ATTENTION IRON WILL RAW FEEDERS
I think consumers who feed Iron Will Raw deserve to be aware of some serious concerns and allegations surrounding what has reportedly been happening within the company.
I have strong reason to believe there are significant issues occurring behind the scenes that raise questions about whether the Iron Will Raw of today is operating to the same standards as the company consumers originally came to know and trust.
Some of the concerns and allegations include:
• An ongoing HACCP-related complaint/investigation into the company’s procedures and food-safety practices.
• The company’s Quality Assurance Manager allegedly being required or pressured to work from home, reportedly leaving day-to-day production without the same level of trained QA oversight on site while senior corporate management makes operational decisions.
• Serious concerns regarding alleged changes to meat sourcing and raw-material quality. This reportedly includes the use of salvage, scrap and/or denatured material from suppliers associated with Back2Raw, allegedly as part of efforts to reduce costs and improve margins.
• The termination, departure or alleged pushing-out of numerous experienced, long-term employees who helped build Iron Will Raw over its 16+ year history, including the original founder.
• Production workers reportedly now being supplied through a temporary staffing agency, rather than maintaining the experienced production workforce many longtime customers may associate with the company.
• Senior employees who departed or were terminated in areas including logistics, production management, warehouse management and human resources reportedly have not been replaced with equivalent senior positions, raising questions about the loss of institutional knowledge, experience and operational oversight.
Iron Will Raw is no longer the independent company many longtime customers originally came to know and trust. It is now part of a larger corporate structure under Actual Pet Foods, alongside brands including Red Dog Blue Kat, K9 Choice and Back2Raw, with products increasingly appearing through major retailers such as Walmart and PetSmart.
Growth itself isn’t the problem.
The concern is whether rapid consolidation, cost reduction and the pursuit of the bottom-line dollar are beginning to take priority over the quality standards, experienced employees and sourcing practices that originally built these brands and earned consumers’ trust.
Perhaps most concerning are allegations that senior corporate leadership, including the CEO and COO, has denied that ingredient sourcing or quality has changed, despite concerns reportedly being raised about changes occurring operationally.
Unfortunately, this can be a sad reality when previously independent companies become part of larger private-investment-backed corporate groups. The name and packaging consumers recognize can remain while the people, sourcing practices, internal culture and priorities behind that name can change dramatically.
I’m not posting this to tell anyone what they should or shouldn’t feed their animals. I’m posting it because consumers deserve transparency.
They deserve to be able to ask:
Where are the ingredients coming from?
What grade and quality of raw material is being used?
Who is providing trained Quality Assurance oversight on site?
Have sourcing specifications changed?
Have food-safety or QA procedures changed?
Are the standards consumers originally trusted still being followed?
If you currently feed Iron Will Raw, Red Dog Blue Kat, K9 Choice or Back2Raw, I would encourage you to ask questions, pay attention to changes you notice in the product, and make an informed decision about what you’re comfortable feeding your pets.
To be clear, several of the matters described above are allegations, reported concerns or matters that may be under review and should not be interpreted as established findings of wrongdoing.
I am sharing these concerns because I believe consumers deserve answers and transparency from the companies producing their pets’ food.
Hopefully Iron Will Raw and Actual Pet Foods will address these concerns publicly and provide consumers with clear, verifiable answers.