The Midwest Family Behind Your Dog’s Sunflower Treats

It’s Upcycled Food Month, and we’re doing what we love most: pulling back the curtain on the ingredients that make Shameless Pets treats possible. This month’s spotlight? Sunflower meal — and our remarkable Minnesota partner that makes it.

First things first: what is sunflower meal?

When sunflower seeds are cold-pressed to extract their oil, what remains is called sunflower meal — a protein-rich, nutrient-dense co-product that often gets overlooked. Most manufacturers walk right past it.

We didn’t.

At Shameless Pets, sunflower meal is the base ingredient in a big part of our treat line — and it’s there for a reason. It’s nutritionally superior to the grain-based fillers most pet treats are built on, and it’s an upcycled ingredient that’s doing the planet a favor at the same time.

Meet Midwest Processors — a family that bet on sunflowers

Our sunflower meal comes from Smude Oil and its processing arm, Midwest Processors, based in Minnesota. And honestly, their origin story is one of our favorites.
Smude started as a family farm founded by Tom and Jenni, originally growing crops for cattle feed and bedding. Then came two years of crop failures. Instead of giving up, they pivoted to drought-tolerant sunflowers — a crop that’s also pollinator-friendly, soil-restoring, and climate-resilient.

Their original plan was simple: sell the meal for animal feed and the oil as a low-value by-product. But when bulk oil prices dropped, they took a leap and launched Smude’s Sunflower Oil as a consumer brand. It took off. The success led them to create Midwest Processors to scale up production — and the sunflower meal that had always been a co-product became something much more valuable.

A family farm turns a crop failure into a category. That’s the kind of origin story we love to support.

Why we chose sunflower meal over grain

Most dog treats use soy, wheat, or corn as their base ingredient, but we found something better.

Sunflower meal is:

• Higher in protein than most grain-based treat bases — supporting muscle, energy, and vitality
• Rich in vitamin E, a natural antioxidant that supports immune health and a healthy coat
• Packed with healthy fats and essential amino acids that support healthy skin, shine, and sustained energy
• Naturally non-GMO, gluten-free, and allergen-friendly
• Higher in fiber and folate than many nuts, with lower fat and calories
• It’s a genuine nutritional upgrade — and it comes from an ingredient that would otherwise go underused. That’s a win for your dog and a win for the planet.
  

The zero-waste system behind every bag

Smude Oil and Midwest Processors run what’s essentially a closed-loop system, and it’s one of the things we admire most about this partnership.

Here’s how the process works:

• Sunflower seeds are cleaned and cold-press processed to extract oil
  
• The oil is filtered (the sediment “filter cake” goes to animal feed)
  
• The remaining solids are processed into sunflower meal — that’s what we use
  
• Hulls and residuals are burned for on-site energy
  
• Over 140 calves on the farm are fed non-GMO sunflower feed

In 2020, only about 6% of the by-product was being upcycled into value-added uses. By 2026, that number has grown to around 71% — thanks in part to partnerships like the one we’re proud to be part of. Virtually no waste. Every part of the sunflower serves a purpose.

Regenerative agriculture, not just sustainability

Midwest Processors sources its sunflowers from a network of local Minnesota farmers, with an increasing focus on regenerative agriculture — farming practices that go beyond “sustainable” to actively restore soil health and reduce environmental impact.

Why does that matter? Because sunflowers themselves are a climate-smart crop:

• Drought-tolerant and climate-resilient — they can grow where other crops struggle
  
• They improve soil health and reduce the need for fertilizer inputs
  
• Support crop rotation and naturally reduce weed pressure
  
• They’re pollinator-friendly — good for bees, good for ecosystems
  
• Support carbon capture and reduced nitrogen leaching

Midwest Processors also works with third-party verified regenerative farms and provides financial incentives for farmers to grow sunflowers — strengthening rural economies and building supply chain resilience at the same time.

The treats your dog will lose their mind over

Ready to meet the treats? All our dental stick are made with sunflower meal as a key ingredient — clean, natural, and built to do a little extra work between brushings.

• 🍓 Tooth Berry Dental Sticks
  
• 🌱 Mighty Mint Dental Sticks
• 🥕 Carrate Chomp Dental Sticks
  
• 🍌 Banana Boneanza Dental Sticks
  
• and more...soon!

Our dental sticks are designed to help remove plaque and tartar, support fresher breath, and promote healthier gums — all while tasting like a treat your dog actually gets excited about. They’re not a replacement for regular vet dental care, but they’re a genuinely useful daily reward that works between brushings.

Available on:
Amazon  —  Shop on Amazon
Chewy  —  Shop on Chewy

Every ingredient has a story

Sunflower meal isn’t just a filler we swapped in for grain. It’s an ingredient with a family behind it, a farm system that wastes almost nothing, and nutritional benefits your dog feels every time they crunch through a treat.

That’s what upcycled food month is about for us — celebrating the farmers, the processes, and the ingredients that most brands walk right past.

Thanks for being a part of it.

- The Shameless Pets Team