Carob Chips for Dog Treats
Things to consider

As a gourmet dog treat baker - one of the arts of your craft is the ability to add style and pizazz while the mass producing commercial bakers are limited to stamped out / extruded shapes. You can decorate your treats by hand - further adding that homemade gourmet feel to your treats.

But with coatings from chip type products (carob and yogurt)comes a down side. The nutritional content, while good for having carob is actually quite tragic. Close to 50% of the chips are hydrogenated fats - that's SATURATED or BAD fat.

We thought that it might be helpful to show you a comparison of carob chips versus our Carob Dog Treat Icing mix. Now, yes, we are somewhat biased. However, having worked with both products, and answered countless emails from bakers who were pulling their hair out because of seized chip batches, we think you might agree with our assessment after reading further. See below the direct comparison of our product versus the carob chips:

• Chips contain high levels of hydrogenated fats in addition to sugar.

• To use the chips requires a double boiler / heating method and often the addition of paramount crystals because they don't melt smoothly (Paramount crystals are just hydrogenated palm kernel oil with an emulsifier).

• Your decorations may not survive a display if the temperature is above 80F. This may also mean that you have to deal with ice packs in the summer months when shipping your products which will add costs to your products, shipping rates and ultimately to your customers.

• The chips can seize when melting. So while the initial price might appear to be cheaper than our mix, if you factor in the loss of an entire batch of chips because of prep issues – well, that cost will quickly add up.

• Our mix – if it is too thick, add some water. If it is too thin, add some more mix. Very easy to adjust the thickness to what you need.

Treat bakers that are not using carob chips and have competitors who are in your market – this is a great opportunity for you to educate your customers. Tell them about the hydrogenated fats in carob chips and show that that your competitor isn’t listing it on the label. Make the claim on the front of your package – “No hydrogenated fats!” This is a prime example of how you can creatively use your competitors choices to help promote your products. Your integrity in listing all of the ingredients on your product in the long run will pay off. Read more about some marketing ideas in our 2 part marketing page. If you are using chips – our Carob Dog Treat Icing mix instead of carob chips is a great alternative to the hydrogenated fats in the chips. Our Sugar Free version is coming soon – so even better (no hydrogenated fats, no sugar)!

Have any questions – please feel free to email us here.