Colorado Pet Treats simplified and improved its SQF audit
Colorado Pet Treats has been producing natural dog treats in Denver since the 1990s.
Founded by Galina Kasel, a refugee from the former USSR, the company grew from a small Denver operation around a simple idea: pet owners should be able to trust the quality and safety of the treats they give their dogs.
Today, Colorado Pet Treats remains a woman-owned and refugee-owned business producing dog jerky, jerky chips, chews, and other treats under brands including Colorado Naturals, Nature's Deli, and Fresh Field. Its products are made with all-natural ingredients and are positioned without chemicals, fillers, preservatives, artificial colors, grains, or soy. The company sources raw materials from USDA- and/or FDA-inspected meat processing facilities and slow-roasts its products in its own inspected facility. As the business matured, however, its food safety program became increasingly complex.
Colorado Pet Treats needed to update and organize its food safety systems, prepare for both SQF and FDA audits, strengthen process validation around jerky production, and make routine documentation easier for its Quality Assurance team. FoodReady helped simplify that program. Four food safety plans were created, existing SOPs and recall procedures were reviewed, duplicate processes were removed, digital checklists were implemented, employees were trained, and an internal auditing system was established. The result: Colorado Pet Treats passed its SQF audit with only two minor findings, improving on its previous audit performance.
Less complexity. Stronger controls. A better SQF audit.
2 minor findings
Successful SQF audit
4 plans
Food safety plans created for
Reduced complexity
Duplicate procedures and checklist items
Lower staffing needs
More efficient digital workflows
SQF & FDA preparation
Heat-treatment validation support
Digital checklists
Internal audit program
The food safety program had grown complicated with more demanding audits.
Producing shelf-stable meat-based pet treats requires more than sourcing quality ingredients. Colorado Pet Treats needed documented controls covering its manufacturing processes, particularly the heat-treatment step used in jerky production, along with supporting HACCP programs, SOPs, verification activities, recall procedures, and routine records. The company was also preparing for both an SQF audit and FDA oversight.
Its existing food safety program already contained procedures and documentation, but years of development had created duplication and overlap. That made the program harder to implement, harder to track, and more labor-intensive for Quality Assurance. Colorado Pet Treats needed to simplify the system without weakening it. The company also wanted employees and managers to have a more accessible way to complete, review, and approve required paperwork instead of allowing documentation itself to become the bottleneck.
What Colorado Pet Treats needed
- SQF audit readiness - Strengthen systems before the next certification audit
- FDA preparation - Organize documentation and controls for regulatory oversight
- Updated food safety plans - Develop plans around the company's different pet treat processes
- Streamlined SOPs - Remove duplication and overlap from existing procedures
- Heat-process validation - Strengthen validation around the jerky heat-treatment step
- Digital checklists - Make routine food safety records easier to complete and review
- Internal auditing - Build a repeatable system for verification and audit preparation
- QA staff training - Help the Quality team implement and maintain the program
How Colorado Pet Treats simplified, before the audit.
FoodReady combined software implementation with hands-on consulting to strengthen both the documentation and the way Colorado Pet Treats used it.
Gap Assessment
The project began with a review of Colorado Pet Treats' existing food safety program. FoodReady examined current SOPs, recall plans, food safety procedures, and related documentation to identify gaps, overlap, and unnecessary duplication. The objective was not simply to create more documentation. It was to make the existing program more concise, functional, and easier to maintain.
Four Food Safety Plans Created
Using FoodReady's HACCP Plan Builder, the team created four food safety plans covering different pet treat products and manufacturing processes. These plans helped organize hazards, process controls, monitoring requirements, corrective actions, and verification activities around the company's actual operations. Existing SOPs were then added to the system so the procedures supporting each program could be managed alongside the food safety plans.
SOPs & Checklists Streamlined
Colorado Pet Treats already had processes in place, but some documentation contained duplication and overlap. FoodReady reviewed and streamlined the company's checklists before implementing them digitally. This reduced unnecessary repetition while helping employees focus on the records that actually mattered. Instead of increasing paperwork in the name of compliance, the implementation aimed to make the program easier to execute.
Jerky Heat-Treatment Validation
One of the most important technical areas involved the heat-treatment process used in jerky production. FoodReady provided guidance and resources to help Colorado Pet Treats validate the process controls surrounding this step. For meat-based pet treats, demonstrating that the thermal process is appropriately controlled is an important part of building a defensible food safety program. The work helped connect the written program with evidence that production controls were functioning as intended.
QA Training & Implementation
FoodReady worked directly with Colorado Pet Treats' Quality Control staff to implement the software. Employees were trained on completing and verifying digital checklists and on using the system as part of routine food safety activities. That helped move the program from documentation development into daily execution.
Internal Audit Program
FoodReady also worked with the QA team to develop a structured internal auditing program. Verification and validation activities were organized through FoodReady's Task Scheduler so recurring responsibilities could be assigned and tracked. This gave Colorado Pet Treats a more systematic way to identify issues before an external auditor did.
SQF & FDA Audit Support
FoodReady consultants supported Colorado Pet Treats as the company prepared for external audit and regulatory requirements. The work included documentation review, process improvement, staff preparation, and ongoing access to experienced food safety consultants. Colorado Pet Treats ultimately passed its SQF audit with only two minor findings—an improvement compared with the previous year's audit.
What FoodReady delivered
Four food safety plans
HACCP plan management
SOP review & streamlining
Digital food safety checklists
Recall plan review
Heat-process validation guidance
QA staff training
Internal audit development
Verification & validation workflows
SQF and FDA audit preparation
The program became easier to manage and the audit result improved.
Colorado Pet Treats passed its SQF audit with just two minor findings while reducing the complexity behind its food safety program.
The most important change was not simply converting paper forms into digital ones. FoodReady helped Colorado Pet Treats simplify how the entire program worked. Duplicate procedures were removed. Checklists were reviewed and streamlined. Four food safety plans were organized around specific pet treat processes. Internal auditing and verification activities became easier to assign and monitor. And Quality Assurance gained a more accessible system for completing, reviewing, and approving required records. That efficiency also affected staffing needs.
Colorado Pet Treats' Quality Assurance Manager reported that FoodReady reduced the amount of time and complexity involved in completing programs and keeping track of finished records—and reduced staffing needs as a result. When the system was tested during the company's SQF audit, Colorado Pet Treats passed with only two minor findings, improving on the previous year's performance.
"FoodReady helps reduce time and complexity in filling out our programs and keeping track of filled-out forms, and it has reduced staffing needs."
Colorado Pet Treats didn't need more paperwork. It needed a simpler way to control it.
Complexity was removed, not added
FoodReady reviewed existing procedures and checklists to eliminate duplication before bringing them into the system.
Reviewers gained visibility
Management could review completed documentation, approve records, and flag problems without depending entirely on disconnected paperwork.
Consulting strengthened the software
Colorado Pet Treats also valued direct access to FoodReady's food safety consultants for technical questions, program improvements, training, and audit preparation.
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