From Physics to Pet Food: Pet Plate Founder Chases Big Dreams

New Orleans native Renaldo Webb has always had big plans. As a boy and into his first years of college at MIT, he was sure he was going to solve string theory.

But like physics, life has an infinite number of twists and turns it can take. And rather than tackling the mysteries of the universe, Webb is working on something much more practical: helping dogs live longer, healthier lives.

One might assume that Webb is a passionate dog lover. After all, who else would build a future around food for dogs, once spending up to 14 hours a day cooking meals and biking them to homes around New York City?

But that’s not where his passion actually lies.

“I love dogs, that is part of it,” Webb says. “But more it’s that I didn’t feel the [pet] industry was being honest about the ingredients… I enjoy building things and I think it’s the passion for building a company that is better for pets and pet parents… I want pet parents to have a better option.”

It’s a passion anyone who’d known Webb as a child would never have expected.

Pet Parenting Discovered

While Webb had a black lab named Alex when he was a toddler, he has no real memories of him. As a child he loved science and math. A dog had been in his past, but it had no bearing on his future.

And then in his 20s, dogs reentered his life.

There was the beautiful Bear, a roommate’s Alaskan malamute that Webb loved going for runs with on the beach.

Later, he met Morrison, a loveable black lab parented by another roommate. Morrison, Webb said, impressed him with how great a personality a dog could have.

For the first time, he started to think he’d like a dog of his own. A few years later, he and his longtime girlfriend, got Winston, a Tibetan terrier pup.

As a first-time dog dad, Webb was overcome with a sense of love for his puppy, but even more so by a feeling of responsibility. It was his job to make sure Winston had the best life he could and that he stayed healthy as long as possible so they could all be together for a long time.

It was a hefty realization, but one that Webb and his girlfriend embraced with gusto. And for Webb, that responsibility included cooking Winston’s meals himself.

(Winston passed in 2019 due to a congenital condition; in 2020 Webb and his now-fiancé, opened their home to Cooper, a mini bernedoodle.)

Freshly-Cooked, Human-Grade Food

Just discovering a newfound appreciation for dogs in his mid-20s might now have changed his life if it hadn’t been for one important piece of Webb’s puzzle. Since leaving MIT, he’d been working as a consultant in the manufacturing and packaging industries, and since 2012 specifically as related to the dog food industry.

As part of the job he went to dog food factories; he saw first-hand how the food was made with inferior ingredients and substandard processes.

Never having really given much thought to dog food before, he found himself wondering, “Is this actually healthy?”

By the time he got Winston in early 2015, he was convinced mass market kibble was something he’d never feed his beloved new pup.

What’s the alternative to mass market kibble? Well, what’s the alternative to microwave meals and take-out for people? Home-cooked meals.

Webb knew what wasn’t healthy, but he needed help figuring out what Winston did need and so he turned to a vet nutritionist. Together they developed a fresh-cooked meal plan — made from the same ingredients that might use for their own meals — that would give Winston all the nutrients and vitamins a healthy dog needs.

By the time Winston was one-month old, Webb and his girlfriend were cooking all his meals for him, every day.

An Idea Takes Flight

It didn’t take long for others to want the same food for their dogs too. The requests, from friends, and friends of friends, confirmed an idea Webb had been toying with for a while: that there is a market for freshly-cooked, human-grade dog food.

Throwing caution to the wind, in 2016 Webb quit his lucrative job as a consultant and launched a subscription-based fresh food dog company he called Pet Plate. Eight months later, he had 100 subscribers in New York City and was standing in front of the sharks on Shark Tank pitching his business.

They were brutal, and they were all uninterested.

Someone else might have quit, but Webb’s unflagging sense of responsibility kept him going.

“We only had 100 customers at that time, but that was still 100 people whose dogs were eating this food,” Webb recalls. “Some had health concerns and these pet parents wanted to keep feeding them what we were making.”

Webb felt more motivated than ever coming out of Shark Tank. He raised enough money among friends and family to allow him to hire other people to do the cooking and delivering, enabling him to concentrate on the business side of things.

Three years later and the company is doing brisk business around the United States. It offers a Blue Apron-style meal delivery service that customers can be customize according to their dog’s needs.

And though his younger self might be disappointed that they never solved string theory, Webb has no regrets.

Is Pet Plate Right for You and Your Dog?

We all know it. Fresh cooked food is healthier than the pre-packaged stuff we can buy in the supermarket. It’s as true for dogs as it is for humans.

Freshly-cooked dog diets are more digestible than traditional kibble, allowing dogs to absorb more of the vitamins and minerals they need to stay healthy.

Webb believes strongly that feeding your dog the best food available is your best bet for giving your pup a long healthy life. But he acknowledges that Pet Plate isn’t for everyone.

However, if you have a dog that is a picky eater, has health issues or you simply don’t like the ingredients in mass market food, Pet Plate is for you.

“There are a ton of pets that have very sensitive stomachs and no matter the kibble brand they try, unless it’s a fresh type diet, the dog doesn’t do as well. Those parents gravitate to Pet Plate.”

The company offers two options: a full meal plan and a “topper” plan, which allows you to mix Pet Plate with what you’re already feeding your dog.

Keeping your dog active is also good for his health. If you’re planning on taking your dog for a swim at the pool, here are a few basic safety rules you should follow.