Freeze-Dried, Dehydrated, or Air-Dried: What to Tell Your Customers

Your staff will get asked this every week, and "uhh, it's like, drier?" is not closing anyone. Here's the version that fits on an index card.

Dehydrated means low heat over a long time. The moisture is driven off gently and what's left is dense and chewy. Our dehydrated chicken strips finish at 70% protein and 15% moisture — that residual moisture is exactly why they bend and tear instead of shattering. It's the closest thing in the category to real jerky, minus the marinade that most jerky depends on.

Freeze-dried means no heat at all. The product is frozen, then the moisture is pulled off under vacuum, so the protein never cooks. You end up with something light, brittle and crumbly that's nutritionally very close to raw. Our freeze-dried breast cubes come out at 70% protein and 6% moisture. The low moisture is why they crumble — and why they're so aromatic, which is the actual reason dogs go for them.

Air-dried sits between the two: dried in circulating air, usually warm, over a long stretch.

What to say at the counter:

• Training? Freeze-dried. Light, breaks into tiny pieces, huge smell, low calories per reward.
• Something that lasts more than four seconds? Dehydrated, or a chew like feet.
• Fussy dog or one that's off its food? Freeze-dried liver. It's the strongest-smelling thing on the shelf.
• "Is freeze-dried raw?" Nutritionally it's very close, without needing a freezer.

And the one that actually converts: the process doesn't matter nearly as much as the panel. A freeze-dried treat with twelve ingredients is still a twelve-ingredient treat.