Oxyfresh Worldwide Inc. is on a tear in recent years with strong sales growth, as the 40-year-old Coeur d'Alene company that started out in the human dental-hygiene market has been repositioned as a pet care company.

Chief sales and marketing officer Melissa Gulbranson and chief operating officer Tom Lunneborg, who each have been with Oxyfresh for over 24 years, are leading the rebranding effort.

“We've just been growing it like crazy,” Gulbranson says. “The pet space is so much fun.”

As the Journal reported last August, Oxyfresh was one of six Inland Northwest companies listed on Inc. business magazine’s list of 5,000 fastest-growing companies in the U.S. for 2023, for the third consecutive year the company made the list.

In 2023, the company had a three-year revenue growth rate of 74%, according to Inc.

Gulbranson declines to disclose specific revenue numbers, but says the company is on track this year for “strong double-digit growth” compared with last year.

The rebranding campaign coincided roughly with the company’s COVID-era move to the Parkside tower at 601 E. Front, in downtown Coeur d’Alene, where Oxyfresh occupies half of the sixth floor. Prior to the move, it had been located in a prominent building in the Riverstone complex, northwest of the city center.

Oxyfresh got its start in 1984, creating a mouthwash for the human dental market, but now focuses on pet dental, grooming and wellness, and cleaning products, most of which contain a proprietary active ingredient, trademarked as Oxygene, that neutralizes odor-causing germs.

The company operated under a multilevel marketing model until about nine years ago, when it began to place emphasis on conventional brick-and-mortar and online retail sales.

Oxyfresh products now are among the top sellers in the pet dental category on Amazon and are on the shelves in more than 4,500 Walmart stores, Gulbranson says.

The company also recently announced a partnership with Pet Food Express, a growing chain of pet retail stores in California.

Gulbranson says Oxyfresh kept up with a surge in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Tom (Lunneborg) does a phenomenal job at logistics,” she says. “During COVID we didn't run out of product. He had the foresight to look at the supply chain and made sure that we had backup manufacturers and everything in line for us to succeed.”

Oxyfresh has over 30 distinct items for sale on its website, although it’s best known for an additive for pet water bowls that turns drinking water into a consumable mouthwash that freshens pets’ breath, helps fight plaque and tartar, and promotes healthy gums.

The water additive retails in some stores for about $8 for an 8-ounce bottle, which can treat about 48 quarts of water. A gallon-sized jug is listed on Amazon for $99.

Oxyfresh recently introduced a new stain and odor remover for pets and two new dog dental toys to its product line.

Its products are made by contract manufacturers throughout the U.S., and they are sold in 26 countries, Gulbranson says.

The company still makes a mouthwash for humans and distributes supplies to dentists and dog groomers, but its growth is in retail sales.

“All of our focus and all of our growth is in the pet space. Our branding is really edgy, and the team has a lot of fun with it. ... We just put our personality in the brand,” she says, noting that the team tries to load promotional materials with pet puns.

About two years ago, the company added the tagline “Damn good pet care” to its logo. “We really dialed that in when we decided to put all of our eggs in the pet basket.”

Oxyfresh products are advertised as nontoxic, cruel-free, ecofriendly, and made with no dyes or scents.

“We have our own research-and-development team,” she says. “We have patents on our dental formulas. Our philosophy is: If we can't give it to our mom or our dog, we don't make it.”

Oxyfresh has 17 employees, all but two of whom are locally based.

Gulbranson says the company has had no problem maintaining its workforce.

“We’ve have gotten top talent in this area, and I’m really proud we don’t have to go to other cities or farm out our advertising," she says. "All of that stuff is done in-house.”

She says the company is self-funded with no infusions of outside venture capital.

“Every dollar we make, we invest,” she says. “We run really lean. We all do a really good job of hustling.”

Gulbranson and Lunneborg have minority stakes in the company, and Richard and Kimmy Brooke are longtime majority owners.