Keeping Quality Raw Food Affordable:

The Next Step in Our Pricing Promise

Not long ago, I wrote about what it means to operate a small local business in a world dominated by online retailers and national big-box stores.

I shared something a customer had said to me honestly:

“Cody, I love you guys—but Chewy is cheaper. Help me out here.”

I listened.

HHH had always worked to offer competitive prices, price-match other retailers, provide rewards and coupons, and make shopping locally more convenient through pickup and delivery. But we also recognized that customers were facing rising costs everywhere.

So, we lowered prices by another 10% on many products readily available through large online retailers.

That was not an easy decision for a small business. We do not have the purchasing power, distribution network, or enormous sales volume of a national company. But I believed then—and still believe now—that supporting local should not require customers to ignore their own budgets.

I also promised that we would keep listening, reviewing our prices, and looking for better ways to make quality products affordable.

Our new approach to raw-food pricing is the next step in honoring that promise.

We Did Not Want to Make Another Temporary Price Cut

Raw food is one of the largest and most important product categories at HHH Canine Lodge & Ranch.

We sell a considerable amount of it. We feed it. We work with raw-fed dogs every day. As a Certified Professional Canine Nutritionist, I also understand the importance of choosing foods based on the individual dog—not simply selecting whichever protein is cheapest.

We could have reviewed our raw-food prices and announced another temporary discount. Instead, we looked more closely at the way the pet retail industry traditionally prices products.

What we found was a larger problem.

The issue was not only the final price. It was the formula being used to arrive at that price.

The Industry-Standard Percentage Model

The common retail practice is to apply a percentage-based markup or gross margin to wholesale cost.

The more expensive a product is wholesale, the more dollars are added to its retail price.

That may make sense for many retail categories, but we do not believe it always creates a fair result for raw food.

Chicken and turkey naturally cost less than duck, mackerel, venison, lamb, and rabbit. When the same percentage is applied to every protein, the price difference becomes even greater at retail.

The protein already costs more—and then the retailer earns more dollars simply because the customer selected that more expensive protein.

From the customer’s perspective, a premium protein is hit twice: first by its higher production cost and again by the percentage-based retail formula.

That can make protein rotation difficult or financially impossible, especially for customers feeding large dogs, multiple dogs, working dogs, or several pounds of raw food each day.

Why HHH Is Doing It Differently

We asked ourselves a simple question:

Why should HHH make substantially more money on one pound of rabbit than on one pound of chicken simply because rabbit costs more wholesale?

We still order it, receive it, inspect it, freeze it, stock it, and sell it.

Premium proteins require HHH to invest more money in inventory, and they carry greater financial risk if they do not sell. We cannot ignore those realities. But we also do not believe the dollar profit should continue climbing automatically with every increase in wholesale cost.

Instead of using an escalating percentage-based formula, HHH now adds the same fixed dollar amount per pound across our complete raw-food diets.

Premium proteins will still cost more because their ingredients cost more to source and manufacture. What we are removing is the additional inflation caused by applying a percentage margin on top of that already-higher cost.

The simplest way to explain our approach is:

The protein may cost more, but HHH does not make more money from you simply because you chose it.

That is what makes our pricing different from the traditional retail model.

One Consistent Approach Across Our Raw-Food Lines

This pricing philosophy applies to both State of Nature and Apex Canine Nutrition raw diets.

Apex Canine Nutrition is owned by me, Cody O’Kelly, owner of HHH Canine Lodge & Ranch. Both State of Nature and Apex Canine Nutrition are manufactured by Sirius Raw Dog Food.

We are keeping the two brands at the same pricing level. Customers should be able to choose according to their dog’s nutritional needs, preferred formula, package format, and protein—not according to which label happens to carry a more favorable retail margin.

Our goal is clarity and consistency across the freezer.

Making Protein Rotation More Realistic

One of the most important reasons for making this change is to encourage greater protein rotation when it is appropriate for the individual dog.

Many customers would like to rotate beyond chicken, turkey, and beef. They may want to introduce duck, mackerel, venison, lamb, or rabbit, but the traditional percentage model can push those proteins into a price range that is not realistic for everyday feeding.

By earning the same dollar amount per pound, HHH can narrow the retail gap without pretending that all proteins cost the same to produce.

If premium proteins become more accessible, customers have more genuine choices. Those products should also rotate through our freezers more consistently instead of sitting because their retail prices have climbed too high.

Better rotation means fresher inventory, more reliable availability, and greater variety for the dogs we serve.

Full Cases Receive an Additional Discount

Customers who purchase a complete 15-pound case receive an additional $1.50 discount per pound—a total savings of $22.50 per case.

Each case contains fifteen individually packaged 1-pound portions, so customers receive the convenience of individually portioned packages while benefiting from a true volume discount.

Case sales are more efficient for HHH. They help us plan inventory, reduce individual handling, and move products through the freezer more predictably. We believe customers should share in the savings created by those efficiencies.

We are not simply multiplying the individual price by fifteen and calling it a case price. A full case costs less.

Why Treats, Bones, and Parts Are Priced Separately

Our fixed per-pound pricing applies to complete raw diets and their different meal formats.

Treats, marrow bones, necks, feet, and other parts are priced separately because they involve different package sizes, processing, handling, and purchasing costs. A small treat package or two-pack of necks cannot be priced accurately using the same formula as a complete raw diet.

We continue to review those prices individually to keep them fair, competitive, and sustainable.

Shopping Local Should Still Make Financial Sense

Online retailers and big-box stores offer real conveniences. They provide around-the-clock shopping, automatic subscriptions, large distribution networks, and products delivered directly to the customer’s door.

We understand why people use them. HHH also offers online ordering, pickup, rewards, coupons, and local delivery because convenience matters.

But shopping locally offers something an algorithm cannot provide.

We know our customers. We know their dogs, their health histories, their feeding challenges, their training goals, their preferences, and often the products they have already tried.

When you have a question, you can speak with people who actually feed these products, handle them, and understand canine nutrition. You receive real expertise—not recommendations generated because an item was sponsored or placed higher in a search result.

You are also supporting a local facility that employs local people, provides boarding, training, grooming, wellness services, nutritional guidance, and invests directly back into the community it serves.

However, none of that means customers should be expected to pay any price simply because HHH is local.

Supporting a small business must work both ways.

You support us by choosing to shop locally. We support you by remaining honest about pricing, listening when something no longer works, and making changes when we believe there is a fairer way.

Affordable and Sustainable

HHH must still make a profit.

Raw food requires substantial freezer space, electricity, inventory investment, ordering, receiving, employee handling, and protection against damaged, thawed, or unsellable products.

Our new approach does not ignore those costs. It establishes the dollar profit HHH needs to earn per pound without allowing that profit to become disproportionately larger as the wholesale price rises.

This is not a race to the bottom, and it is not an unsustainable attempt to undercut every retailer.

It is an effort to find the responsible middle ground: keeping HHH healthy enough to continue serving our community while keeping quality nutrition within reach for the families who depend on us.

Continuing the Promise We Already Made

When we previously lowered prices to compete with online and big-box retailers, I said that the change was my way of standing by our customers.

I also asked you to keep talking to me.

You did—and we kept looking.

This raw-food pricing model is a continuation of that commitment. We are not only lowering selected prices. We are changing the system behind those prices because we believe there is a more transparent and equitable way to sell raw food.

Our commitments are simple:

• HHH adds the same fixed dollar amount per pound across complete raw diets.

• We do not increase our dollar profit simply because a customer chooses a more expensive protein.

• Full 15-pound cases receive an additional $0.50-per-pound discount.

• State of Nature and Apex Canine Nutrition are priced consistently.

• Treats, bones, and parts are reviewed separately according to their actual formats and costs.

• Our prices must remain affordable for customers and sustainable for HHH.

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We want to sell more raw food—not make the largest possible profit on each pound.

We want customers to feel comfortable exploring different proteins, purchasing by the case, asking questions, and relying on HHH as a knowledgeable local resource.

Dogs deserve the best. And so do the people who love them.

Thank you for shopping locally, supporting HHH Canine Lodge & Ranch, and continuing to talk to us.

Support small. Shop thoughtfully. And please—keep talking to me.

—Cody O’Kelly, Owner, HHH Canine Lodge & Ranch