Dane Creek Capital Corp. Announces the Creation of United Raw Distribution Inc.

Dane Creek Capital Corp. Announces the Creation of United Raw Distribution Inc.

Newly created subsidiary of United Raw Pet Foods Inc. will focus on enhanced service and delivery to pet specialty retailers in Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

 

Mississauga, Ontario – February 8, 2022.

Dane Creek Capital Corp. (‘DCCC’) is pleased to announce the creation of United Raw Distribution Inc. (the ‘Distributor’), a wholly-owned subsidiary of DCCC’s majority-owned United Raw Pet Foods Inc. (‘United Raw’ or the ‘Company’). With its operations anchored in Mississauga, Ontario, the Distributor will offer delivery services to pet specialty retailers in Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

 

The Distributor will initially assume responsibility for the delivery of United Raw frozen raw pet food brands ‘Naturawls’, ‘Pets4Life’, ‘Mountain Dog’, and ‘Spring Meadows’ (cat), as well as DCCC pet supplement brand, ‘Baie Run’. Beginning in March, the Distributor will expand its offering to include the full Spring Meadows line and ‘Dexter’s’ frozen raw pet food. United Raw’s ‘Tollden Farms’ brand will continue to be shipped to retailers from the Company’s operations in Kemptville, Ontario for the time being. The Distributor is set to take over deliveries of Tollden Farms later in 2022 to allow the Kemptville location to focus its efforts on manufacturing an expanded range of Tollden Farms pet foods.

 

‘We’ve always forgone the direct-to-consumer model in favour of supporting our pet specialty retail partners,’ said Glen Tennison, President & CFO of DCCC. ‘Retailers who are supporting the growth of the raw pet food industry in increasing fashion are expressing a need for twice-a-week delivery as freezer space to keep excess inventory or ‘overstock’ in their stores is limited. At the same time, the pandemic has created a need in all sectors, not just pet, for businesses to vertically integrate as much as possible, where it makes sense to do so. We see the move to assume distribution of our foods in most of Eastern Canada as the best way for us to serve the pet retail community. So, in support of our retail partners, we will be offering over 20,000 sq. ft. of warehouse capacity across our operations, including more than 5,000 sq. ft. of frozen storage featuring state-of-the-art technology unique within the pet industry; seven temperature-controlled reefer vehicles, one of the largest fleets in the frozen raw industry in Canada; and a cutting-edge cloud-based ordering and routing system designed to enhance customer service,’ added Mr. Tennison.

 

United Raw will continue to work with its other third-party distribution partners for raw food, including Solutions Pour Animaux in Quebec and Anipet Animal Supplies (‘Anipet’) in Western Canada. In the West, the Company has added warehouse and freezer capacity across its Calgary, Alberta and Langford, British Columbia operations with the aim of working more closely with Anipet.

 

‘In the West, integration will take a different form given the geographical complexities of the region. We intend to work more closely with Anipet, our current Western Canada distributor, by integrating our infrastructure with theirs to provide enhanced last-mile delivery in certain parts of Alberta and British Columbia,’ added Mr. Tennison.

 

Concurrent with this announcement, pet specialty retailers in Ontario and Atlantic Canada have been sent correspondence directly from United Raw Distribution setting out the processes for ordering and the timing for deliveries.  

 

About Dane Creek Capital Corp.

Dane Creek Capital Corp. is a privately held Canadian merchant banking venture dedicated to the pet industry. With over 30 years of experience in the pet industry and an extensive network of industry professionals, we offer valuable financial and management support to up-and-coming companies in the companion animal sector through selective, strategic investments in Canada, the US and the UK. Our investment horizon is long-term taking into account current trends and changes in pet owner demographics with a current focus on opportunities in sustainable and raw pet food products, pet supplements and nutraceuticals, alternative models for veterinary care, pet insurance and biotechnology. To date, Dane Creek has acquired or invested in 19 pet businesses in North America.

 

About United Raw Pet Foods Inc.

United Raw Pet Foods Inc. is Canada’s leader in alternative pet foods, with a current focus on the frozen raw sub-category and pet specialty retail. Majority-owned by Dane Creek Capital Corp., United Raw owns the largest family of Canadian raw pet food brands. To date, United Raw has acquired five manufacturers of frozen raw pet foods including Mountain Dog Enterprises Inc. (Edmonton, AB); ‘Pets 4 Life’ (St. Thomas, ON); ‘Naturawls Pet Products’ (St. Thomas, ON); Natural Chow Pet Food Corp., the maker of ‘Spring Meadows’ (Saskatoon, SK); and Tollden Farms Inc. (Kemptville, ON); and soft chew pet treats manufacturer, Wodema Industries Ltd. (Kelowna, BC). United Raw also acquired leading pet specialty retailers, Growlies Pet Foods Inc. (Victoria, BC), The Wild Side Pet Boutique Inc. (Nanaimo and Qualicum Beach, BC), Lucky Paws Enterprises Inc. (Mill Bay and Duncan, BC), A Pet’s Life Ventures Inc. (Oak Bay, BC) and Pets West Pets & Supplies Ltd. (Victoria, BC) in 2021, as well as a minority stake in Pet Plate, a US-based, direct-to-consumer provider of lightly cooked pet food, in 2018. United Raw is also the owner of subsidiary, United Raw Distribution Inc. (Mississauga, ON).

 

Contacts:

Glen Tennison

President & CFO

Dane Creek Capital Corp.

gt@danecreekcap.com

m: 289.981.1861

 

Rasmus Hvid

Director, Operations

Dane Creek Capital Corp.

rh@danecreekcap.com

m: 604.219.4391

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