Firm makes dog food of its crowdsourcing target
WELSH entrepreneur Dylan Watkins, who turned down funding when appearing on TV show Dragon’s Den, has smashed a crowdsourcing funding target for his business providing a range of raw food recipes for dogs.
Having turned down investment opportunities from four of the Dragons, including a £60,000 offer investment from Deborah Meaden, founders of Poppy’s Picnic, Mr Watkins who is from Newtown in Powys, and Louise Mackintosh from London, have successfully crowdsourced £600,000 for their business – exceeding the £350,000 target.
The money will be used to develop more recipes (including a new range for cats) and will help to fund their ambitious expansion plans for the Wiltshire-based business.
The business partners gave up successful careers in advertising and marketing where they worked on some of the world’s leading global FMCG brands, such Kellogg’s, Birds Eye, Johnson & Johnson, Purina and Pedigree, to concentrate fully on running Poppy’s Picnic.
Mr Watkins came across the diet by chance when he wanted to lose weight and improve his own fitness and well-being. This led him to think about the food that he was feeding his pet miniature schnauzers, Poppy and her two offspring, Katie and Slipper.
Horrified by some of the ingredients that he found in processed commercial dry foods, he set about making his own recipes from his kitchen using meat from his local Wiltshire butcher combined with fresh vegetables.
When a neighbour started to notice the improvement in the condition of Dylan’s dogs, this sparked an idea for a business and Poppy’s Picnic was born.
Mr Waktins said:“We want every cat and dog in the UK, and beyond, to have access to the best quality raw meals – the closest to what they would eat in the wild.
“It is our ultimate aim to make the raw food diet fun, easier and more convenient for pet owners to follow in order to encourage more people to start feeding their pets in this way.”
Poppy’s Picnic has built an impressive team of experts around their brand including leading holistic vet Nick Thompson and nutritionist Moddie Lambert who have both been influential in promoting the raw diet in the UK.