Sydney woman's pet food business Lyka makes 10million healthy meals for dogs

A young Australian entrepreneur is making waves in pet food industry with her subscription-based dog food, with the company having already provided more than 10million healthy and balanced human-grade meals to furry friends.

Anna Podolski from Sydney started cooking fresh meals for her dog Lyka after she discovering the damage processed kibble was doing to her health.

Having come up with healthier options, the 31-year-old businesswoman realized others may want to improve their pooches health by ‘using food as medicine’.

She enlisted the help of integrated veterinarian Dr Matthew Muir and in 2018 the pair co-founded a company, named after Lyka herself, making and delivering nutritious and balanced dog food.

Anna Podolski (right) 31, started her own healthy pet food business after seeing the benefits of feeding her own dog, Lyka (left) nutritious food and has sold more than 10million meals

She enlisted the help of vet Dr Matthew Muir (left) and co-founded a company, named after Lyka herself, for Aussies to have nutritious and balanced dog food delivered to their doors

Anna had noticed that Lyka was not healthy despite being fed supposedly ‘premium’ dog food.

‘She was itchy all the time to the point she was forming scars, she was shedding a lot and doing really stinky farts and her teeth were bad,’ she said.

A trip to the vet stunned Anna when the clinician told her Lyka would have to have a few teeth extracted.

She started doing her own research on how to better Lyka’s health through nutrition and was ‘shocked’ by what she found.

Anna thought she was dong the best thing by Lyka by feeding her a premium kibble food but found her health wasn’t as good as it could be

After doing extensive research into dog nutrition, Anna did away with the kibble and started cooking Lyka healthy meals fit for a human

‘I didn’t realize the types of ingredients that were going into these kibbles. I also discovered the effect of high heat processing,’ she said.

Anna found kibble, which around 80 percent of dog owners feed their pets, was filled with carbohydrates and starches as well as synthetic vitamins and minerals.

‘Kibble is also put through four high heat processing sets which destroy the natural nutrients in the food,’ she added.

‘I’m healthy and eat well myself. It didn’t make sense to me that I was eating fresh and real food and she was eating processed.’

After doing extensive research into dog nutrition, Anna did away with the kibble, which she calls ‘meat flavored bread sprinkled with synthetic vitamins and minerals’ and started cooking Lyka healthy meals fit for a human.

She said it was very ‘basic’ but consisted of meats, vegetables as well as supplements such as fish oil and kelp power.

‘Within weeks Lyka’s health improved. She was more energetic. People were commenting on how vibrant she was,’ she said.

Anna was working as a marketing consultant but wanted more out of her work life so and the experience with Lyka prompted the idea for a business

‘Her itching reduced, her shedding reduced, she hardly farts and her teeth have improved – we haven’t looked back since.’

Anna was not entirely happy in her work as a marketing consultant, and soon decided she would try to turn her healthy dog ​​food into a business.

‘Throughout my career I was looking to make a switch. I was not fulfilled with the impact I was making so wanted to build my own start up,’ she said.

‘I was actively looking for ideas and areas to go into to make an impact and a positive difference in the world so I was lucky I was experiencing all that wit Lyka.’

Anna knew the benefits as she’d seen them for herself but having no scientific, veterinary or nutritional background she enlisted the help of Dr Matthew Muir.

Dr Matthew is an integrative vet, who is a practitioner who uses traditional and alternative medicines, and his particular interest in pet nutrition meant that his and Anna’s ‘visions aligned’.

Anna knew the benefits as she’d seen them for herself but having no scientific, veterinary or nutritional background she enlisted the help of Dr Matthew Muir

They wanted to create nutritious meal plans for people to feed their pooches with a balanced mix of protein, wholefoods and vitamins

They wanted to create nutritious meal plans for people to feed their pooches with a balanced mix of protein, wholefoods and vitamins.

Dr Matthew alongside a team of board-certified veterinary nutritionists curated the meals that are even good and delicious enough for people to eat.

‘Ingredients should be as fresh as possible, and contain a mix of high-quality proteins, omega fatty acids and low carbohydrates,’ Dr Matthew explained.

‘Some of the benefits of these I see in clinic are softer coats, less skin irritations, improved digestion and stool consistency, and better mood stability with fewer sugar crashes.’

All Lyka food is made with fresh and sustainably-sourced ingredients and cooked at or below 90C.

‘Even if you put things in the oven the temperature of the food itself doesn’t quite go up quite as much,’ Anna said.

‘The higher the heat processing you go, the more natural nutrients are destroyed and carcinogens can also form at high temperatures.’

Since its humble beginnings, Lyka has provided more than 10million meals to pet around the country and improved the lives of many dogs

The co-founders started slow but soon found enough traction for Anna to be able to leave her marketing job and focus on her business, affectionately named Lyka, full time.

Since its humble beginnings, Lyka has provided more than 10million meals to pet around the country and improved the lives of many dogs.

Lyka’s success has recently landed Anna and Dr Matt $30million worth of funding from investors which they pan to use to grow the business and change how Aussies view pet food.

‘As humans, we realize that a balanced, minimally processed, wholefood diet is critical for health, but don’t pause to consider that the same is true for our animal companions,’ Anna said.

‘Our dogs are so much more than family, so they deserve to eat like it.’