There's NO BULL in NOBL!
Updated: Jun 25, 2021
We recently purchased and received a sample pack of NOBL’s pet food and treats, and we want to tell you about it. Having recently left specialty pet retail after many years of service, I had become familiar with the many articles written by Dr. Ryan Yamka. By now every independent pet retailer should be very familiar with his published work, particularly due to his tremendous insight and clarification, during the recent DCM debacle. A “Disruptive Innovator," he is well credentialed, his knowledge is vast, his writing is truthful, digestible, and very thought provoking. He is a stickler for truth in marketing and is undoubtedly making some in the industry a little uncomfortable. I will link some of his authored articles below, but I digress… He and his business partner Jim Galovski both have very respectable resumes and are veterans of the pet food industry. As many in this industry prop themselves up on buzz words, and marketing jargon, NOBL is using transparency and simplicity to drive their product to market.
NOBL food bars are Freeze-Dried Raw food available in three flavors: Turkey & Duck, Beef & Chicken, and a Vegan option. The vegan option is a complete diet. NOBL food bars have short ingredient decks (as seen below with their Turkey and Duck flavor):
Turkey, Duck, Turkey Heart, Turkey Liver, Chickpeas, Sweet Potatoes, Ground Flaxseed, Coconut Oil, Salt, Kelp, Broccoli, Spinach, Beets, Carrots, Tomatoes, Cranberries, Oranges, Apples, Cherries, Blueberries, Strawberries, Mixed Tocopherols
Thats only 22 ingredients and you can pronounce them ALL! These ingredient decks are made up of items you’d regularly find in your own kitchen. REAL FOOD!
While many dog food concepts have circled around concepts like human grade, grain-free, grain inclusive, high protein, limited ingredient, species appropriate, etc, etc… One thing that has always been a factor in production but often hasn't been shared with the consumer is digestibility.
Digestibility is simply how much of the food is used or absorbed when an animal eats. Food companies have this data but rarely have shared it until now. NOBL is very up front with their digestibility information, going so far as to publish it CLEARLY on their website. While most commercially available pet food has a digestibility of 60-80% NOBL food bars tout a digestibility of over 90%! Basically this boils down to two things. 1) a lower digestibility means more nutrients are passed as waste (you clean it up in your yard). And 2) higher digestibility means more wholesome nutrients are absorbed and used by your pet.
The food bars come wrapped individually, making them very easy to slip in your pocket or backpack. This is perfect for hiking, or road trips. Speaking of the packaging, all the NOBL products proudly wear the TERRACYCLE logo. This means the packaging is manufactured so that it can be easily recycled (free of films and harsh dyes) and repurposed in useful items like park benches and office supplies. I put a link below so you can learn more.
In researching NOBL I learned that they are a pending B-corp business. Again I’ll post a link below, but as summarized on b-corporation's website:
Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
This is a tremendous innovation that is new to the pet food industry, and I hope others will work to achieve similar.
How did the dogs like NOBL food bars? Well when I opened the package at the dining room table, two sleeping dogs woke up and started sharking the table, while one (less olfactory adept dog, ran to the kitchen… he was close). The dogs absolutely loved these!
In summary, NOBL food has a very clean ingredient deck. It is highly digestible. The company is transparent and they are very socially conscientious. NOBL seems like a big win all around. Please check out their website www.noblfood.com for retailers, or order direct. Either way GET SOME FOR YOUR DOGS! Please also consider checking out our NOBL video review on YouTube where we also cover the NOBL treats below:
Want to nerd-out about pet food? Check out the following links, do your homework, and love your dog!
Dr. Ryan Yamka’s writing can be found at:
https://www.petfoodindustry.com/authors/197-ryan-yamka
Also just google: Ryan Yamka
Info on Terracycle:
https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/
Info on B-corps:
Please know this is not a sponsored video or blog post. We have no financial interests or kick backs for providing this review. We purchased this sample pack at full retail price off of NOBL's website.