Innovation in action: The business behind Kitty Poo Club

When it comes to keeping cats and their owners happy, this local company is the cat’s meow. Blending innovation, sustainability, and comfort into a purr-fect formula, Kitty Poo Club has turned an everyday necessity into a thriving business. After all, as their slogan proudly declares, “your cat’s business is our business.”

Founded in 2017 by local entrepreneur Chad Kauffman and his dad, Porter, Kitty Poo Club offers convenient, disposable, all-in-one monthly cat litter boxes shipped directly to consumers—or perhaps more accurately, to the owners of the consumers.

At the time, Kauffman was already seeing success with his two other companies in the plastics industry, and he began wondering what might be next. That’s when his dad floated the idea of a disposable cat litter business. Initially, Kauffman wasn’t convinced. Though inspired by Michael Dubin, founder of Dollar Shave Club, and the rise of e-commerce subscription models, cat litter didn’t seem like a purr-suasive idea.

But being in the plastics industry, Kauffman had access to a lot of post-industrial waste from diaper cutoffs, and he began to wonder if the Super Absorbent Polymers (SAP) in those materials could be repurposed into cat litter. Still, the idea didn’t truly click until one night when Kauffman was refilling his hot tub and opened a package of spa supplies; a silica gel pack fell out. That’s when the light bulb went off, and he thought to himself, why couldn’t that be used as cat litter?

"There are three things to consider with disposable cat litter," said Kauffman. "The box has to be sturdy, it must be leak-proof and it has to be cost-effective." After sketching a few concepts himself, Kauffman approached McElroy Packaging to see if they could come up with an even better design. With an aqueous coating on the cardboard, Kauffman launched a Facebook ad campaign. "I needed 50 cat owners for a two-month trial," he said. "The products were free, as long as they answered surveys and provided feedback. I even drove around Wooster, delivering boxes myself for those two months."

After reviewing the feedback, Kauffman decided to redesign both the box and its coating. "Urine is made up of 95% water and 5% urea, which can penetrate coatings," he explained. "We tested about 50 different options before settling on a thermo-plastic tray, similar to a paint tray. The tray is then blister-sealed to the box."

Kitty Poo Club officially launched a Shopify site in October 2017. “We had 1,200 customers in our first month,” said Kauffman. “We also ran some Facebook ads nationally, since it’s relatively inexpensive.”

Originally, Kitty Poo Club hired high school students to assemble boxes after class. “We were producing one box every 12 to 14 minutes,” Kauffman explained. "Eventually, we developed a blister-seal machine, which boosted production to one or two boxes per minute." Now in their sixth-generation box, Kitty Poo Club began building for scale. "We needed it to be scalable to become more efficient," Kauffman explained. "Now, we produce 40 boxes per minute with just one operator."

With 100 million indoor cats in the United States and a $4.5 billion market, Kitty Poo Club is just scratching the surface. "We now serve 100,000 customers per month," Kauffman said. "All U.S. fulfillment happens in our 90,000 sq. ft. facility right here in Wooster."

With 45–50 total employees, Kitty Poo Club currently ships only to the continental U.S. "About 20 of our employees work in production," Kauffman noted. "Other positions, such as developers and marketing, are remote and scattered throughout the country."

Ninety-nine percent of Kitty Poo Club’s sales come through their website, with just one percent through Amazon. "Our Amazon offering is a standard box only, since we didn’t want it to compete with our online sales," Kauffman explained. "At this time, we have no retail presence, but we may consider creating an omnichannel strategy in the future."

What separates Kitty Poo Club is their offering of eight different types of litter. "With a large selection, we can cast a bigger net," Kauffman explained. "It makes it easier for someone to switch to us with a smooth transition."

Kitty Poo Club’s pitch is simple: one cat, one box, one month. “There’s no odor, no mess and minimal maintenance,” said Kauffman. “Our litter box is also designed to ship as itself, reducing the amount of materials used and containing only 11% plastics—roughly the equivalent of two plastic ‘Walmart bags’—making it much more environmentally friendly." Traditional litter boxes are made entirely of plastic, which can harbor bacteria and odors no matter how often they’re cleaned.

Kitty Poo Club plans to stay the course, grow their customer base and promote the value of their service. “We have become a one-stop shop for cat owners,” Kauffman said. “We offer litter box accessories, mats, scoops, cat treats, toys, collars, harnesses, grooming and wellness products, along with Kitty Poo Club merch.”

What started in small garages in Wooster has grown into a purr-fect success story, generating $30 million in revenue. From humble beginnings to six generations of innovative boxes, Kitty Poo Club has proven that with creativity, determination, and smart problem-solving, your cat’s business really is their business. It’s no wonder the company has become the cat’s meow of the disposable litter world, proving that even the simplest ideas can make a big impact.

For more information about Kitty Poo Club, visit kittypooclub.com.