What is upcycled food? (And why it's not what you think)

It’s Upcycled Food Month and we’re ready to Paw-ty. If you’re already in the know of what upcycled food is, stick around. You might learn something new. If you’re new to the game, get ready to learn.

If you've heard the term 'upcycled food' lately and wondered what it actually means — you're not alone. It's one of those phrases that sounds a little buzzwordy, and it's easy to assume it's just another way of saying 'made from scraps' or 'food waste recycled into something edible.'

Here's the thing: that assumption is definitely wrong. And as a pet treat brand built around upcycled ingredients, we want to clear it up once and for all.
So, what does upcycled food actually mean?

Upcycled food is made from ingredients that were perfectly good — nutritious, fresh, and farm-grown — but never made it to grocery store shelves. Not because anything was wrong with them, but because of how they looked.

Too small. Too large. An unusual shape. More of a crop than retailers ordered that season. Whatever the reason, a huge amount of perfectly edible produce gets turned away every year before it ever reaches a consumer.

Upcycled food brands like Shameless Pets take those ingredients and use them. That's it. The produce is real, whole, and nutritious. It just needed someone to say yes to it.

Upcycled food is not food waste

This is the big one. When most people hear 'food waste,' they picture scraps, peels, spoiled produce, or the stuff that gets thrown out after processing. Upcycled food is none of that. Even if your dog is known to be a food scrap vacuum, we promise only the best for them.

The fruits and vegetables in upcycled products are cosmetically imperfect, not nutritionally compromised. They weren't rejected because something was wrong with them — they were rejected because our food system has very specific ideas about what 'good' produce looks like on a shelf.

Upcycling is about rescuing that produce before it goes to waste. Not after.

Why does this matter for your pet?

At Shameless Pets, every treat we make is built around upcycled fruits and vegetables sourced directly from farm partners across the US. When grocery stores pass on a harvest of blueberries, sweet potatoes, or catnip, we use them instead.
The result? Treats made with real, whole ingredients — the same quality you'd want in your own food, just in a different form. No fillers, no mystery ingredients, and no pretending.

Your pet gets a cleaner treat. Farmers get paid for their full harvest. And a little less good food goes to waste. That's the Shameless Pets way.

What makes something officially 'upcycled'?

Shameless Pets is Upcycled Certified, which means our ingredients and sourcing practices meet the standards set by the Upcycled Food Association. It's not just a label we put on our packaging — it's a commitment to sourcing that's verified.
The certification ensures that the ingredients we use genuinely would have been lost or wasted without intervention. It's a standard we're proud to meet, and one we think every consumer deserves to know about.

The bottom line

Upcycled food isn't a workaround or a compromise. It's a smarter, more honest way to use the food we already grow. And when it comes to your pet's treats, that means better ingredients, a cleaner supply chain, and a brand you can actually trust.
June is Upcycled Food Month — and we couldn't think of a better time to celebrate what that really means.