(PRESS RELEASE) Clear Conscience Pet, the Most Awarded Brand in Pet Nutrition, has achieved their goal of being one of the first companies in the world to crowdfund a $25,000 loan on Kiva.org. Kiva is the first and largest global micro-crowdlending platform, and they have changed lives and helped small businesses by distributing over $1 Billion in loans to 1.7 million borrowers in 82 countries since 2005. Clear Conscience Pet is the inventor of products that have won an industry-leading 21 awards since 2012 for their holistically formulated products including the SuperGravy line of instant holistic pet food topper gravy and broth mixes as well as their Airy™ Bark treats and Trachey™ Chewz beef and lamb dental chews. Kiva,org loans previously were limited to $10,000, and Clear Conscience Pet was one of the first ten companies in the world to be tapped for the $25,000 superloan pilot program. Founders Anthony Bennie, winner of the Pet Industry Icon Award, and Amanda Malone Bennie, a 2017 winner of the Women of Influence in the Pet Industry Award, were endorsed for the loan by Kiva Trustee Pennye Jones-Napier, co-owner of pioneering independent natural pet care retailer The Big Bad Woof in Washington, DC. Big Bad Woof was named the 2017 Retailer of the Year for Environmental Stewardship by Pet Product News. We have known Anthony and Amanda for a decade, and watched them take their vision for a sustainable and thoughtful line of treats and SuperGravy food toppers to a national brand, said Jones-Napier. We were delighted to endorse this loan, since Clear Conscience Pet makes exactly the type of cleanproducts that independent pet supply stores need to keep them competitive today. The crowd loan faced a steep challenge as one of only ten such loans ever offered on the crowdlending platform. The pilot program was offered by Kiva.org invitation only, and rthe pilot program was strictly limited to companies with strong fundamental metrics of social media support, product integrity, and sustainable and responsible business ethics. We are so very grateful to the 183 lenders and 39 lending teams that supported our loan and to our dear friend Pennye of The Big Bad Woof, said Clear Conscience Co-Founder Amanda Bennie. We had friends, family, and colleagues backing the loan, saidCo-Founder Amanda Bennie. But the biggest surprise was that so many of our customers actually contributed quite generously. That is so humbling and gratifying because I really don’t think that many brands have customers who believe in their products and philosophy so much that they would lend money interest-free to their companies. Founder and Chief Nutrition Officer Anthony Bennie spoke about the impact of industry consolidation on smaller brands: As an independent company in an industry increasingly dominated by megabrands and supported by equity capital, Clear Conscience Pet has had to work harder than ever to keep growing. Independent manufacturers are under pressure, and this is bad for consumers and pets because it means more products but less true choice, said Bennie. CCP has invested heavily to develop innovative products that bring healthy joy to animals and trusted value to consumers. We can’t even express how much it means to us financially and spiritually to receive this outpouring of support.