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About UNDERSTOOD™

About UNDERSTOOD™

About UNDERSTOOD — Biology First, Made in India
UNDERSTOOD — made in Pondicherry, biology first
About Hero Image
Our Belief

India's pets deserve food
made for their biology.
Not their owner's budget psychology.

We built UNDERSTOOD because the answer to "what should I feed my pet?" in India was either "expensive import" or "whatever's on the shelf." Neither was acceptable. So we made a third option.

Sudhanshu Goyal — certified pet nutritionist and founder of UNDERSTOOD
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Founder Portrait
Sudhanshu Goyal
Certified Pet Nutritionist · Founder, UNDERSTOOD
"I became a pet nutritionist because I couldn't answer a simple question: what should I actually be feeding a dog?"

A client's Labrador was on kibble labelled 'premium.' Chronic loose stools, dull coat, low energy. The vet said the food was fine. I looked at the ingredient list. It wasn't fine.

I spent years studying what dogs and cats are biologically built to eat. Not what's convenient to manufacture. Not what markets well. What their biology requires. That knowledge became UNDERSTOOD.

We make our food in Pondicherry, at 50–75°C, with named ingredients, for dogs and cats that live in India. Nothing more complicated than that.

Certified Pet Nutritionist - formal training in companion animal nutrition
25+ years entrepreneurial experience across multiple industries
Formulated Dog-o-Meals and Purr-o-Meals from scratch - every ingredient chosen
Based in Pondicherry - where UNDERSTOOD is made
Biology First

Three decisions we make
before anything else.

1
The ingredient comes before the price.
Every ingredient in Dog-o-Meals and Purr-o-Meals was chosen because it belongs there biologically — not because it's cheap or available. If the cost goes up, we absorb it or we tell you. We don't substitute silently.
2
The temperature comes before the shelf life.
Air-drying at 50–75°C means an 18-month shelf life without preservatives. Extrusion at 180°C gives 24+ months. We chose the lower temperature and shorter shelf life. The nutrients that survive at 75°C don't survive at 180°C. That mattered more than convenience.
3
The label says what's actually inside.
Indian regulations don't require carbohydrate declaration. They allow "Meat" without specifying the animal. They allow "Oils and Fats" without naming the source. We declare everything. Not because we're required to. Because you should be able to read what you're feeding your pet.
UNDERSTOOD production facility in Pondicherry — FSSAI approved, batch tested
Facility Image

Made in
Pondicherry.
Not imported.

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FSSAI approved facility. Every batch is produced under food safety compliance. Not a home kitchen. Not a grey-market import. A real production facility.
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Air-dried at 50–75°C. The same equipment and temperature every batch. Not outsourced. The founder is present for formulation decisions.
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No import premium. Foreign pet food carries a 40–60% premium before it reaches your shelf. UNDERSTOOD is made here — priced for India, not for export margins.
Standards We Meet

Not just claims.
Third-party standards.

FSSAI
Food Safety & Standards Authority of India
What it means
Our facility and production process is licensed and approved under Indian food safety law. Every batch is produced in a compliant facility. Not optional for any food manufacturer in India.
AAFCO
Association of American Feed Control Officials
What it means for Dog-o-Meals
Dog-o-Meals meets AAFCO minimum nutrient profiles for both Adult Maintenance and Growth (puppies). Complete and balanced means every essential nutrient is present at the required level — not just the ones that are cheap to include.
FEDIAF
European Federation of Pet Food Manufacturers
What it means for Purr-o-Meals
Purr-o-Meals meets FEDIAF nutritional guidelines for cats — including mandatory taurine levels for obligate carnivores. FEDIAF is considered the gold standard for feline nutrition. The taurine comes from whole meat, not synthetic addition.
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Biology First
Formulated for species biology. Not for manufacturing convenience.
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No Synthetic
No synthetic vitamins added back. Nothing destroyed that needs replacing.
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Species Specific
Dogs and cats fed differently — because they are biologically different.
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Highly Digestible
Bioavailable protein from whole meat. Not processed isolates or meal.
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Food That Heals
Nutrition that addresses root causes. Not just symptoms.
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Served With Intent
Small batches. Every ingredient chosen. Every decision documented.
The Honest Part

Three things we
won't say.

01
We won't call it grain-free.
Dog-o-Meals and Purr-o-Meals contain oats. We chose oats deliberately — oat beta-glucan is a prebiotic fibre that feeds the gut microbiome in a way that most pet food destroys. We will not remove them to use a marketing term. If you have a dog with a diagnosed oat allergy, this food is not for your dog. We will tell you that directly.
02
We won't tell you it's cheap.
At ₹45 per meal for a small breed, UNDERSTOOD is not the cheapest pet food in India. It is price-competitive with other quality options when measured per complete meal — not per 100g. We give you the maths. We don't pretend that real ingredients at low temperature cost the same as extruded grain-based food.
03
We won't use "premium" without explanation.
Every pet food in India calls itself premium. The word means nothing without the explanation behind it. We don't use it. We use specific claims: 50–75°C. Named ingredients. AAFCO complete. 75% real meat. These are verifiable. "Premium" is not.

Start with the trial pack.
Judge in 21 days.

We Don't Just Feed Pets. We Understand Them.

Natural | Biological | Made to Heal

Less than 10% of Indian pets have their true nutritional needs met.

 

Today, kibble is the de facto choice for most pet owners, chosen for its 

promises of shinier coats, better digestion, and healthier lives. 

But as a pet nutritionist and pet parent, I’ve witnessed first-hand what most commercial food actually delivers: compromised health and shorter lifespans. 

I knew something had to change. 


This is how Understood was born.

 

UNDERSTOOD is India’s first natural pet food brand formulated specifically to address your pets’ biological and nutritional needs - rooted equally in nature and science. We use only natural ingredients, without synthetic nutrients, fillers, chemicals, or artificial preservatives. Keeping it as close as possible to raw and homemade.


Our gentle air-drying process, done in small batches, retains the natural nutrition of each ingredient. Each product is conveniently shelf-stable for busy pet parents and rehydrates in minutes at mealtime. And because we use special glazing techniques to enhance natural aromas, even picky eaters actually want to eat it.

 

The results are visible: better digestion, shinier coats, increased playfulness, stronger immunity - and therefore longer, more Joyful lives.

 

Everything we make is NABL lab-tested to meet AAFCO and FEDIAF standards

 

With us, your pet’s health, needs, and preferences are all…. Understood!