Pet Krewe’s cat food search grew into Salty Cat, Ella’s Best
Bottom line
A Pet Age profile spotlights how Allison Albert Ward, founder of Louisiana-based Pet Krewe, expanded from pet costumes and toys into pet food after struggling to find affordable, healthier cat food options. That search led to Salty Cat, launched in 2022, and later Ella’s Best for dogs. Pet Krewe says the brands are built around premium positioning at lower price points, and the company’s website now markets Salty Cat cat food and treats alongside Ella’s Best dog food. A separate Pet Food Processing Q&A says Ward made the pivot around 2020 during the pandemic-era period, after seeing a gap in affordable cat nutrition, and reported that Salty Cat reached $10 million in revenue. (petfoodprocessing.net)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the story reflects two durable pressures in companion animal nutrition: rising pet parent demand for more affordable wet and limited-ingredient products, and continued brand proliferation in the cat category. That matters because cats remain an underdeveloped segment commercially, even as feline veterinary revenue has been growing, and because newer brands often market around affordability, hydration, ingredient simplicity, and transparency. At the same time, FDA and AAFCO guidance still make the basics important: clinicians and teams may need to help pet parents distinguish between treats and foods intended to be “complete and balanced,” and evaluate manufacturer transparency when new brands gain traction. (businesswire.com)
What to watch: Ward has said the company is working on “major projects” for a 2027 rollout, so the next signal will likely be new product expansion, broader retail distribution, or added functional nutrition claims. (petfoodprocessing.net)
A Pet Age feature on Pet Krewe founder Allison Albert Ward highlights a familiar industry pivot with a feline twist: a search for better cat food became the launchpad for two consumables brands, Salty Cat and Ella’s Best. Ward built Pet Krewe as a costume and toy company, then moved into pet food after concluding that affordable, healthier cat food options were hard to find. Today, Pet Krewe’s site presents Salty Cat as a cat food and treat line and Ella’s Best as a dog food brand, both framed around “premium” recipes at accessible prices. (petkrewe.com)
The timeline appears to be: Pet Krewe began in 2015 as a costume business, the food pivot took shape around 2020, and Salty Cat launched in 2022. In a recent Pet Food Processing Q&A, Ward said the company expanded into food much later than its original costume business and tied the move to a market gap she saw during the COVID-19 period. That same interview says Salty Cat reached $10 million in revenue, suggesting the brand has scaled quickly for an independent entrant. (petfoodprocessing.net)
Additional local business coverage points to meaningful retail penetration. A 2025 profile in New Orleans Magazine said Ella’s Best and Salty Cat were being sold in Walmart, Dollar Tree, and thousands of grocery stores nationwide. Pet Krewe’s own site also emphasizes affordability, limited ingredients, and real animal protein, while showing Salty Cat wet foods, tube treats, and functional “Benefit Booster” products. That places the company squarely in several active pet food trend lines: cat-specific innovation, functional add-ons, wet formats, and value positioning. (myneworleans.com)
Ward’s public comments line up with those trends. In the Pet Food Processing interview, she pointed to functional ingredients, transparency, and limited-ingredient formulas as major forces shaping the category, and described Salty Cat and Ella’s Best as independent brands rather than extensions of a larger CPG portfolio. That framing may resonate with pet parents who want newer, more specialized brands, especially in cat nutrition, where innovation in hydration-focused and lickable formats has accelerated. Market reporting from Pet Food Processing has also described fresh and refrigerated pet food as a growing, maturing segment, even if Salty Cat’s current visible assortment spans wet, treats, and supplemental-style products rather than a classic direct-to-consumer fresh model. (petfoodprocessing.net)
Industry reaction in the formal sense is limited, but the broader context is clear. Cat nutrition is getting more commercial attention, and that has implications for practice teams. CATalyst Council said the U.S. feline veterinary market reached an estimated $11.7 billion in 2024, up from $7.6 billion in 2019, with growth outpacing canine revenue growth. In parallel, trade coverage has described continued opportunity in cat consumables, especially products tied to protein, moisture, and function. The inference is that brands like Salty Cat are entering a category with both consumer momentum and clinical relevance. (businesswire.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is less about one founder story than about what it signals. More independent brands are trying to win pet parent trust by combining premium cues with lower prices, especially in cat food, where wet feeding, hydration, and ingredient simplicity are common selling points. That can create better access for budget-conscious households, but it also increases the need for veterinary teams to ask practical questions about nutritional adequacy, labeling, and manufacturer standards. FDA says pet food labels are regulated at both the federal and state levels, and AAFCO notes that “complete and balanced” claims should be tied to recognized nutrient profiles or feeding protocols. In other words, as emerging brands gain shelf space, clinics may increasingly find themselves helping pet parents sort marketing language from nutritional substantiation. (fda.gov)
That counseling role may be especially important when brands span both complete diets and treats or toppers. AAFCO notes that treats are generally not intended to provide a complete and balanced diet unless specifically labeled that way. Salty Cat’s visible assortment includes both cat food and treat products, plus functional items, which means product-by-product interpretation matters. For veterinarians and technicians, the practical takeaway is straightforward: when pet parents ask about newer brands, the conversation should move beyond ingredient decks to adequacy statements, feeding directions, life-stage fit, and whether the manufacturer is transparent about formulation and quality control. (aafco.org)
What to watch: Ward said the company is preparing “major projects” for a 2027 rollout, so the next developments to monitor are likely new functional lines, deeper national distribution, or expansion of the company’s cat-first strategy into adjacent nutrition formats. (petfoodprocessing.net)