspired by you.
Paul Zelizer 29:54
May that come to be because we certainly need a lot of impact in the world right? Not not about me, but maybe Many, many, many more people do, you and I have chosen to give ourselves permission to do. Let's do this. Let's take a quick break, I want to hear from our sponsor, and we come back, I want to ask you about what Wilders looks like now and where you're going and where this industry has gone. But first, a quick word from our sponsor, do you have a business that's about making the world a better place, and you want it to grow, both in terms of your impact, helping more people and other critters, and your income? If so, I'd like to talk to you about research. When humans are working towards a goal, and that goal can be a wellness goal, or that goal can be growing your business, the single biggest predictor of whether we actually reach that goal is what scientists call social support. Think about the way a 12 step program or people who are with you on similar journeys about you know, today was a great day and I had a real success or mood today, this week was really, really hard. And they understand those ups and downs can give emotional support, as well as strategies and tips about the particular journey you're on. The were partners has an incredible community called the aware of printers community. And what we are is over 270, right now, social entrepreneurs from around the world and we do things for each other like, Hey, can you take a look at my sales page? Does anybody know web designer who can build a website for my venture, all from people who understand your kind of business. And if it sounds like it might be something you're interested in, you can check us out at aware printers.com forward slash community. And thank you to everybody in the community who sponsors this podcast. So Ryan, in the second part of the show, we'd like to joke about putting on our entrepreneur glasses. So if you put on your entrepreneur glasses and look at wildearth right here right now for years, and give us a sense of like, what are some of the products are selling who tends to buy your products? How many people work for the company, etc?
Ryan Bethencourt 32:08
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I, I, I wouldn't. Looking back at the start of my journey four years ago, we basically had four co founders, which eventually became two co founders, I wouldn't have expected us to be where we are today, I honestly thought we would end up being a little bit more of a small, small, slow growing, you know, plant based pet food company. That has not been the case. So in the last two years, since since we launched a commercial product, we grew by 1,000%. So we are the leading plant based pet food company in the US, we are available nationwide. So we're available on while there's dot com, which is our website, direct to consumer, we're available on Amazon, Chewy, walmart.com. And soon, a few other stores as well. We have a total of a little, it's 41 people to be exact, at the company. And so I guess that's, you know, about 10x growth in terms of total number of people, we are also no longer a conventional company in so many ways. One of which is that we are remote first. And so we were started in Berkeley, California, but since then we now hire people throughout the country. So throughout the US, we have employees and, you know, in California, you know, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Southern California, we have team members in Boston in New York, New Orleans, you know, yeah, the triangle. So here in North Carolina, you know, so and that's taken a lot of adaption the pandemic forced us to become a different type of company. I actually love it now. Because it you know, it really is a better quality of life for so many of our team members who don't have to have these like hour long commutes anymore, and can pretty much live anywhere within the US where it's a much more balanced lifestyle, we still work really hard, we still work a lot. But you know, you you can you can be pretty much anywhere in the US and so that we are a really, really different company. Not only that, for those of us that that are pet parents, we get to spend our whole days with our you know, our pets,
Paul Zelizer 34:23
there is no bring your dog to work day, right every day, every
Ryan Bethencourt 34:27
day, every day is bring your dog to work. But one of the challenges that we had in the office in Berkeley, was that, you know, some dogs don't get along with other dogs. And so you end up having to, like you end up having to know different types of personalities. And it's like, yeah, you know, they don't get along. So when I'm walking down the hallway, like your dog has to kind of be in an in another room. And so the logistics behind that were pretty, pretty tricky. So we would have to like, you know, if someone if someone had a new foster or a new dog, we'd have to kind of say, Okay, well let's let's try them out. out with the group and see if they're not too barky. Or they're not, they don't get too aggressive with the other dogs. So we now don't have that problem, right? We, we still occasionally will have, you know, in Berkeley or here in the triangle where I'm now based, which is in Durham, North Carolina, we will occasionally have like picnic, picnics out and things like that, where we do bring our dogs, but it's just a super different way of interacting, you know, they love it. They love being outside, too. And so, so yeah, I mean, we have transformed, we have eight products in the marketplace. So we have two dog food skews, we have three treat skews, and we have three supplements used as well. And we're coming to market with another four skews, actually, five skews in total. So we're coming with two new flavors that are coming. So these are going to be plant based, plant based chicken and plant based beef flavors that are coming to market. And that'll be in market, probably probably early fall. And then we're also coming to market that'll be two skews each a small bag and a big bag. And then we're going to have puppy launching as well later later on this year. And so we're really excited because it'll be the first plant based puppy food. And so we also haven't forgotten about our cat parents. And so we are a company that really embraces biology for good. And so what we're doing is we're currently growing cell based meat in the lab. And so this is slaughter free, super sustainable meat, real meat. We're doing that really for our cats and for some of our dog pet parents that want me in their product. And we're providing that by actually growing it in a much more sustainable way.
Paul Zelizer 36:43
And one of the things you taught me, Ryan, I didn't know this, because you told me that dogs are omnivores, and they are certainly odd omnivores. And so it that affects your recipe that for each of the products for them, isn't that right?
Ryan Bethencourt 36:57
Exactly. Right. Yeah. So. So one of the surprising things for a lot of people is that dogs are omnivores just like us and so they can survive and thrive on a plant based diet. Not only that there's early anecdotal data that some of the longevity benefits and the health benefits that we see in plant based diets for for us, for humans, we also see that in our pets, which is you know, in dogs, cats are a little bit of a different, different thing that cats are what's called an obligate carnivore, which means they need meat and their food. There are exceptions to that. So you can make a nutritionally complete cat food. But you know, you have to make sure you have the right nutrients in there. And so for us, our vision is, you know, yes, we can make a nutritionally complete cat food, but our vision is actually why not make the meat to but make it you know, cruelty free slaughter free and sustainable by making it cell based meat. And we talked a lot of our cat parents, and a lot of them are looking for that. And so instead of instead of having, having to have, you know, food that's not as sustainable as they'd like, we're working on that option, that realistically, we won't get that to market by the earliest 2023. So you know, not this year, the earliest would be next year. But for our our pet parents that have dogs at home, you know, we have eight products on the market today. And we're going to be having bringing out another five products just this year. So we're really excited about all the products. We're currently primarily online first. So you know, if you use Amazon or use chewy or use Walmart or our own website, you can find this there. We are starting to open up some local stores. But that's that's we're doing that very slowly because we want to make sure that the educational piece and the connection with our customer stays intact. We hear from our customers all the time. So we love hearing you know what you love about while there and what you think we can improve? That's been one of my favorite things about being a company we have currently we have nearly 50,000 customers throughout the US which has just been phenomenal. I'm looking forward to the day. You know when I can say we have a million customers throughout the US.
Paul Zelizer 39:11
Come soon Ryan. So one of our mutual connections that we were talking about helped us understand Jennifer's touch of it big shout out to Jennifer and vegan Women's Summit I'll put a link in the show notes for that episode was called Women in the future of food she helped us get a wrap our head around just how quickly this space is growing and your trajectory think about it listeners in two years from push go with you know went from four co founders to two co founders push go now. 41 employees 1,000% growth in two years. That's that's not a typical in the space, right? It's growing really, really quick. So give us a sense like what how are you all thinking about growth? You gave us a little bit there. It sounds like going into new products like cuts. Are you thinking about some bricks and mortar space? That's, that's on your radar? And you're starting to roll that out, like what kinds of things might not we know by going to your website? Which listeners, so we'll be able to link in the show notes, go check it out, tell your pet friends and family lovers to go buy this dog food. And when it's available the cat food? Like, what would we know from going to your site about Wild Earth and where you might be headed in the next couple of years?
Ryan Bethencourt 40:27
Yeah, I mean, our vision is to be you know, we really look at Blue Buffalo was really the first company that started to say, hey, maybe we should have healthier pet food, full stop. And we really view ourselves as the company that's going to evolve the future of pet food for all of our pets. And so for us, that vision goes far beyond just the basic nutrition they need to survive, you know, we really are starting to think about some of the deeper aspects of of true nutrition and wellness and so that, you know, I mentioned a little bit before about prebiotic fibers to feed the good, good bacteria in your gut. But, you know, our vision is, how do we use food as medicine for our pets? And how do we expand that out? Our vision actually starts with, with pet food, if I'm totally honest, so I guess this is something that, you know, I try not to talk to you, because I think it can, you know, it can distract people a little bit when they when they start to see the broader vision. For me, you know, I want to be a multi species food company. And for me, that's not just dogs and cats, it includes us, eventually, the insights that we have from developing healthier foods for our pets, I would love to bring that to market for us. And so, you know, our food is clean, healthy, sustainable plant based, but the vision around plant based foods for us is actually very different. A lot of people don't realize or don't know, that Mars, you know, the candy bar company actually sell more, more pet food and pet services than they do chocolate, and chocolate bars. And so for us, how can we make a vision of a healthier future for all of us and for our planet? And so that's really the big picture. The big picture is that we are we really view ourselves as a mission to transform our food system for the better. And so, you know, when I look out there, and I see, you know, unfortunately, we're going into pretty turbulent time for the future of food for all of us on this planet, you know, it looks like food insecurity is going to continue to increase because of, unfortunately, the war that's going on. And both Ukraine and Russia really are a breadbasket for the whole world. And so how do we, how do we, how do we think about feeding everyone? And so these are like the big questions that I think about because already today, we've we've fed 16 million meals to two dogs across the United States. And so the vision here is, how do we feel healthy? How do we how do we? How do we provide healthy and sustainable food for as many of us as possible as cost effectively as possible? And that's really our vision. That's our that's my personal long term vision. In the near term, we have to make better pet food. That's, but if you're asking the next 10 years, what is wildearth, the next 10 years while this is a company that's focused on trying to feed as many of us as possible, healthier, more sustainable food? And really going for the, you know, the root cause of a lot of these issues around global food and global food systems? How do we, how do we secure, affordable, healthy food for everyone? And that's, you know, that's us and our pets.
Paul Zelizer 43:39
What a beautiful vision. And thanks for sharing that. So I can hang out with you all day, and you're a busy guy, and our listeners are busy to listeners, there will be a link to the Wilder site in the show notes, please go check it out. And please tell your pet parent, folks in your networks, please, this is something we can do. Ryan already gave us the why remember 25 to 30%. While the meeting, folks like Jennifer have helped us understand what the impact of factory farmed animal products are. So if anybody needs help, you know, getting up to speed, put a link to Jennifer's episode and the wildearth. Website in the show notes. Right, if there was something you were hoping we were going to get to and we haven't gotten to it yet, either about this particular issue of creating impact through what's going on in the realm of food, or a suggestion for our impact founders and how they can have more positive impact and enjoy a quality life while they're doing it. Does anything come to mind?
Ryan Bethencourt 44:45
Yeah, I mean, one of the things, especially through all the challenges, right, I did not expect and I think most of us did not expect the world that we've kind of lived in the last couple of years from you know, from pandemics to supply chain chain shocks. To unfortunately, wars in Europe, all of these things sometimes feel so heavy when they happen. And but what's interesting is somehow, we continue to find ways to make the world better, right in, in small and large ways. And so, you know, I guess my message is like one of hope and optimism. So when you look at building something new in the world, sometimes you won't be able to predict what what challenges and adversities you personally might face, your business, my faith, it's still worth doing it. You know, one of the most, one of the most frightening moments I had was when Apollo I don't know if you remember this was when Texas basically froze, Austin and Texas froze right? atypically, everything froze the pipes were breaking. And I was like, Oh, that's really bad for our customers in Texas. But I didn't think much more than that. And then all of a sudden, I got a call from my co founder. And she was like, yeah, there's no, there's no gas coming out of Texas, the pipelines are frozen. So our factories don't work. And so I was like, oh, so we can't make food for for our customers. And, and I was just, you know, it was one of the most frightening moments where it's like, well, when is this going to change? What are we going to fix? It was so scary. And yet, you know, a couple of days later, we'd figured out actually things were falling over, everyone had kind of figured out how to make it work, the factory was working and making more food. And it was like, we figured it out. And so this is kind of how it feels when you build things, even the most frightening moments, you can usually work your way through. And so, you know, my message is one of hope and optimism, which is like, do something that is worth doing something that you will look back on, you know, 1020 3040 50 years. Hopefully we all have that that long in front of us and say, you know, I'm so glad what I did made such a positive impact in the world. It's worth trying. Even if you fail, it's fine. Like it's the journey that matters.
Paul Zelizer 47:07
Right. Thank you so much for being on the show today. Thank you so much, Paul. So again, listeners, all the links will be in the show notes. Before we go just an invitation. We love, love, love listener suggested topics and guests. If you've been around here for a while you know what we're looking for. If you're new, go to our website, go to our contact page, and it has our three simple guidelines a lot we're looking for. And if your idea if you go check, check, check, please send it in. Nobody knows who you know, we want to be amplifying and learning from the people who've been listening to the show. Appreciate your suggestions. For now. I just want to say thank you so much for listening. Please take really good care in these intense times. And thank you for all the positive impact that you're working for in our world.