After 35 years of helping grocery stores sell products off the shelves, Danville resident Mike Wickman has gotten a close-up view of the hottest consumer trends.
Knowing that people want products they can buy online and have delivered to their door, Wickman is trying to help local brick-and-mortar stores – and pet owners – with a new dog treat company, Champ’s.
Champ’s officially went live on Amazon and hit the shelves in local stores this month, with big plans to get in as many local grocery stores as possible by early 2026.
It sounds like a big undertaking, but Wickman thinks he’s figured out a way to make it happen.
Wickman explained his plan and trends he’s seen in the pet food industry during a sit down with the Bay Area News Group.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity):
Q: Tell us how you decided to start a dog treat company.
Wickman: One day I was selling a pet product to a grocery store and looking at the category thinking, ‘it’s very busy; everyone is staying in their lane.’ Someone makes a chew, a biscuit, a rawhide, etc., but nobody is delivering an all-encompassing product.
So we defined the white space: the consumer is looking for a soft chew with high protein, low fat, no corn, wheat or soy. Everyone wants natural ingredients. Made in the USA. And is affordable. Then we created a brand and a product that delivers on all those aspects.
Q: What are the biggest challenges a dog treat company might face?
Wickman: All 50 states regulate and make their own rules. We have to register 50 times to sell our product online. We have to use a third party specializing in this just to manage this for us.
Q: How are regulations for pet food currently evolving?
Wickman: When you buy treats or dog food of any kind, you turn around the package to see what the protein and fat content is, or what kind of oddball ingredients may be in it. And it is so confusing and not regulated in any way.
So the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), which is the (non-governmental) FDA of farm and pet feed, finally came out and said, ‘this has to stop. We have to come up with something the consumer can comprehend and will help them make a good buying decision.’
Soon you’ll need a nutritional fact panel that looks exactly the same as the back of your cereal box or salad dressing. It’s clearly spelled out. Fiber content, protein, crude fat; people can look at it and go, ‘now I understand it.’ And AAFCO is enforcing it. Everybody will have to have this on their label by the end of 2030.
The big manufacturers want nothing to do with this. They’re happy with the chaos and confusion because people are buying their products. But we’ll be first to market with that nutritional label.
Champs Dog Treats on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Danville, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Q: How else will Champ’s stand out compared to the most popular brands?
Wickman: The bargain brands are basically using byproduct protein, grinding up anything they can except for meat muscle. They’re taking hooves and organs, anything to get their protein percentages up. But it’s bad protein.
The premium brands are using real meat protein, muscle meat, etc. Trader Joe’s, for example, they’re selling turkey meat, 100% dried turkey, so that’s 100% protein. But that’ll be $3-$4 an oz. to buy that.
We have 25-27% protein, which will be the highest in a brick and mortar store. None of the bargain brands exceed 20-22%, and those are byproducts. Ours is a real-meat protein. No byproduct. And we deliver it with 2% fat. Everyone else will be 8-30%. Some budget brands use corn, wheat and soy to keep the price point down. We don’t do that. We use all natural ingredients. Made in the USA. and we do it all at the same price point as a bargain brand.
Q: Sounds too good to be true. How do you make that happen?
Wickman: When we developed the recipes, our co-packer and manufacturing partner had a recipe and chemists on site. We work directly with them to say, ‘here’s our model, we want extremely high protein, clean ingredients, and the least amount of ingredients possible.’ Then we built the brand and skews backwards.
We want it as simple as possible for somebody to be at a budget brand to move over and buy our product.
Q: What are the current trends in the pet food industry?
Wickman: All consumers are going green. They want natural ingredients. And there are people who can afford to do so and people who can’t. There are other products selling cheap, cheap, cheap, and that’s exactly what you’re getting.
Affordability is another one. Convenience is next. That’s the home delivery. Nobody wants to go to the grocery store.
Champs Dog Treats on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Danville, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Q: Why is it important to you to have Champ’s based in Danville?
Wickman: I’ve lived here since 1979. Me and my employees are working out of Danville.
We’re trying to work with the mayor on a walk for paws. At Canyon Club Brewery in Danville we have Champ’s dog treats on the menu, so you can have treats delivered to your table for your dog while you’re enjoying a beer. We’re working on a Danville Livery deal. We’ve got treat jars throughout town at Norm’s Place, Primo’s Pizza, Yogurt Shack and Bliss, where you can also buy bags of Champ’s dog treats.
We had a test run at Grocery Outlet under a different product name last year and we sold all of it at a tremendous rate.
We just hit the shelves at North State Grocery in Cottonwood and expect to be at many local grocery stories by early 2026.
We’re on Amazon right now and selling nation-wide but we want to prioritize in-person sales.
We’ll be the one consumer packaged goods brand, maybe ever, to focus on brick and mortar retail.
Q: Why is that important to you?
Wickman: We want to be where people are shopping and where they’re enjoying a beer. That’s why our Amazon offerings will be different from what’s in store. We don’t want to compete with in-store. We’re driving traffic to brick and mortar, not away from brick and mortar.
That’s why you’ll find some of our 12-oz. bags in stores for $9.99 but the Amazon price right now is $19.99 for 16 oz., so you’ll pay a premium to have it delivered.
Again, trying to drive you into the grocery store.
Champs Dog Treats creator Mike Wickman on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Danville, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Name: Mike Wickman, founder of Champ’s Dog Treats in Danville
Age: 55
City of residence: Danville
Birthplace: Hayward
Family status: Two children, 26 and 28
Related Articles
85 koi are reported stolen from a California restaurant’s pond by men with buckets
Move over, fat bears: Denali puppies are new webcam darlings
Mountain View cat freaked out by bully cat next door
‘Jaws’ turns 50. It changed pop culture and our perception of sharks
One Tech Tip: No more lost cats and dogs. Use tech to track your pet
Five things about Mike Wickman:
1. First dog was a dalmatian named Kelly.
2. As a child, spent time learning how to show dogs with his aunt, Sandra Drake, who has 50 years experience as a judge for the American Kennel Club and the United Kennel Club.
3. Also loves horses and has been claiming, buying, selling and racing thoroughbreds for more than 20 years. Previously owned the horse, “Beachgrass,” who won a race at the now-closed Pleasanton Fairgrounds Racetrack last year.
4. An avid golfer who plays most often at Bay Club Crow Canyon in Danville.
5. Enjoys fishing with his family at Pinecrest Lake, where his parents took him fishing as a child.