GREEN BAY, WIS. — Carnivore Meat Company’s flagship brand Vital Essentials announced Jan. 8 the appointment of Josh Patterson to vice president of sales. Patterson brings more than 15 years of pet industry experience in sales, marketing and operations to the role.

During his career, Patterson has held several leadership roles within the industry, helping develop business optimization strategies, as well as planning and execution processes to drive revenue and growth. He has experience in retail, pet food manufacturing and direct-to-consumer.

Patterson began his career in 2006 at retailer Petsense, leading store operations, marketing and merchandising throughout various roles through the company’s acquisition by Tractor Supply. Since then, Patterson has held various sales, marketing and strategy roles at Nulo, PetSmart and, most recently, PetPlate.

According to Carnivore Meat Company, Patterson’s wealth of experience, specifically in omnichannel strategy, will serve as a major benefit to Vital Essentials.

“Josh brings a wealth of industry experience to our flagship brand, Vital Essentials, and positions our organization for continued accelerated growth in market,” said Nick Ebert, chief commercial officer at Carnivore Meat Company. “I couldn’t be more excited to have Josh joining our team. His expertise in the independent pet space will support our objective of becoming the most compelling and customer centric frozen and freeze-dried raw brand in the market.”

In his new role at Vital Essentials, Patterson will serve both the United States and Canada, leading efforts to advance the brand’s partnerships with retailers and distributors. He will focus on building and developing Vital Essentials’ sales organization to deliver on its core values by leveraging retail and digital marketing capabilities. Patterson will also focus on driving new traffic to the independent pet channel.

“The most exciting part about joining the Vital Essentials team is our commitment to growing and developing the independent channel,” he said. “Independent pet specialty stores are on the front lines of educating customers to provide the best options for their pets. After meeting the team at Carnivore Meat Company, I have no doubt that we are the brand best positioned to deliver growth for our independent partners in multiple categories across the store. We have the best products, distributors and retail partners in the industry, and I am excited to contribute to this next phase of Carnivore’s incredible story.”

Read more on Carnivore Meat Company and Vital Essentials in our exclusive processor profile.

Read more about personnel changes throughout the industry.