Ollie Information
Ollie is a US-based provider of fresh home-delivered dog food. Ollie is a relatively new pet food brand and was founded in 2015 by the trio of Alex Douzet, Gabby Slome, and Randy Jimenez.
Since then, Ollie has seen huge growth and is one of the most successful pet food start-ups. Since 2015, it has received over $40 Million in funding and has delivered 10’s of millions of meals.
Much of this growth and success has been thanks to media coverage and affiliation, which is a tactic that is common among competitors.
Articles from huge media giants like WSJ, TechCrunch, Business Insider, LA Times, and many more have brought massive attention to the brand.
Ollie isn’t the only brand to see success with the home-delivered dog food market, and many of Ollie’s competitors have seen similar growth.
Examples include Nom Nom, A Pup Above, Pet Plate, and The Farmer’s Dog, with some of these brands seeing growth as high as 500% year on year.
What makes Ollie and other fresh dog food providers unique is that their recipes are prepared and pre-portioned before being delivered frozen straight to customer’s doors.
The production process of this fresh food takes place in small batches and according to Ollie’s website, is done in a US-based production facility in New Jersey.
At this time, Ollie is available in all of the 48 continental United States, which excludes Alaska and Hawaii. For Canadian dog owners hoping to get in on the action, sadly, Ollie is not yet available, but alternatives like Kabo are.
This fresh food is then designed to be stored in the fridge (for up to 4 days) or freezer to ensure it remains safe to eat.
Ollie has invested a significant amount of time and energy into producing space-efficient packaging to ensure your dog’s food does not take up half your fridge space. Their deliveries also come with a scoop to help you serve the food.
Ollie, and their competitors, base the portion size of their deliveries on a number of factors that you enter when you sign up for their service. These factors include a dog’s age, weight, and breed, activity level, among others.
This information is critical for Ollie to understand the nutritional and calorie requirements of your dog to ensure they do not gain or lose weight or suffer from inadequate nutrition.
While this information may not perfectly align with every dog or breed, it is created based on consultation and research with industry professionals.
You can see an exert from this custom plan building process below, and you can experiment with your own dog’s information here.
How Much Does Ollie Cost?
While fresh home-delivered food services such as Ollie are more expensive than traditional dry kibble, they are not as expensive as many would imagine.
We priced up the cost of a plan for a high-activity Golden Retriever to give you a visual example.
As you can see below, with Ollie’s 50% initial discount, their plan costs around $29.50 per week, which works out to just over $4 per day.
However, without the discount, Ollie costs almost $60 per week, which is close to $8.50 per day, which is without a doubt more costly than traditional dog food.
For smaller breed dogs or those that are less active, you could expect a daily cost of approximately $4-$6 per day, and for larger dogs or those who are extremely active, plans could cost as much as $10-$15 per day.
An observation that many miss is that the cost of Ollie’s plan stays static regardless of which recipes you choose.
For many dog food brands, recipes that contain less common meat ingredients like Lamb can be more costly, but this isn’t the case with Ollie, and many could and should take advantage.
Lastly, if a dog isn’t satisfied or interested in Ollie’s dog food, the company will offer a refund on their trial box to make sure potential customers aren’t left high and dry.
Ollie Product Range
Dog Food
Ollie currently has a range of four fresh dog food recipes available as part of its subscription service. Each recipe makes use of a unique meat ingredient, which ensures that there should be at least one formula that appeals to the majority of dogs. These ingredients include Beef, Chicken, Turkey, and Lamb.
This range is consistent in size when compared to some of Ollie’s competitors, such as Nom Nom, The Farmer’s Dog, or Pet Plate.
However, it is far smaller than when compared to the large commercial dog food brands who can often have hundreds of unique recipes.
One of Ollie’s unique selling points is they offer “topper” plans. This allows dog owners to provide their dogs with some fresh Ollie food while still maintaining their existing kibble diet.
This also appeals to owners who can not afford to exclusively feed their dogs Ollie food or who want to slowly transition their dogs to fresh food.
Cat Food
At this time, Ollie does not currently sell any cat products or fresh food recipes. However, given the huge demand and growth in the fresh and subscription pet food market, it is likely that Ollie or other fresh dog food companies will soon expand into the cat market.
In early interviews for the brand, co-founder Randy Jimenez mentioned that he was the only cat owner of the trio, but in the future, they wanted to add cat food to their range.
Nom Nom, who originally started out exclusively selling dog food, has a fresh cat food recipe, and there is also Smalls who only produce cat recipes.
You can learn more about Smalls in our Smalls Brand Review.
Ollie Nutrition
Please note, the above nutritional chart is based on Ollie’s Guaranteed Analysis. The proportion of protein, fat, and carbohydrates is an estimate, and the true values are likely to include a slightly higher proportion of protein and fat.
As shown above, the average nutrition provided by Ollie formulas is satisfactory when compared to other dog food brands, including those that sell fresh dog food.
The nutritional profile includes significantly above average proportions of protein and fat and a significantly below-average proportion of carbohydrates. Moreover, the bulk of this protein content is from animal-based sources, which is critical.
This nutritional profile would be suitable for the majority of dogs, including those that are more active and have higher protein and fat requirements.
It appears that Ollie’s recipes include a much higher proportion of fat than some of its competitors. Normally a high proportion of fat may be a concern to certain dogs, such as those susceptible to weight gain or those who are inactive.
However, as we mentioned earlier, Ollie recipes are pre-portioned based on your dog’s breed, weight, age, and activity level, which means that they should be consuming a suitable calorie intake.
If you want to know the nutrition of individual Ollie recipes, rather than an average, check out Ollie’s recipe page, which includes the Guaranteed Analysis of each recipe. The page can be found here.
If you are interested in learning more about canine nutrition, we highly recommend you check out our Dog Food Guide. In this guide, we discuss all of the core nutritional components of a dog’s diet ,as well as various dog food types and ingredients.
Ollie Ingredients
High-Quality Meat & Fish Ingredients
- Turkey
- Chicken
- Beef
- Lamb
- Eggs
As shown above, Ollie makes use of a range of high-quality meat ingredients in its recipes. These ingredients are the primary ingredient in each recipe and provide a plentiful supply of animal protein and fat which should be at the core of every dogs diet.
Ollie does not make use of Meat Meals such as Chicken Meal or Beef Meal. While we do not believe Meat Meals are low-quality ingredients, some dog owners prefer whole meat cuts such as those used by Ollie.
All four of the meat ingredients found in Ollie recipes are industry favorites and are used by majority of pet food manafactueres.
Ingredients like Chicken and Beef are popular because they are easy to source, relatively affordable, and packed with high-quality nutrition.
Other Notable Ingredients
Ollie makes use of all three of the most popular legume ingredients in pet food, which are Chickpeas, Peas, and Lentils.
Legumes are popular among pet food manafactuers as they are high in plant-based protein and are affordable to purchase in bulk.
However, there is concern about the effects of high portions of legumes in dog food recipes. In recent years there has been some links between dog food recipes with legumes and an increased rate of Canine Heart Disease.
While this link is far from conclusive, it has led to many dog food brands producing grain-inclusive ranges as well as dog owners transitioning their dogs. Learn more in our article Best Dog Foods Without Peas.
However, Ollie does not just make use of legumes, and they also use the two most popular starch ingredients in their recipes. These would be White Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes.
It is important that the portion size of Potatoes or Sweet Potatoes are not overly high as they are very dense sources of carbohydrates.
Thankfully, in Ollie recipes, the portion is modest and satisfactory and as a consequence they provide a small portion.
Squash vegetables are far less commonly found in dog food compared to legumes or starches, but Ollie has managed to include two in Butternut Squash and Pumpkin.
Squash is renowned for aiding digestion thanks to the high levels of fiber they contain. However, they also contain various beneficial vitamins and minerals including Beta Carotene.
Learn more about Pumpkin, its benefits, and several pumpkin recipes in our article Best Dog Food With Pumpkin.
Carrots and Spinach are unusual in traditional dry kibble, but they are a more common ingredient in fresh dog food.
They can provide carbohydrates, fiber, and some vitamins and minerals that aren’t present in the most common vegetables like Legumes.
The last ingredient worthy of discussion that is found in Ollie recipes is Rice. Rice is a grain ingredient that some dog owners and brands are not fond of.
Many dog owners outright refuse to feed their dogs recipes that contain grain ingredients like rice due to a belief that they are not appropriate for dogs.
However, whole grain rice or Brown Rice can be nutritious and provide additional nutrition beyond its dense carbohydrate content. The portion of Rice found in Ollie recipes is very small and not worthy of concern.
Ollie Animal Testing
We have limited information on what kind of testing Ollie participates in, but to the best of our knowledge, they do not participate in invasive or laboratory testing of animals.
Many smaller pet food brands avoid disclosing detailed information about how their products are tested and whether they organize any feeding trials. This is because they fear backlash from their customer base if this testing does not align with their views.
However, many in the industry say that there needs to be more transparency around testing and that feeding trials are critical to ensure food is well-suited to dogs.
We strongly believe that laboratory testing of animals for the purpose of testing pet food is a cruel and outdated practice that should be eliminated or severely reduced.
Ollie Expertise
Many fresh dog food companies employ the services of veterinary nutritionists to assist or lead the formulation of their products and recipes.
Having experts do the formulation ensures that the recipes are nutritionally complete and well-suited to dogs.
Many smaller pet food brands do not always employ nutritionists for this role, and there has been increased concern and alarm around this in recent years.
However, at this time, we have no information on who Ollie works with to formulate and develop their recipes and whether they are suitably qualified or experienced.
Ollie Recalls
Based on our research (FDA, AVMA, DogFoodAdvisor), Ollie has not recalled any of its recipes during its life, and as a consequence, they are a recall-free dog food brand.
This is a positive indicator for the brand and shows that to date, they have taken their safety and quality processes seriously.
However, many in the industry consider fresh food to garner a higher risk of contamination or other health concerns compared to other forms of dog food.
This is as fresh dog food must be stored and cooled appropriately, whereas traditional dry kibble has far fewer restrictions and can be edible for months.
To combat this, Ollie test every single batch of food they produce to ensure it is not contaminated or dangerous and will be safe for dogs to consume. This is a reassuring fact and something we support.
Despite this, we will always encourage dog owners to be vigilant of any future recalls of Ollie or any other fresh dog food products to ensure their dogs remain healthy and safe.
Best of Ollie
Healthy Turkey Feast Review
We are fans of all four of Ollie’s current recipes, but we had to pick one, and Healthy Turkey Feast came out as the clear winner when compared to the alternatives.
The recipe uses a large variety of Turkey ingredients, including Ground Turkey, Turkey Thigh, Turkey Liver, Turkey Heart, and Turkey Gizzards.
This mix of ingredients provides a very large and satisfactory proportion of animal-based protein and fat, which, as we always point out, should be at the core of every dog food recipe.
In addition, the organ meat ingredients such as Turkey Liver and Turkey Heart can provide additional vitamins and minerals that traditional meat cuts lack.
If that wasn’t enough, many dog owners claim that these organ meat ingredients can vastly improve the flavor and palatability of a recipe.
The core vegetable ingredients of this Turkey recipe are Pumpkin, Carrots, and Lentils.
The large portion of Pumpkin is unusual when compared to most dog food recipes but could be beneficial to dogs who need assistance with their digestion or who do not cope well with alternatives. However, other, more sensitive dogs may need to be wary about this high level of Pumpkin.
For a full list of ingredients of Healthy Turkey Feast and the recipes Guaranteed Analysis, check out Ollie’s recipe page, which can be found here.
Ollie Featured Articles
Best Dog Food With Pumpkin – This article details the use of Pumpkin in dog food, including its health benefits and nutrition. After this discussion, we highlight several brands and recipes to successfully utilize Pumpkin.
Ollie is one the only Fresh Home-Delivered dog food brand to make major use of Pumpkin, which earns it a place in our favorites.
Best Dog Food Without Potatoes – Similar to our Best Dog Food Without Peas article, this piece discusses the concerns around Potatoes in dog food, how to manage a Potato Allergy, and what the best alternatives are.
Ollie’s use of Pumpkin as an alternative carbohydrate ingredient is the primary reason that they feature here, but that are several other brands included as well as multiple dog food types.
Best Dog Food With Lamb – Lamb is an underrated and highly nutritious ingredient to be found in a dog food recipe, and this article highlights that and much more.
Ollie has a fantastic dog food recipe with lamb at its center, which earns it a spot in our list of recommendations along with other popular brands and recipes.
Ollie Full Product Range
Healthy Turkey Feast
Hearty Beef Eats
Chicken Goodness
Tasty Lamb Fare