Parker Freeze Dry Joins Pet Sustainability Coalition

Parker Freeze Dry has joined the Pet Sustainability Coalition, a group focused on creating a more sustainable pet industry, to help pet brands reduce waste, cut cold-chain dependence, and preserve more nutrition by making freeze drying an easier, scalable path to clean-label products.

“Freeze drying is one of the few ways to extend shelf life without preservatives or a massive cold chain,” says Jerad Ducklow, EVP of sales & marketing for Parker Freeze Dry. “If we can help brands keep more nutrition in the bag with less waste all around, that’s a win for pets, people, and the planet as a whole.”

Why Parker Freeze Dry’s role matters to sustainability

Parker Freeze Dry builds commercial freeze-drying systems that make it easier for brands to do the right thing at scale.

The company’s technology supports long shelf life, high nutrient retention, and lighter shipments, which together reduce waste and cold-chain reliance.

Parker Freeze Dry also helps partners replace racks of tabletop units with larger capacity systems as they grow, boosting throughput and consistency while using resources more wisely.

“We believe sustainability should be practical and measurable, so we meet partners where they are at today and grow with them,” Ducklow says. “Whether they’re piloting a first SKU or scaling nationwide, our job is to make sustainable pet food choices both obvious and operationally easy decisions for pet brands to make.”

Parker Freeze Dry sustainability impact at a glance:

• Less waste: Freeze drying extends shelf life by up to 25 years and upcycles surplus or “imperfect” inputs that would typically be discarded.
• Less transport energy: Freeze dried products require fewer refrigerated miles and are lighter to ship, reducing emissions during transportation.
• More nutrition: Freeze dryers retain up to 98% of the nutrient value without preservatives and use more of the available protein.
• Scalable change: Parker Freeze Dry’s commercial systems can replace multiple tabletops when partners are ready for the next step in their operational success.

Why join the Pet Sustainability Coalition

The Pet Sustainability Coalition provides a peer network to help accelerate important initiatives that are already working, including whole-animal use, upcycling, and cleaner labels. 

“Joining PSC connects us with brands and manufacturers pushing for better materials, less waste, and smarter energy use,” Ducklow says. “It’s the right place to not only learn but to also share what’s working and guide other sustainably minded brands to achieve their goals.”

As a PSC member, Parker Freeze Dry plans to contribute to leadership on:

• Whole-animal & smarter protein use: How freeze drying enables use of organs, trimmings, and even bone, so more product reaches pets instead of landfills.
• Practical guidance: Providing educational resources on shelf-life extension, cold-chain reduction, and scaling from pilot to production.
• Industry benchmarks: Helping to formalize baselines for freeze drying’s sustainability benefits, including waste diverted.

Pet brands are already seeing the sustainability benefits that freeze drying can bring, and other brands can learn from their successes.

“Parker Freeze Dry’s systems help us offer products that use more of the whole animal with less waste,” says Amy Jones, owner of What’s in the Bowl Pet Shop in New Berlin, Wis. “The result is clean, healthy treats and toppers customers and pets absolutely love.”

Ready to learn more about exploring freeze drying as part of your sustainability roadmap? Let’s talk about a practical path to scale.