SAN DIEGO — On April 5, human-grade pet food company The Honest Kitchen announced a $150 million investment from Monarch Alternative Capital LP. As part of the investment, Monarch will partner with Lucy Postins, founder of The Honest Kitchen, and existing investors Alliance Consumer Growth and White Road Investments to drive the company’s growth.

“When I founded The Honest Kitchen, I wanted to establish ‘human grade’ as the new standard for pet food,” Postins said. “We’ve evolved to create an expansive line of products built on the human-grade promise, and we have some great opportunities ahead of us, through continued innovation and expanded production. Just as importantly, this investment will provide us with the resources to continue to advance our social and environmental initiatives and amplify commitments like our transition to Global Animal Partnership (GAP) chicken for several of our recipes.”

The Honest Kitchen plans to use the investment to increase manufacturing capacity, as well as expand product innovation, marketing and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives.

In conjunction with its investment, Monarch announced the appointment of Patrick Fallon to managing principal at Monarch and Bob Rubin, founder of Breakaway Advisors, to The Honest Kitchen’s board of directors.

“The Honest Kitchen’s exceptional and differentiated product offering is unrivaled in the market, ultimately setting the standards many consumers now expect from pet food,” Fallon said. “The company is uniquely positioned as the leader in human-grade pet food to capitalize on the expected continued growth in the pet segment. Monarch is excited to provide capital and industry expertise to help The Honest Kitchen achieve its distribution and product expansion objectives in the next stage of its strategic plan.”

According to The Honest Kitchen, it was one of the first pet food brands with the ability to legally label its pet food human grade. The company’s pet food is manufactured in human-food facilities and are formulated with free-range chicken, pumpkin and kale. The Honest Kitchen currently offers dry, wet and dehydrated cat and dog foods.

“The Honest Kitchen was founded with the mission to get as many pets as possible on the road to good health through good food,” said Michael Greenwell, chief executive officer, The Honest Kitchen. “We’re at a pivotal point for the business after many key wins last year, including our new manufacturing facility in Topeka and entering a completely new segment with our human-grade cat portfolio launch. We look forward to partnering with Monarch to push the brand further, expanding our human-grade production capabilities and reaching more pets.”

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