'Never had exposure like this': Manitoba business has product featured in Grammy gift bags

Taylor Swift won awards and announced a new album, Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs joined forces to sing ‘Fast Cars’ and Joni Mitchell performed at the Grammy Awards for the first time.

However, there was also a Manitoba business connection during music’s biggest night.

Presenters and performers at the Grammy’s receive gift bags littered with products from a variety of companies. One of those companies for the 2024 rendition was Smack – a Manitoba-based pet food.

“As part of our growth and a part of launching some new products, we’re thinking about how to gain some more awareness of our product. So we reached out to the company that was helping organize these Grammy gift bags and we shared our story and they were pretty interested,” said Jonathon Giller, the co-founder of Smack.

The application to get the product into the bags was submitted in October and by January the company found out it would be included.

The bags had two different Smack products for the celebrity’s pets to enjoy – a variety pack of dehydrated dog food and an organic superfood botanical that can be sprinkled on top of existing kibble.

Michael Giller – Jonathon’s brother and the other co-founder – said the important aspect of their food is it’s made without any fillers or additives and the company focuses on using superfoods to provide the best possible ingredients for furry family members.

“These ingredients provide a whole food, bioavailable nutrition to dogs, so they can get all of the minerals that they need,” said Michael.

The brothers said it was exciting to be able to get their product into the hands of some of the biggest names in the music industry.

“We’re a family-run business, never had exposure like this. So, hopefully we can create some more awareness about what we’re doing and more awareness about the importance of nutrition for our pet companions.”

While they haven’t heard much feedback yet, the brothers plan to enter the products into other gift bags for events in the future.