Help & FAQs - Frequently asked questions
Here is a catalogue of the most frequently asked questions and the relevant answers about Josera and our products. Feel free to click through our collection.
Do you still have questions? You can naturally also contact us by e-mail/telephone or via social media and we will be happy to provide you with help and advice!
Company
Feeding with Josera means getting “pet food with passion”. These words express our passion for the recipes we use to produce high-quality food for dogs, cats and horses. As a German specialist in first-class pet food, we can look back at over 80 years of experience and expertise. In 1941, Joseph and Pauline Erbacher founded a production plant for feed lime. With this they have laid the foundation for our company today. What many do not know: Our name JOSERA goes back to the initials of JOSef ERbacher Agrar.
In 1988, we thought: With this expertise and experience, we can certainly make pets happy and provide them with great petfood. More than 30 years of experience and positive feedback from our customers have shown that it works! Since then, we at Josera have been working with passion to develop new, innovative solutions for the well-being of your pets.
Our responsibility towards animals, people and the environment is always at the forefront of our minds. Animal welfare and the harmony between the pet owners and their pets are our motivation. Your pet’s health, outstanding taste, excellent digestibility and compatibility has highest priority in our Super Premium nutrition for dogs and cats.
In 3 words: *Avoid*, *Reduce*, "Offset*.
Wherever possible, we completely avoid CO2 emissions by finding climate-neutral solutions, adopting new approaches or changing old habits. Of course, it isn't possible to completely avoid CO2 emissions. But wherever emissions are inevitable, we reduce them to the absolute minimum. Any remaining CO2 emissions that cannot be avoided are offset through our climate and forest conservation projects in Tanzania.
To integrate these three principles in our everyday work, Josera has taken the following steps:
- Electricity generation thanks to the outstanding primary energy efficiency of our power facilities
- Product warehousing in high-bay storage facilities made from PEFC-certified wood from regional forestry
- Environmentally friendly movement of goods, and short transportation distances
- Sustainable building projects based on natural materials
- Environmentally friendly air filtration using a biobed
- Promotion of sustainable travel for all our staff by using e-bikes
As always, our goal is to be constantly improving, trying to take even more responsibility when it comes to the environment, animals and people!
If you would like to find out more, please visit our sustainability page: https://www.josera.com/responsibility/sustainability
When developing our packaging, two things are always super important to us: On the one hand, the bags used should naturally keep the food inside fresh, isolate odours and not become greasy. On the other, we want to keep our environment in mind at all times and focus on more sustainable ideas and solutions.
Our 15 kg bags are made up of several layers: The bag itself is made of paper and has an inner coating of plastic. This is essential to ensure that the bag is safe for transport, suitable for long-term storage and can guarantee the perfect quality of the food. Even the practical zip lock on some of our 15 kg bags is not yet optimised in terms of sustainability - but it helps our customers to keep the food fresh for their pet.
When it comes to minimising the environmental impact of our packaging, we are thus faced with a real balancing act: “As little as possible, as much as necessary.” Our product quality needs to be maintained for as long as possible and the goods need to find a safe way into households. And at the same time, for economic and ecological reasons, we want to continually reduce packaging material and use reusable materials. Where so many factors interact in a complex way, our only option is to prioritise goals. We have done this and in future we will concentrate on the recyclability of our containers when it comes to final packaging. We also want to focus more on the carbon footprint of the packaging materials we use and examine whether we can add the resulting emissions to our offsetting responsibility. We strive constantly to find new, more sustainable ways to do this, and of course we never forget what is important to you as the end consumer.
Feeding & Products
We offer a wide variety of foods with different characteristics, tailored to the different needs of our four-legged friends. With so many products to choose from, it can be difficult to find the perfect food for your pet.
If you have problems finding the right food, we will be happy to help you. By using our filter function on our product page, you can easily enter the requirements for the food or the characteristics of your dog and will then quickly find the suitable food. Not only does it allow you to select food according to the stage of life of your dog, but you can also use the special characteristics filter to find hypoallergenic or particularly compatible food with a single click.
If you still have questions, please feel free to contact us by email/phone.
Our pets are unique and have special needs. That's why we have developed the right food to suit all different requirements and age groups. We offer a variety of foods with different characteristics. This allows us to respond to the individual needs of your furry friend.
For example, we have developed our product Josera Hypoallergenic, which offers a tasty and complete alternative for many intolerances or allergies. In this case, we even use completely new protein sources such as insects, which can be fed to dogs and cats in a particularly compatible, sustainable and species-appropriate way.
If you have problems finding the right food, we will be happy to help you. By using our filter function on our product pages, you can easily enter the requirements for the food or the characteristics of your dog and will then quickly find the suitable food. By using the ‘Special Food’ filter, for example, you can find hypoallergenic or particularly compatible food with just one click.
You can also contact us by email or telephone for advice on food.
We have compiled a small list of the differences between our super premium food Josera and the premium food JOSI:
This is a question that concerns many people, because the health of their pets is paramount and the type of food they are given plays a major role in this respect! We have listed all the advantages of dry and wet food here:
Advantages of dry food:
- Very long shelf life. Due to the low moisture content and natural antioxidants such as vitamin E from rosemary, dry food has a very long shelf life without the need for artificial preservatives (approx. 12 months from the factory).
- Easy to portion: You can easily ration the kibbles with the help of a measuring cup or scales.
- Dry kibbles encourage your four-legged friend to chew, which is good for its teeth, digestion and dental care.
- “Extrusion” production process: By heating the product for a short time to approx. 100 degrees Celsius and adding steam, germs are killed and the starch contained (from the raw materials) is broken down. This makes it very easy for your four-legged friend to digest.
Advantages of wet food:
- Tasty: The high water content of the food can also be an advantage. Your pet will love its juicy consistency, which makes the wet food very tasty.
- Water supply: Pets absorb fluids directly through the food, which is a great advantage especially for four-legged friends who are lazy drinkers. (Of course, this is only in addition to the water that should be available anyway).
- For pets with dental problems, the soft consistency can also make it easier for them to eat.
- You can also “hide” medicines in food with a high water content.
The decision between dry and wet food is not always easy and is also very dependent on the individual dog. In general, it is important for your pet to be fully nourished and to receive a food that is adapted to its individual needs. Pay attention to the ingredients of the food and make sure your pet has enough drinking water. That way your dog will stay lively and healthy!
The feeding chart on each of our packs and on the product pages of our website will help you to calculate the right amount of food for your pet. Just click on the product you are interested in - you will find the feeding recommendation at the bottom of the page. All our products are complete foods that provide your four-legged friend with everything it needs. The quantities stated also completely cover your pet's daily calorie requirements. Please note that our recommendations are always guidelines which must be adapted to the nutritional condition of your pet. Just as with humans, every dog and cat has a different metabolism.
Whether you give your pet wet or dry food, it is important to distinguish between complete food and supplementary food. Complete food - as the name suggests - is designed to be fed on its own. It provides your four-legged friend with all the important nutrients, vitamins and minerals it needs for an optimal and completely balanced diet. This means that you don't have to give it anything extra.
Giving your pet supplementary mineral supplements or meat can actually have serious consequences - especially in the growth phase, it can lead to deformities of the bones, for example. An excess of fat-soluble vitamins (e.g. through vitamin preparations) can also be harmful to your pet's health.
If, on the other hand, the dry or wet food in question is a supplementary food, to ensure proper nutrition, your four-legged friend will also need other components. Feeding your dog or cat only a supplementary food can lead to deficiency symptoms.
And before you ask: At Josera we only offer complete foods (apart from our snacks and puppy starter, of course) that already provide your four-legged friend with all the important nutrients it needs to cover their daily requirements.
In general, there is nothing wrong with grain or gluten in dog and cat food. The most important thing is that the recipe is well-balanced and nutritionally tailored to the animal. Grains used in food are primarily a source of carbohydrates and energy – just like the following alternative ingredients that can be used in their place: Tapioca, potato, sweet potato or even peas.
As with all other ingredients in a pet food, dogs and cats can have an intolerance to gluten or grains. Some animals, for example, are intolerant to beef, pork or poultry. Any protein in the food can cause a reaction if an intolerance or allergy occurs in the dog.
Do you know that your dog or cat has an intolerance or allergy to grains? No problem, we have a range of grain free foods in our assortment, so there is something suitable and compatible for every four-legged friend!
We advise you not to change your dog's food abruptly, as this may cause digestive problems in sensitive dogs. Although these are usually only temporary, such irritations can be reduced or even avoided altogether by getting your dog used to the new food slowly.
Normally, it is advisable to have a changeover period of about one week, during which you replace the food step by step. In the first two days, replace a portion of the previous food with about a quarter of the new food. In the following days, gradually increase the proportion of the future food in the mixture until a complete meal with the new food is achieved. If your dog has difficulties with this, extend the changeover phase by giving it only small portions of the new food over several days and increasing this slowly.
We recommend feeding our food dry to your dog, which will encourage it to chew. Chewing is very important for the formation of digestive enzymes. Furthermore, the dry consistency has the great advantage of promoting tooth abrasion and thus minimising the risk of plaque and tartar formation.
If your dog is no longer able to chew the dry food properly or you would still like to soak the food, we recommend the two varieties Josera Festival or Josera FiestaPlus. When water is added, the food turns into a tasty meal with a delicious sauce that will convince even finicky dogs. When adding water, please note that this should always be lukewarm. Hot water can affect the nutrients and your dog may get scalded. Cold water, on the other hand, could cause tummy aches. We also recommend that you always prepare meals fresh, do not let the bowl sit for long, dispose of leftover food and clean the bowl regularly.
From the age of two to three weeks, a puppy needs so-called supplementary food, which is fed in addition to the mother's milk. Supplementary food is initially offered in liquid to mushy form and consists of highly digestible and well-tolerated food. Our Josera Puppystarter product, for example, is suitable for this.
As soon as the puppies are used to their first solid food, they can be fed our Josera FamilyPlus, for example. These nutritious kibbles can be fed soaked in Josera puppy milk or water, making the transition easier for the little pups.
Finally, from the 8th week of life onwards, a complete changeover to a so-called puppy food is necessary. The first solid food can also be fed soaked to start with, when the puppies are still unable to chew so well.
Young dogs are still growing and therefore need very specific nutrients, which can be provided by a specially adapted food.
We offer a wide range of puppy food to meet a variety of needs. You can find our puppy foods here:
Dogs should be fed puppy food until they are full grown. Depending on the breed, this is after 12-14 months. For large and giant breeds, they can also be fed the puppy food for up to 20 months.
Cats can be switched to adult food after about 12 months. Since adult dogs and cats ultimately have different needs, it is advisable to switch to an adult food depending on the breed, size and animal.
Quality
High-quality pet food must not only taste good to our four-legged friends, but also be digestible. That's why our high-quality recipes are developed by a team of nutritionists, veterinarians and agronomists. Our experts are always fully up to date and pick up on the latest findings of recognised animal nutritionists.
At Josera, we therefore do everything we can to produce nothing less than the best pet food. We do so without any genetic engineering, animal testing or artificial additives - but in a sustainable, responsible way that is good for our animals. We only use high-quality ingredients that are as natural as possible in our recipes and do not use any wheat or soya at all.
For us, the focus is not only on compatibility and best acceptance by the four-legged friend, but also on catering for animals with special needs. We address allergies and intolerances with our wide range of species-appropriate and optimally balanced recipes.
To ensure that the quality of our pet food always meets our own high criteria, we even have our own accredited laboratory at our production site. Here, around 20 food chemists, biologists and laboratory technicians work hand in hand and examine all incoming raw materials before they are processed according to the highest quality standards. In addition, they also check the outgoing products once again before they leave the factory.
We are also the proud holders of the following seals of approval and certificates:
- The IFS Food Standard is a standard recognised by the GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) for the auditing of food manufacturers. The focus is on food safety and quality.
- Ökotest put 11 of our puppy foods to the test, four of which received the test mark ‘very good’ - including our Josera YoungStar.
- The DLG is an organisation of the German agricultural and food industry. The DLG standard is intended to help adequately assess the sustainability performance of farms and their products.
We use different types of protein sources in our recipes to meet the needs of our four-legged friends in a species-appropriate way. In our dry food, we use meat meal because its nutritional value makes it very suitable for use in animal food. In addition to a high protein content, it also provides amino acids and fats. Our poultry protein contains dried meat, for example, but also offal and, to a lesser extent, bones, which are important for ensuring an optimal supply of calcium.
Meat meal is therefore in no way inferior to fresh meat in terms of nutrients and digestibility! Animals also find it delicions. We mainly use poultry, lamb and duck as animal protein sources, but we also have exotic species in our range, including insects.
We process dried animal protein in our Josera dog and cat food. This contains about 80% protein and fat. Fresh meat, on the other hand, contains about 80% water.
In the production of dry food with fresh meat, high amounts of fresh meat are often declared and also used in the recipe, which at first looks like an enormous amount of meat to you as a customer. But one must not forget that 80 % water evaporates during extrusion, which means that proportionately more fresh meat must be used to achieve the same effect as with dried protein.
Good to know:
The fresh meat from which our dried animal protein is obtained comes exclusively from slaughterhouses that also process meat for human consumption. Animals that are rejected by the veterinarian as unfit for human consumption after slaughter (e.g. due to illness) are not used in our animal food. We thoroughly test every ingredient - and thus also every meat meal - before it is released, so you don't have to worry about your four-legged friend getting food that isn't fit for human consumption or is made from inferior ingredients.
Here are a few tips:
- A cool storage place is best. The word “cool” is relative and does not mean that the food has to be kept in the fridge.
- Seal the food airtight and store it in a dry and rather dark place.
- Ideally, the food should not be affected by any foreign odours. Your four-legged friend has a very sensitive nose and foreign odours could lead to acceptance problems.
- Feel free to use a resealable feeding tray. But make sure you wash it with hot water before each refilling in order to prevent mites from entering the food.
As a family business, we attach great importance to maintaining long-term partnerships with suppliers who act in a similarly forward-looking manner as we do. The origin of the raw materials used also plays a major role. The majority of our raw materials come from Europe. However, this is not possible for all ingredients. For example, the New Zealand green-lipped mussel cannot come from Europe and the rice cannot come from Germany. Moreover, since our food constantly meets the highest quality standards, we have to think a little further ahead about buying regional products where this is necessary and ecologically sensible. We asses this ecological dimension by looking at the Product Environmental and Product Carbon Footprints of our sourced raw materials. In this respect, it is evident that it is not always the transport routes that have the greatest impact on the environment, but in many cases alternative forms of cultivation or husbandry are deciding factors.
We would like to explain this with the example of salmon: In this case, after the joint assessment of the PEF, we decided to use so-called by-products from Norwegian aquaculture. We know that aquacultures can have a major negative impact on the environment, but we now believe that preserving the biodiversity of the oceans by not using wild catches is more important.
We could go on and on with such examples, and the decisions in individual cases are definitely not getting any easier, as we are increasingly concerned with the upstream environmental impact of the raw materials we buy. We are, however, rising to the challenge and continue to work on ourselves, our products and the processes that shape our selection of suppliers and raw materials.
The meat used for our products comes exclusively from slaughterhouses. All animals delivered there are fit for human consumption. In the slaughterhouses, the meat is separated according to various criteria. First, the prime cuts (in the case of chicken, generally only breast and thigh) are separated and packaged for retail or further processed.
Parts that are healthy and suitable for consumption, but are not used in Germany due to low demand, are processed to make animal food. These parts include offal, necks, and to a small extent bones, but NOT feathers, beaks and claws, as these are very difficult to digest and would result in your four-legged friend producing large piles of faeces.
Animals that are rejected by the veterinarian as unfit for human consumption after slaughter (e.g. due to illness) are not used in our animal food. We thoroughly test every ingredient - and thus also all meat - before it is released, so you don't have to worry about your four-legged friend getting food that isn't fit for human consumption or is made from inferior ingredients.
In other words, the same criteria apply to the meat that goes into pet food production as to those that go into the food industry.
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