The original Himalayan dog chew

Himalayan Pet Supply was founded in 2008, but its story begins 5 years earlier in the US when co-founders and Nepali-born Nishes Shrestha and Suman Shrestha met for dinner. While setting up a new business wasn’t what they were looking for, during dinner they stumbled on an opportunity not to miss out on.

Inspiration and hard work

While chatting, Suman noticed Nishes’ dog happily chewing on a piece of Churpi: a Himalayan hard cheese that is preserved using centuries-old techniques. To this day, this preservation technique is practiced by the people of Nepal. It was the same cheese that Suman enjoyed as a young boy growing up in Nepal. He was inspired to tap the same cultural techniques to make a high-quality chew for dogs – and inspired Nishes to join him in this new business venture.

Over the next few years, Suman and Nishes carried out extensive research, to find out how to remove lactose from the cheese and create the desired texture for an innovative chew, made exclusively for dogs. Their hard work paid off. During a pet fair in Bellingham, Washington, the Original Himalayan Dog Chew sold out almost immediately. From there, the company was founded and a new category within the pet space was born.

Helping drive social change

The Original Himalayan Dog Chew company was established with a vision for social responsibility and aims to have a positive impact on local economic growth. Through production and trade, the company strives to help eliminate poverty in Nepal. Proceeds from the original hard cheese chew support initiatives that provide women and girls with access to education, help improve women’s employment rate, advocate for fair wages, end child marriage, and boost women’s literacy.

Innovation & production

While its first and only product was the original hard cheese chew, Himalayan has innovated and expanded its offerings. Today, it offers a variety of long-lasting, nutritional dog chews and treats that are distributed to more than 5,000 retailers worldwide.

Himalayan has always been committed to producing cheese chews for dogs that meet the strictest quality and safety standards. Last year, the company opened a new, state-of-the-art production facility in Arlington, Washington, and doubled its production capacity. The facility is fully certified in compliance with the high safety and quality standards of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Program and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

The company’s latest innovation – Unhide – is handcrafted in its Washington production facility. A natural alternative to rawhide chews, the cheese and antler chew is long-lasting and easy for dogs to digest. The limited-ingredient recipe is great for dogs of all ages and sizes.