A Tour of Freshpet

Charlie Dent and Freshpet talk me down after I threaten to jump into a vat of chunky chicken. 

Yesterday morning, I attended what I thought was going to be a roundtable discussion by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which was held at Freshpet Kitchens in Hanover Tp. But before that happened, Freshpet was giving tours of its manufacturing facility, and I was one of those who tagged along. Freshpet makes dog and cat food, so you'd think that there's no need to take special precautions. You'd think wrong. It was like walking into an operating room. I won't need a shower for another 30 years.

Here's how it went down. The first thing I had to do was drop the camera because one of my pictures might give a corporate competitor a leg up. Same thing with the cellphone. I had to empty my pockets because I might drop loose change into a manufacturing vat and make a wish. I had to leave all but one of my pens behind, and that pen could have no top because I might drop that into Freshpet's Chunky Chicken.

I had to don a white labcoat (it took some time to find one that fits), hairnet, protective glasses and steel-tipped rubbers. I don't know about you, but I've never been good at putting on rubber boots. Tour conductor Steve Baas had to help me or I'd still be there. Then, before we walked into the plant, we had to stick our arms into this special tube that washed and disinfected us. We also had to walk through some soapy solution to clean the rubber boots we had just put on.

Inside, it was very high tech as various machines did most of the work. Cooking the food, sprinkling in the right veggie and spice mix, and then filling up bags in a vacuum to minimize pathogens.

This was no steel mill. Employees in lab coats and hairnets monitored computer displays while machines did most of the work

Samples of every food manufactured are then kept for 24 weeks, which is the shelf life of the food. If a dog or cat calls in with a complaint, the lab (not Labrador) will be able to run tests.

We then went into the lab, run by Drew Styring. Before any product leaves the plant, he and his team run a battery of tests that take 48 hours. Fat. Protein. Packaging and integrity. There is also a fully functional microlab that tests for yeast, mold and pathogens. Tests are also done on an hourly basis as products like Deli Fresh® Grain Free Chicken with Cranberries and Spinach go through the cooker.

My stomach was rumbling because it actually smelled really good.

"May I have a sample?"

"No."

In addition to plant workers, every person in HR and even the accountants are trained on quality control and safety.

Cross training.

Something Northampton County has never achieved.

Drew told me there has never been a recall. He said a state once claimed that something was wrong, but when he ran his tests and showed them, the state admitted it had goofed.

Then it was back inside the plant. But before that, we washed our hands again for the 10,000th time and walked through soapy water.

We finished the tour with the raw food a it comes in. No it is not soylent green. The chicken product I saw was compressed into squares. The food is all locally supplied.

Congressman Charlie Dent, who also went on this tour, was amazed. "I don't think I ever saw so much hygiene," he said.

He's never visited my estate. Besides, Authoritarian Donald Trump claims Washington is a swamp

(Blogger's Note: I'm still writing a detailed account abut the roundtable discussion, but that's for The Bethlehem Press. It is an interesting exchange about the sometimes conflicting interests iof business and government).