The owners of a Charlotte catering company have found a creative solution to reduce food waste: they turn their food scraps into “gently cooked” dog food — a product they sell online and at local pet stores.
Felicia and Manuel Cordray, owners of Catering by Cordre, launched Core K9 in November 2023. And last year, their business converted about 70 pounds of potential food waste into dog food.
Why it matters: U.S. households waste about 26.5 million tons of food each year, according to some estimates. That equals about 2.1 pounds per week per household.
Aside from being … well, … wasteful, much of that food ends up in landfills, where it decays and produces methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
Not so at Catering by Cordre, where Felicia and Manuel have turned potential landfill waste into a second small business.
Each workday, as the couple prepares catered meals for humans, they collect meat and vegetable scraps that can be used in their dog food brand — or “entrée for dogs,” as the packages state.
Their USDA-approved doggy meals—beef and barley, turkey and sweet potato, chicken and lentil, and lamb and quinoa—sell for $10.99 for a 16-ounce bag.
“We’ve always really focused on trying to reduce as much waste as we can,” Felicia said.
How it started
The couple founded their catering business in 2015. Soon after, they launched the dog food brand.
Catering by Cordre operates from a commercial kitchen at Dilworth United Methodist Church. Manuel, who has worked at a number of Charlotte-area restaurants, is the head chef, but both are involved in creating their dog food recipes.
Felicia, who worked in banking, researched healthy ingredients for dogs, while Manuel crafted four recipes.
To ensure their products met nutrient requirements, Felicia said, a veterinary nutritionist reviewed their recipes and created a premix — a blend of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. From there, the recipes needed approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which took about a week.
Crafting the recipe was a “one and done,” Felicia said.
Aside from their desire to reduce food waste, the Cordrays said they were also motivated by the 2018 death of their dog, Duchess, an 11-year-old cane corso, in 2018. “We lost her to cancer, so she kind of stemmed the whole idea,” Felicia said.
[Also read: Charlotte’s newest animal clinic, Ark Veterinary Hospital, paves way for Black vets]
A satisfied customer
Crystal Howard, who owns an 11-year-old chihuahua-shitzu mix named Caesar, has been a Core K9 customer for about a year and a half. She said she met the Cordreys in 2006, when they lived in the same neighborhood.
Two years ago, she said, Caesar had back surgery. Before that, he had a myriad of health issues, including stomach and allergy problems.
“He’s my first dog,” Howard said. “If I didn’t love him the way I do, there’s no way I would have done half of what I did.”
Howard said she switched from kibble to Core K9, hoping to improve Caesar’s overall health. “He had been on the same food for forever and a day,” she said.
Although the Cordrays make no claims about the health benefits of products, Howard said she believes Core K9 has improved Caesar’s health.
“He just looks healthier,” she said. “He has more energy. When I take that food out of the refrigerator, he does this dance, you know? And you would think that he has missed like a gazillion meals.”
Behind the scenes
On a recent Friday in April, the commercial kitchen at Dilworth United Methodist Church was abuzz with activity as the Cordrays and their staff prepared for a catering event, just a few days before Stop Food Waste Day.
Manuel, overseeing the operation, picked up a squash and pointed to the tip of the bright yellow vegetable. “A lot of people will cut it and throw it away,” he said. “Well, we can keep this because it gets blended up. And then once it’s blended, it goes into the [dog food] recipe.”
Between the two of them, Felicia said Manuel has always focused more on reducing food waste, noting how he prods their staff of 11 to use every scoop of their house-made Caesar salad dressing.
In addition to their main dog food product, a soft mixture that requires refrigeration, the Cordrays also make a dry doggy treat made from sweet potatoes. Two months ago, the couple began selling their Core K9 products in five stores in North and South Carolina, including Earthwise and Pet in the City. They also sell via their website.
With a retail price just under $11, Felicia acknowledges that Core K9 is expensive.
“Even if you cannot afford to do all Core K9, you could still do it as a topper,” she said.
How your household can reduce food waste
County environmentalist Aaron Caudle told QCity Metro that landfills are a solid waste industry concern.
“Landfills are a finite resource; they fill up over time,” Caudle said. Once landfills are full, Caudle said, waste will need to be transported elsewhere, increasing the cost of throwing things away.
“Anything that businesses or residents can do to help us mitigate filling that landfill up is fantastic,” Caudle said. “I think what [Core K9] is doing is fantastic.”
Earlier this year, the solid waste division began accepting residential food waste scraps for recycling.
The county said in a statement, “If it’s edible, it’s acceptable.” That includes items like eggshells, coffee grounds, vegetables and meat. Food scraps can be placed in a bin and brought to special food scrap containers at one of two composting centers: Hickory Grove (8007 Pence Rd.) and Compost Central (140 Valleydale Rd.).
What is NOT Accepted?
- Cans of food or food packaging
- Plastic-coated paper plates
- To-go drink cups
- To-go containers and utensils
- Paper towels and napkins
- Compostable utensils and plates
- Plastic bags, zip-lock bags or snack wrappers or bags
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