A new, locally based meal delivery service for pets?
It’s real.
Vandalia-based Ahler’s Catering and Nutritional Services — part of Demetrius of Forty Churches LLC — has announced that it will offer a pet meals program for clients in the Dayton and Springfield areas.
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Ahler’s Catering has been delivering meal kits for Ohio residents, delivering more than 500,000 meals yearly for clients of Buckeye, Catholic Social Services, Comcare, Molina, Passport and Waiver, the business said in an announcement.
The “Ahler’s Angel Pet Meals” program began enrolling client pets in October and made its first deliveries of dry dog food, in 35-pound packages, and dry cat food, in 18-pound packages, in mid-November, the business said.
Deliveries are planned on 60-day intervals, the company said.
“We offer our clients an enormous variety of dietitian-approved meals with full choice each time they order,” proprietor Jim Harvey said in his announcement. “The goal of variety and choice is to be sure that our clients are receiving food that they want to eat.”
Studies show that sometimes seniors with pets may sacrifice their own food to feed those pets, Harvey said.
Harvey acknowledges that the idea is not new.
In general, meal kit delivery services as an overall industry has grown to $5 billion in sales, as reported in a July 2017 report, Meal Kits Delivery Services in the U.S., 2nd Edition.
The list of players in the industry include Campbell Soup, Kroger, Martha Stewart, Peapod, Publix, Tyson — and of course, Amazon.
Last year, a Cincinnati pet foods business announced it would branch out into the Dayton area.
Pet Wants Dayton, an extension of Pet Wants Co., said last year it would start delivering Ohio-produced pet food to Dayton-area homes.
“We feel if we can help even in a small way to provide a high quality pet food to nourish our customers’ best friends, then they may be blessed to have them in their lives longer, living a healthy life through proper pet nutrition,” Harvey said.
To contact Ahler’s, call (937) 506-8487 or write ahlers@ahlerscatering.com.
