Lucy Postins

Lucy Postins is a British-born entrepreneur and the founder of The Honest Kitchen, a San Diego–based pet food company that became the first brand in the United States to receive FDA approval to use the term "human grade" on its product labels.^[21] She currently serves as the company's Chief Integrity Officer from Rancho Santa Fe, California.^[2]

Postins immigrated to the United States from England in 1998 and spent four years in the conventional pet food industry at Solid Gold Health Products before founding The Honest Kitchen in 2002 with a $7,000 loan from her husband.^[6] She bootstrapped the company for nearly a decade before taking outside investment, grew annual revenue to $30 million by 2016, and in 2022 secured a $150 million investment from Monarch Alternative Capital.^[4][5] In 2026, she was named to Inc. Magazine's Female Founders 500 list.^[6]

Postins grew up in rural Berkshire, England, in a household that kept pets, ducks, and ponies and grew its own food.^[14] Her father was an executive at Shell Oil, and her mother was a stay-at-home parent who later became a librarian.^[14] She began riding horses at age five, a passion that shaped her academic path.^[2]

Postins earned a BA (Hons) in Equine and Business Studies from Moreton Morrell College of Agriculture, affiliated with Coventry University, graduating in 1997.^[14] Her third-year work placement was at a motor racing school, where she learned about selling sponsorships and met her future husband, Charlie Postins, an automotive sculptor.^[14] In 1998, when Charlie was offered a three-month contract in San Diego, the couple relocated to Southern California; the temporary move became permanent.^[14] Her specialized equine degree qualified her for a U.S. employment visa.^[14]

Solid Gold Health Products (1998–2002)

After arriving in San Diego, Postins joined Solid Gold Health Products, a natural pet food manufacturer, starting in customer service.^[14] Over approximately four years, she advanced through roles in equine and canine nutrition, marketing, and product development, gaining firsthand experience in the conventional pet food supply chain.^[5] The experience included a visit to a pet food rendering plant, which she later described as formative in her commitment to manufacturing pet food in human food facilities.^[21] Solid Gold was later acquired by Hong Kong–based H&H Group in November 2020 for $163 million, long after Postins's departure.^[14]

The Honest Kitchen (2002–present)

Postins founded The Honest Kitchen in 2002 at age 27, shortly after the birth of her first daughter.^[2] The company originated from a personal problem: her Rhodesian Ridgeback, Mosi, suffered from chronic ear infections and skin issues that veterinary treatments failed to resolve.^[6] Postins began preparing a homemade raw food diet, which cleared Mosi's symptoms within weeks, but the process left her kitchen covered in what she described as "broccoli and blood."^[6] She conceived of dehydrating whole, human-grade ingredients to create a convenient, shelf-stable alternative and borrowed $7,000 from her husband Charlie to produce the first 2,000-pound batch of a recipe called "Verve."^[6][19] Before Postins could place a test order on her own website, a customer in Virginia found the site and purchased the product — a moment she later recalled with astonishment.^[21]

The company operated without outside funding for its first seven years, during which Postins and her husband remortgaged their home multiple times to finance growth.^[19] In 2004, The Honest Kitchen became the first pet food company in history to receive an FDA Statement of No Objection allowing the use of "human grade" on its labels, after Postins documented the entire supply chain to prove compliance with human food production standards.^[21][14] Early retail partners included independent San Diego shops such as Noah's Natural Pet Market, Dexter's Deli, and South Bark Dog Wash.^[14]

In 2011, The Honest Kitchen took its first outside capital — minority growth investment from Alliance Consumer Growth and White Road Investments, the latter backed by Clif Bar founders Gary Erikson and Kit Crawford.^[14] By 2013, the company reported $17 million in annual revenue with 26 employees and distribution in approximately 3,000 specialty pet shops across the United States and Canada.^[21] Revenue reached $30 million by approximately 2016, with 45 employees and distribution in 4,500 specialty and natural food retailers including Whole Foods and Sprouts.^[4] During this period, Postins deliberately avoided mass-market retailers, stating that the product required knowledgeable staff to explain its value.^[19]

In 2018, The Honest Kitchen won a NEXTY Award at Natural Products Expo West for its beef bone broth product.^[21] The company opened a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Topeka, Kansas, in 2021 to expand production capacity.^[19] In April 2022, The Honest Kitchen raised $150 million from Monarch Alternative Capital, a New York–based firm with approximately $9.5 billion in assets under management, in a minority investment structured as a convertible preferred instrument.^[5][14] Alliance Consumer Growth and White Road Investments remained investors.^[15] The company achieved B Corp certification in September 2022.^[16]

Postins served as CEO from the company's founding until transitioning to the role of Chief Integrity Officer, a position focused on product quality, sourcing standards, and brand values.^[2] Will Lisman was subsequently named CEO.^[19] As of 2022, The Honest Kitchen offered more than 170 product SKUs across dehydrated, dry, and wet food formats for dogs and cats, distributed in over 6,000 retail locations including Petco, PetSmart, Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Target, as well as through Amazon and Chewy.^[14][18] The San Diego Business Journal reported the company was projecting $275 million in annual revenue for 2025, growing at approximately 20 percent annually.^[19]

Mentorship and Advisory Work

Outside of The Honest Kitchen, Postins works with primarily female entrepreneurs in startups and established brands as a mentor, advisor, and pro bono board member.^[5] She has described her entrepreneurial style as that of a "lone wolf" who built much of her company independently, and has said she channels that experience into supporting other women founders navigating similar challenges.^[21] She is also a published author of two books: Dog Obsessed, a lifestyle guide published by Rodale Press, and Made Out of Love, a cookbook of real-food recipes for pets.^[14]

Postins lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California, with her husband Charlie Postins and their two daughters.^[2] The family shares their home with Rhodesian Ridgebacks, a Border Terrier, a former racehorse, three ponies, and chickens.^[14] She also maintains a farm in Julian, California, in the mountains east of San Diego, where she raises horses, cows, and chickens.^[5] Postins is a certified reiki practitioner and volunteers with hospice patients.^[2] She has described the practice as providing "a really good reminder about the fragility of life."^[2]