A Day at the Lotus Cannery

Brandon and Scott Click packing cans at the Lotus cannery in California.

There are many things to consider when choosing a pet food- protein, moisture content, guaranteed analysis, and cost- to name a few. But manufacturing facility and processes seem to slip our minds in the decision making process. At Tomlinson’s, we hold our vendors to the highest standards of quality in all areas of business. We’re always honored when we get the opportunity to visit a pet food manufacturing plant, and wanted to share a recent experience at the Lotus cannery in California. The Pollock used in Lotus' canned cat foods. In their own words, here’s the experience some of our store managers had while visiting the facility: “The facility was very clean and it smelled like Thanksgiving in there (they were making Turkey Just Juicy cat food).

The ingredients going in to the cans looked just like the same quality of meat we would buy at the store.

They also let us in to every room in the facility and allowed us to take pictures of anything we wanted. Cans are hand packed and weighed right there on the spot.” –Stephanie Kubin, Tomlinson’s Round Rock “They were making turkey canned cat food when we there, so the whole place smelled like Thanksgiving. The turkey looked like it came from Rudy's. Daron pulled some cardboard out of the trash to show us the USDA label on a box of meat. We were there as they were bringing in the pollock. They let us open up a box of it and see the cuts- I could have eaten them!” –Betsy Wallek, Tomlinson’s Allandale Daron Matsuura, President of Lotus Pet Foods, at the Lotus cannery in California. “The Lotus tour was absolutely amazing.

They allowed us to look at every nook and cranny of their canning facility, even the areas where there were specific products that just didn't make the cut.

The facility was extremely clean, and the ingredients are extremely fresh. Each box was marked USDA approved and the fish itself looked amazing enough to eat. The packing process was great, and they walked us through every step of it. They were even open about hiccups they had along the way to perfecting their process. One of the things that stood out for me was that they knew every single employee by name, and they had a lot of employees. They were like a family.

I think this says a lot about the company in general- it shows that they truly care about their people and about the quality of the product they are putting out there for the public.

Store managers Betsy Wallek and Andrea Flinn learn to pack and weigh cans. I was already on board with Lotus before we went to the cannery, but even more so afterwards.” –Jamie Hattersley, Tomlinson’s 12^th Street It speaks volumes that Lotus is so transparent about their manufacturing practices. We take pride in bringing high quality foods like Lotus to Central Texas pet parents, and rest easy knowing we’re partners with a company that has similar values. Want to know more about Lotus Pet Foods? A friendly member of Team Tomlinson’s would be happy to help! And- be sure to spread your newfound knowledge with others on Facebook!