We spoke to Siblings Sina and Salma Hamidi about their fresh dog food company Cola’s Kitchen and how they’re keeping your pooches healthy.
What is your business called and what does it do?
Cola’s Kitchen, named after our rescue sausage dog Cola! We make individually balanced fresh dog food that gives dogs the opportunity to live their best and longest lives.
What made you want to do this work?
We lost our handsome doberman, Max, a few years back from complications of a heart disease that is heavily associated with diet, even though he was on the best available kibble in the market and well taken care of. We wanted better for Cola so we did a ton of research. We realized the standards for commercial dog food are extremely low and that there’s a much better way of feeding our dogs.
What problem does this solve?
You know the famous saying “you are what you eat”? Same goes for your dog! They will definitely not thrive off of eating highly processed food for every meal. Even by common sense, feeding fresh is the right move. However, balancing a dog’s food when feeding fresh is the job of an expert. Not to mention home-cooking isn’t always simple or convenient. That’s where we come in!
Who are your clientele/demographics?
Dog parents that want to provide the best care for their fur babies so that they can live their healthiest and happiest lives. Healthy insides start with what’s in their bowls!
How does your business make money? How does it work?
We have developed a state of the art technology using the help of our partner Dr. Goodarzi, with two PhDs in Animal Nutrition and Poultry Science.You visit our website and start by answering a few questions about your dog. Our AI, that is basically a super nutritionist, uses the information and balances our ingredient sets for your dog specifically. You then choose up to 3 recipes from the curated list and done! We source fresh human-grade ingredients and get cooking. We will portion daily servings for your pup and deliver it straight to your door. Simple and convenient.
Where in Toronto can we find your profession?
We live online at www.colaskitchen.com.
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
“My dog is doing fine on kibble and is happy as a clam, why would I switch to fresh?”
You are not wrong in that your dog is looking fine and we’re happy they’re happy. Think about it this way though, if you ate canned and processed food for every meal would you be living your healthiest, sharpest life possible? Sure, you’d survive and you’d probably look fine too. But would you be thriving?
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
Hands down getting to know SO MANY DOGS! We sometimes cancel our delivery service and deliver the food ourselves so we see the pups. The worst part was when one of the senior dogs passed away while we were in conversation with his dog mom about switching to fresh. He wasn’t even a part of our crew yet but we were in tears when we found out. That emotional investment is what drives us though.
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
When we’re told that we’re so lucky we only deal with dogs for work and not people! haha Although, they’re not entirely wrong. Dealing with dog people is the sweetest part of our job.
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another Toronto business that you love?
Park9dogs. Love their boarding and play care service. They’re great with dogs and the best part is you’ll have access to a webcam stream in case you miss your pup.
