Fresh dog food has a logistics problem. Most premium dog food brands ship frozen products. This means blocked freezer space, higher delivery costs, and complex cold-chain distribution. For customers, it’s choosing between fresh nutrition or freezer real estate. For startups, it’s burning capital on refrigerated logistics that kill unit economics.
Berlin-based Tasty Petfood just launched with a different answer: shelf-stable fresh food in jars. Last Friday, February 6, 2026, founders Lisa Vannini and Nadja Chylla went live in Germany and Switzerland with steam-cooked recipes that don’t need refrigeration – no synthetic preservatives, no frozen shipping, no freezer dependency.
They’re entering a premium dog food market projected to reach $283.8 billion globally by 2031, growing at 6.2% annually. But the logistics arbitrage is what makes this noteworthy.
The HelloFresh Playbook:
Lisa Vannini and Nadja Chylla didn’t stumble into pet food by accident. Both spent over five years at HelloFresh – Lisa handling D2C strategy and P&L, Nadja managing an eight-figure DACH partnerships budget that became a key growth driver across three markets.
They’re applying meal kit supply chain expertise to solve a real friction point in the fresh pet food category: the cold chain problem.
Most fresh dog food startups ship frozen products. This means higher logistics costs, blocked freezer space for customers, and complex distribution networks. Tasty sidesteps this entirely with shelf-stable fresh food in jars – steam-cooked and preserved without refrigeration or synthetic preservatives.
The pitch is simple: fresh food quality without the freezer dependency.
Premium Positioning Numbers:
The German premium pet food segment is growing while standard options stagnate. Here’s what the data shows:
- Global pet food market hit $197.85 billion in 2025, expected to reach $210.11 billion in 2026
- Premium segment growing 7.1% CAGR through 2031 versus 5.01% for overall market
- 42% of US pet owners prioritize high protein content when selecting brands
- Europe accounts for roughly 30% of global pet care sales
Tasty positions in the upper price tier, targeting owners who view dogs as family members – a demographic that’s proven recession-resistant. Even during economic uncertainty in late 2025, premium pet food spending held steady while budget segments contracted.
Direct-to-Consumer Data Engine:
The product itself is 100% natural – high-quality meat, organs, vegetables, and herbs with no fillers or additives. But the real competitive edge is the personalized subscription model.
New customers complete an online quiz covering breed, age, weight, and activity level. The platform calculates portion sizes and delivery frequency, then adjusts recipes based on the dog’s profile. This data-driven approach mirrors what worked at HelloFresh: low customer acquisition cost, high retention, predictable revenue.
For context: subscription models in pet food show 3-5x better unit economics than one-time purchases, according to D2C benchmarks from Q4 2025.
Market Gap Strategy:
Tasty sits between two established camps:
- Traditional premium brands like Terra Canis (majority-owned by Nestlé since 2017) dominate retail shelves but carry legacy distribution costs
- Pure-digital competitors like Butternut Box ship frozen products with complex logistics
The ambient fresh positioning lets Tasty ship via standard carriers, reduce storage requirements, and maintain margins that frozen competitors can’t match. It’s travel-friendly, doesn’t monopolize refrigerator space, and scales more efficiently.
Early 2026 data shows fresh and freeze-dried formats are the only growing segments in developed pet food markets. Without these categories, US pet food sales would show zero growth year-over-year.
What Founders Bring:
Lisa Vannini brings strategic execution and financial discipline from scaling HelloFresh operations. Nadja Chylla’s partnership experience – managing collaborations that drove growth across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland – translates directly to retail and B2B expansion opportunities.
Both founders previously won startup recognition during university years before joining HelloFresh, suggesting this isn’t their first rodeo building something from scratch.
Industry Headwinds Worth Noting:
Full transparency: they’re launching into challenging conditions.
Pet food M&A activity hit a 15-year low in 2025. New product launches across the industry dropped significantly due to economic uncertainty and tariff concerns. Carol Frank from BirdsEye Advisory Group called it “the slowest period in my 15-year M&A career.”
Innovation budgets are contracting industry-wide. Companies are facing cost pressures on formulation choices and portfolio decisions, creating what one CEO described as “creativity without clarity.”
That said – startups with differentiated logistics models and strong unit economics tend to perform well even in down markets. The question is whether Tasty’s ambient fresh approach resonates enough to gain traction before capital becomes scarce.
Three Things to Monitor:
Retail expansion timeline: Most successful D2C pet food brands eventually need brick-and-mortar presence. How fast they move into specialty stores will signal confidence in customer acquisition costs.
Churn rates: Subscription pet food lives or dies on retention. Industry benchmark is 15-20% monthly churn – anything below 12% suggests product-market fit.
Production scaling: They’re currently working with manufacturing partners for steam-cooking and jarring. Any move toward owned production facilities would indicate serious volume growth.
The global pet food market’s projected to hit $47.4 billion specifically for premium and specialty segments by 2028. Tasty’s launching exactly where growth is concentrated – premium, fresh, and digitally native.
