Located at the former Robert Probst Sr. House & Bakery in Edwardsville, Pup Kitchen operates out of a commercial kitchen, designed for and approved to produce human-grade food. The facility is registered as both an FDA animal food facility and human food facility. They received their license through the state of Illinois Department of Agriculture last year, and they were approved in Missouri this year.
“From the beginning, we knew we wanted to offer healthy, human-grade food, which meant we had to go through extra steps beyond the typical licensing and registration,” says Christie Fussell, founder of Pup Kitchen.
They went through additional testing through the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The AAFCO website says, “creating a complete and balanced pet food is a complex endeavor.” The couple submitted six of their products, or recipes, to the AAFCO lab for testing. Each one was approved for meeting the nutritional requirements on the first try.
Pup Kitchen’s meals are freshly prepared each week using natural ingredients, with every order made locally and delivered within days. Their menu includes their initial six recipes, and they have two more in testing that they plan to offer as soon as next month.
Christie operates Pup Kitchen with her husband Marc, who is a an IT executive and entrepreneur. Together they designed two more recipes based on customer feedback – a fish recipe and a high protein recipe.
Since officially opening in 2024, customer feedback has been positive. “Many of our customers have dogs who are picky eaters, and every single one of them has stayed with Pup Kitchen,” says Christie. “We’re excited to offer even more options to fit their dogs’ needs.”
Christie cooks the food on Fridays using all fresh and natural ingredients, mixes the recipes on Saturdays, and packages each of them on Sundays. She delivers the orders across Madison County every Monday and Friday.
Because each recipe is made fresh locally, every package is delivered within one-to-ten days. When one customer’s dog didn’t like the food, Marc and Christie were able to deliver a replacement bag to her the same day. “Ultimately, we offer responsiveness that online competitors cannot achieve.”
