Staring in 1947 with frozen offerings, decades later Bill Kelly perfected dry options

By Greg Ellison

(Feb. 3, 2022) Founded by the Kelly brothers in 1947 with a focus on freshness, Bil-Jac dog food is celebrating its 75th anniversary of providing nutritionally balanced frozen, and later dry chow, for furry-four-legged friends.

Bob Kelly, company president since the 1980s, said his father, Bill, and his Uncle Jack, were the brain trust that launched the business after returning from WWII.

“My dad really was a genius in nutrition,” he said.

After producing a premium frozen food at its Medina, Ohio facility for four decades, in 1987 Kelly Foods Corporation opened a plant on Old Ocean City Boulevard in Berlin to make Bil-Jac dry kibble.

Bob Kelly said his father’s life passion was launched while completing WWII boot camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana.

“He had a chance to work with German shepherd bomb-sniffing dogs,” he said. “He didn’t think the dogs looked that good so he asked them if he could help with their diet.”

Tapping into childhood roots working on the family fox farm located just north of Medina, Bill Kelly contacted his father, William, to find farm fresh foods.

“He had his dad send him some fresh meat and some other ingredients to make food … and their dogs improved greatly,” he said. “They actually performed better.”

The experience left an indelible mark on Bill Kelly, who returned from the war front with a firm aim.

“My dad really wanted to get involved with nutrition related to dogs,” he said.

Enlisting his brother Jack as business and branding partner, in 1947 the duo began producing small batch fresh dog food.

“They would make it in the morning and deliver it in the afternoon,” he said. “It would last, if you kept it cold, for two to three days.”

In short order, the Kelly brothers opted to freeze their food and in 1951 received the first U.S. patent issued for pet cuisine.

“For our first 40 years of existence, we made a frozen dog food and we’re still making it today,” he said. “When people hear frozen … they think raw dog food, but our product isn’t raw.”

As a youngster, Bob Kelly regularly accompanied his father on marketing campaigns to regional dog clubs.

“He would speak about nutrition and one of the questions he always got was, ‘Why don’t you have a dry dog food?’” he said.

Concerned about producing highly nutritious and digestible pet foods, Bill Kelly devoted decades of research to create a premium dry food.

In the 1980s, Bil-Jac developed a proprietary method, Nutri-Lock, to dehydrate meats at half the typical industry temperatures for enhanced nutrient preservation.

“We know that fresh is important and the way it’s prepared is important,” he said.

In 1987, Bil-Jac purchased the former Beatrice Foods plant in Berlin and started producing dry food options.

“We also started making treats,” he said.

Besides being more labor intensive, Bob Kelly said Bil-Jac’s fresh-first approach also requires more equipment than typical competitors.

“We have about 137 people in Berlin working around the clock,” he said.

Bob Kelly said the Berlin plant was selected strategically for access to fresh chickens.

“We’ve got to be in an area where there’s thousands and thousands of birds processed every day,” he said.

Each year Kelly Foods purchases more than 60 million pounds of chicken, organ meats and other ingredients from businesses located within 30 minutes of its Berlin plant.

“We put a lot of dollars back into the economy just from the ingredients we buy,” he said. “Our wages last year in Berlin were just under $8 million.”

Highlighting four key differences that set Bil-Jac apart from competitors, Bob Kelly hit on freshness first.

“We use 25 pounds of fresh chicken to make a 30-pound bag of dog food,” he said.

Although after dehydration the precise weight is lighter, the prime ingredient is fresh meat, unlike most pet foods on the market, Bob Kelly said.

“You’ll see chicken as the first ingredient in the bag, but they don’t tell you how much they use,” he said.

Much as the human palate can discern if food is spoiled, canines heightened sense of smell provides even stronger indicators.

“It’s just as important to a dog and their senses are keener,” he said. “They can tell if something’s not fresh.”

Kelly said the next key difference, likely the most crucial, relates to dehydration processing temperatures.

“A lot of the protein that goes in dog foods comes from dry powdered meals made in rendering plants,” he said. “We use a little bit of that, but the majority of our protein comes from fresh chicken.”

Unlike typical rendering plants that dehydrate at temperatures reaching 280 degrees, Bil-Jac ranges far lower at 160 degrees or under.

The reduced temperatures help retain a far greater percentage of crucial sulfur bearing amino acids, Kelly said.

“They are much more susceptible to heat damage and they have to be in dog’s food every day,” he said.

Another distinguishing factor separating Bil-Jac from average pet foods is the correct balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates,

“We use whole grains as our carbohydrate,” he said.

Kelly said if carbohydrates were not properly converted to starches, the unconverted percentage would speed up digestion, often resulting in softer stools.

“We convert carbohydrates to make sure dogs can utilize them,” he said.

Fat additives, or lack of, were the final distinction keyed on by Bob Kelly.

“We don’t add fat because it’s in the chicken we buy,” he said. “We use so much … that we don’t have to add fat.”

Despite making a convincing case, Bob Kelly suggests pet owners draw their own conclusions.

“I want you to prove it to yourself,” he said.

Harkening back to the businesses founding, Kelly said his father and uncle established the “Bil-Jac Two Bowl Challenge” as a key marketing tool.

Canines inevitably exhibit the same predilections during the blind taste test with an unnamed competitor

“We win literally every time,” he said.

Now in its 75th year in operation, Bil-Jac has expanded outside the U.S. to international distribution points in Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, Israel and Australia.

“It’s fun to get up and go to work in the morning,” he said.

Kelly said Berlin plant manager Robert Garner shares his enthusiasm.

“We’re blessed with people like him and he has a lot of people like that working for him,” he said. “People that work for me understand it’s what happens in that plant in Berlin that changes a lot of dogs lives, and it makes them feel good.”

Kelly said the family businesses’ marketing message is best described as “common sense nutrition.”

“We don’t try to be the biggest company out there, but we want to continue to be the best,” he said. “I truly believe that we make the most nutritious and palatable dog food in the world.”

Bil-Jac products can be purchased online at Chewy.com or PetSmart.com, as well PetSmart, Concord Pet Foods & Supplies and other retail outlets.