NEW - Joy Dog Food

The Joy Story

JOY dog food has a long and interesting history, from humble beginnings as Best Feeds and Farm Supplies in 1943 to the sale of the company to Hi-Standard in 2011.

When the company was started, it was the marketing genius of Albert Shiffler (known as Ab to almost everyone) and the hard work and drive of men like Russ Kohser and Milton May that made Best Feeds thrive.

Their drive was not to create the perfect dog food. Instead, it was to create a chain of stores that could support the rural farm communities around Pennsylvania, providing everything from burlap to chicken feed at reasonable prices and using local mills and producers.

In the mid-50s, Shiffler and accounts manager Jack Ostheimer were at odds, battling the inevitable shrinking of the small farms, and, thusly, the small feed store.

Best Feeds brought their milling operations to one mill in Oakdale, PA, and was fully operational there by 1957. The lack of steady, year-round cash flow led the men to continue to research variations on dog food recipes… often on Mrs. Shiffler’s stove.

With their trial and error experience, along with research underwritten by Cornell and Penn State Universities, the JOY KIBBLED dry feed formula was developed in 1953. This blend is still nutritionally sound and has been the foundation for all other JOY varieties for nearly 60 years.

Russ was known to say, “Our customer is the dog, not the dog’s owner… JOY’s ingredients are based on palatability, nutritional need and digestibility. JOY’s dry form is based on the dog’s chewing instincts. JOY’s pleasant odor and mouth-feel are based upon the dictates of the dog’s very nature.”

Nobody had quite said it like that before, and it is still true to this day. The dog remains the ultimate consumer, and you can rest assured that your dog will feel like a champion with JOY in his system!