“An ice cream van gave me the idea for cooling dog treats”
Marie Jones, 48, is currently based in Burgundy, France. while living in the UK in 2010, she developed dog-safe iced treats and founded Billy + Margot.
The idea
✢
In 2010 I was working in sales in an office in Guildford, and in the summer an ice cream van would call most days. I would take my labrador billy into work with me, and behind my back my colleagues used to feed billy ice cream, which he adored. I was retraining as a nutritionist at the time and I was careful about my and billy’s diet. I knew that ice cream wasn’t suitable for dogs: it’s too sweet and most dogs are lactose intolerant. I googled “dog ice cream” and nothing came up, so I started to make my own recipes in my kitchen. billy loved the iced treats and so did my friends’ dogs. It was then that I realised there was potential in the idea.
✢ WhaT happened nexT
I spent nine months researching the idea. It was hard to find an ice cream factory that would switch to making iced treats for dogs – there were regulation issues, as different food standards applied to factories making food for humans, compared with those making animal feed.
In 2011 I hired a stand at a pet trade show in london, just to ask questions. I had no product, just the idea, and I got an amazingly positive reaction from everyone. I knew then, that it was viable.
I drew up a business plan, aiming to launch in march 2012 at crufts. sadly, in december 2011, billy passed away, so his little sister margot (also a labrador) became chief treat taster. to honour billy, I incorporated him in my logo: a butterfly on a labrador’s (margot’s) nose. I was rapidly using up money, so I applied to go on Dragons’ Den.
It wasn’t only for the money – I wanted to hear their honest opinion. I was delighted when deborah meaden offered funding and support, and soon after, billy + margot Iced treats went into production.
BreakThrough momenT
✢
Going on Dragons’ Den and getting two offers to invest. their belief in me was all I needed to know I was doing the right thing.
STeepeST learning curve
✢ complying with uk trading standards. no one had made a product like mine before – it was animal food but made in a human food factory. I was really lucky to be guided by a fantastic trading standards officer in winchester.
Where i am noW
✢ billy + margot was profitable from the start, but as iced treats are popular only in the summer, I developed other foods. after a couple of years we got to a point where we’d have to invest in a large structure and staff or be taken over. In 2016 we accepted an offer from the real Pet Food company in australia.
I’ve stayed on as brand ambassador and create new recipes. I now work from home in France, while travelling around the world to promote the brand.