Eco-friendly dog food chasing £2m in first year
TWO friends who saw an opportunity in eco-friendly pet products are now exporting to 43 countries and expect their food range, launched in the summer, to turn over £2million in the first year.
Co-founder George Bramble, below, said: ‘The business was launched late in 2009 with my business partner, Toby Massey. I was on a graduate scheme at a multinational drinks firm and Toby was a product designer. We were both bought up with dogs and saw an opportunity in the pet market in the middle of the recession – a market that’s fairly recession proof. We thought people would stop spending money on everything else, but they wouldn’t stop spending on their dogs.’
The business, Beco Pets, which has 15 employees and is based in Catford, South-East London, started with toys and accessories, ranging from pet bowls made out of bamboo offcuts to biodegradable poo bags and beds made from recycled plastic bottles.
Bramble said: ‘We launched eco food for dogs in the summer. We decided if you want to buy free-range chicken for yourself, why can’t you buy it for your dog?
‘It is more expensive, and we really struggled. For two years we tried to produce the food and every manufacturer said, “Why can’t you use intensively-reared chickens?”.’
Their cod and haddock recipe is Marine Stewardship Council certified, which means it is sustainably caught.
Now the recipes are being sold in around 450 independent pet stores, through website Fetch and Whole Foods Market.
Bramble said: ‘We’ve been doubling turnover year on year for three years.’