# Orijen Problem -holes in bags



## Lykoz (Dec 6, 2014)

I have finally found orijen a food I can trust, or so i thoughtf... I like their philosophy, am happy with the quality of the food as per independent review sites...

Basically I have decided that this is the food for my dog.

I however live in a tiny island of Europe...

Orijen is made in canada... Orijen has no preservatives...

Their bags are not standardised: Sometimes the bags have air in, sometimes they dont...

Furthermore... at the pet shop i buy the food... I chose two bags to buy for my dog... And they both!!!!! had holes.... in them... I immediately went back to change them when i noticed....

This is a recurring theme... I now spend a long time checking each bag... Which is difficult... The holes I am talking about are tiny... Even with my in depth checks I am still hesitant...

Royal Canin for example has air in their bags... But their packaging is TWICE if not tree times as strong... I cant tear it with my bare hands... Its impossible... Infact its hard to pierce it with a knife... Whilst orijen I can easily cut through or tear through....
Now please dont tell me to go back to Royal Canin... I prefer Orijen and their food philosophy/reviews... Other suggestions like taste of wild, might be more applicable...

I am very despondent... I like the company... And I want to buy their food... But how can I trust their packaging... I have complained to them...

I know they produce food often, and smaller batches... But the packaging is not condusive for international travel...

Is anyone having similar issues?
How do you deal with it?
Would this be a deal breaker in buying Orijen?


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## Mary&Stella (Jan 1, 2011)

I live in Germany and buy Orijen online through amazon, bags never have air or holes in them. Maybe this would be better maybe the holes in the bags are happening at the pet store.


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## nezzz (Jan 20, 2013)

How about buying your bags from another pet shop?? Alternatively if you like Orijen's food and philosophy, consider raw feeding.

I too buy Origen and I live in Southeast Asia and the bags arguably travel further to reach me than it does to you in Europe and my bags are all airtight still.


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## Lykoz (Dec 6, 2014)

nezzz said:


> How about buying your bags from another pet shop?? Alternatively if you like Orijen's food and philosophy, consider raw feeding.
> 
> I too buy Origen and I live in Southeast Asia and the bags arguably travel further to reach me than it does to you in Europe and my bags are all airtight still.


Raw feeding is too much time. its double the cost.
And I also dont know exactly how to do it correctly.

Basically I am content buying the best quality food I can get my hands on. But it needs to be dry packaged and without any holes!.

Thank you for informing me you have never had a problem...

I managed to get a good discount at this pet shop... And since the food all comes from one supplier I figured it would be the same everywhere...
I will look at other pet shops... And try see if this is a theme, even If i have to pay 5% more...

If the local representative of Orijen is not taking back damaged food... It may be at supplier level to cyprus...

Your responses have been very helpfull. You seem to have never had a problem... However I have contacted Orijen And they said their bags are not standardised on amount of air in package..


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## Lykoz (Dec 6, 2014)

Mary&Stella said:


> I live in Germany and buy Orijen online through amazon, bags never have air or holes in them. Maybe this would be better maybe the holes in the bags are happening at the pet store.


Thank you so much for the reply... That is very valuable information to me!

Also I just wanted to say the holes are very hard to spot... Are all you guys sure you are not just missing it sometimes?

I contacted Orijen main office in Canada... They responded that their food is NOT always vaccum packed... So their product does often have air in it... This process is not standardised.. (I am not speaking about external air with compromised packaging).

I think lack of standardistion in packaging is major issue in quality control.... For the end user can not distinguish good from bad...

As i said, I literraly check the food for 10 minutes now... From bottom to top, to make sure it hasnt been conpromised... I didnt do that before... And it was only after noticing a single hole that i started doing this


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## Lykoz (Dec 6, 2014)

Ok so I talked to my dog grooming professional who also sells Orijen

Very caring lady, always fund raising etc. for dogs. Has a lot of social responsibility.

The pet shop owner on the other hand is a businessmen.. Went through hard bargaining to get him down to 20% in price...


So I asked the Grooming lady if she has experienced holes in her food.. And if I changed to her would I have this problem. (I trust her more - but promised the other guy I would stick with him if he gave me 20%)

Her answer SHOCKED me! And it was VERY informative... And a warning to ALL...
Firstly she also offered me 20% on GOOD PRODUCT.... (Which tells me she is not financially motivated.. Also that she can financially justify that discount on a profit basis without selling me damaged goods)

Then she went on to say she has not had a problem with holes! However due to her fund raising for abandoned dogs, she also buys damaged products for a HUGE DISCOUNT specifically for shelters!!!!!!

So basically the pet owner is taking everybody for a ride at his pet shop buying damage product and pretending that's the way it comes and passing on blame!!! Ussually the holes are small and unnoticeable... My first red flag was when I saw a single bag... That I informed him and he didnt remove from pet shop! then when I went again and noticed two bags, the red flags started going up.

Food with holes is NOT a problem! The sellers don't need to buy from distributors! If they want it they get huge discounts.

This scumbag was buying damaged product and selling it for higher prices!

THANK YOU TO THE FORUM MEMBERS HERE IN GIVING ME VITAL INFORMATION THAT THIS IS NOT COMMON PRACTISE IN ORIJEN!

Your feedback helped IMMENSELY!


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## Pretzels (Aug 11, 2014)

Yeah, I order my orjen online most of the time and it always arrive perfectly vacuum sealed! I would personally would never buy a bag of Orijen with holes in it, even at a discount.
Its recommended (on the Orijen website) to use the contents of the bag within 6 weeks after its been opened because contact with air starts to oxidize things and lessen the nutritional value… so if air has been let in prior to purchasing via holes in the bag… you don't really know if the food has gone bad or significantly decreased in quality.


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