Telling the story of our dog’s dinners
Dear BIZ
We are two friends who set up Bella & Duke, a raw pet food brand, after our dogs both developed cancer.
Our food comes in a range of options including lamb, chicken and fish. The meat ingredients are blended with vegetables and fruit, seasonally adjusted to help prevent food intolerance.
All are gluten and grain free. We offer an online calculator at bellaandduke.com where customers can work out the quantity and type of raw food to give their dog, and we then deliver it frozen – a month’s worth and working out around £1 per dog per day.
We are doing well but would like to get our products out there to more dog owners. Any ideas?
BIZ replies
Responsible pet owners adore their dogs and always want the best for them, so you have a huge potential customer base.
Get in touch with breeders and clubs and associations for the various breeds, and let them know you exist and why your product is so good.
Contact specialist dog and pet publications and try to encourage them to feature your story and how you came to launch your company.
Offer some products as competition prizes. Think about sponsoring pet-focused events.
Make sure you use social media to help spread the word about your products and to plug your website.
Look out for Facebook groups and other posts for dog lovers.
Encourage interaction with satisfied customers to get them to post their views on your pet food.