Sydney woman’s pet food business Lyka makes 10million healthy meals for dogs

A young Australian entrepreneur is making waves in the pet food industry with her subscription-based dog food, with the company already providing more than 10 million healthy and balanced, human-grade meals to furry friends.

Anna Podolski from Sydney started cooking fresh meals for her dog Lyka after discovering that the processed kibble was affecting her health.

After coming up with healthier options, the 31-year-old businesswoman realized that others may want to improve the health of their puppies by “using food as medicine.”

She enlisted the help of integrated veterinarian Dr. Matthew Muir and in 2018, the couple co-founded a company named after Lyka herself that makes and supplies nutritious and balanced dog food.

Anna had noticed that Lyka was not healthy despite being fed so-called ‘premium’ dog food.

“She was itching all the time to the point that she was scarring, she shed a lot and made really stinky farts and her teeth were bad,” she said.

A visit to the vet surprised Anna when the doctor told her that Lyka needed to have some teeth pulled.

She started doing her own research into improving Lyka’s health through diet and was “shocked” by what she found.

‘I didn’t realize what kind of ingredients were in these kibbles. I also discovered the effect of high heat processing,” she said.

Anna found that kibble, which about 80 percent of dog owners feed their pets, was filled with carbohydrates and starches, as well as synthetic vitamins and minerals.

Chunks are also passed through four heat treatment sets that destroy the natural nutrients in the food, she added.

‘I am healthy and I eat well myself. It didn’t seem logical to me that I eat fresh, real food and she processed it.’

After doing extensive research into dog food, Anna gave up the kibble, which she calls “meat-flavored bread sprinkled with synthetic vitamins and minerals,” and started preparing healthy Lyka meals suitable for a human.

She said it was very “basic” but consisted of meat, vegetables and supplements like fish oil and kelp power.

‘Within weeks, Lyka’s health improved. She was more energetic. People were commenting on how lively she was,’ she said.

“Her itching reduced, her shedding reduced, she barely farts and her teeth have improved – we haven’t looked back since.”

Not entirely happy with her job as a marketing consultant, Anna quickly decided she would try to turn her healthy dog ​​food into a business.

‘My whole career I was looking for a switch. I wasn’t satisfied with the impact I was making, so I wanted to build my own start-up,” she said.

“I was actively looking for ideas and areas to make an impact and a positive difference in the world, so I was lucky enough to experience all of that with Lyka.”

Anna knew the benefits as she had seen them for herself, but with no scientific, veterinary or nutritional background, she enlisted the help of Dr Matthew Muir.

dr. Matthew is an integrative veterinarian, a practitioner using traditional and alternative medicine, and his particular interest in pet food meant that “his and Anna’s visions were aligned.”

They wanted to create nutritious meal plans for people to feed their puppies with a balanced mix of protein, whole foods and vitamins.

Dr. Matthew, together with a team of certified veterinary nutritionists, has put together the meals that are even good and tasty enough for people to eat.

‘Ingredients should be as fresh as possible and contain a mix of high-quality proteins, omega fatty acids and few carbohydrates,’ explains Dr Matthew.

“Some of the benefits I see in the clinic are softer coats, less skin irritation, better digestion and stool consistency, and better mood stability with fewer sugar crashes.”

All Lyka food is made with fresh and sustainably sourced ingredients and cooked at or below 90C.

“Even if you put things in the oven, the temperature of the food itself doesn’t rise that much,” Anna said.

‘The higher the heat treatment, the more natural nutrients are destroyed and carcinogenic substances can also be formed at high temperatures.’

The co-founders got off to a slow start, but soon found enough traction for Anna to quit her marketing job and focus full-time on her business, affectionately known as Lyka.

Since humble beginnings, Lyka has provided more than 10 million meals across the country to pet and improve the lives of many dogs.

Lyka’s success has made Anna and Dr. Matt recently raised $30 million in funding from investors that will use them to grow the business and change the way Australians view pet food.

“As humans, we realize that a balanced, minimally processed, wholesome diet is critical to health, but don’t dwell on the fact that the same is true for our animal companions,” Anna said.

“Our dogs are so much more than family, so they deserve to eat like this.”