Dog Treat/Bakery Business (Non animal by-products)

[shutcho]

Hi, ok so me and my partner and working on starting up a dog treat business from home. However theres some confusion as to what we're in need of... we've been pointed towards Trading standards, defra, apha etc and are still none the wiser what to do to get started.

We want to start out with just 3 treats, all natural, healthy based ingredients.
Non animal based by-products! Which to my understanding would require a lot less red tape to go through.

So what would we need to do to get started please? Any information is much appreciated!

Currently what we understand so far is this:

- Register the business, name etc.
- Get insurance.
- Send samples off to get tested.
- Print nutritional and ingredients info for packaging once tested.

What we do not understand and have questions about is:

- Do we need to register with somebody and if so who?
- Because we are using non animal by-products, will all of this be easier to go about? Are there things we wouldn't have to do, compared to companies that use animal by-products?
- Are there less regulations with regards to cooking from home due to using non animal based by-products?
- Would we still need a kitchen inspection, stainless steel kitchen, separate storage and cooking space etc?

Many thanks and looking forward to the replies!

 

[WaveJumper]

Welcome to the UKBF a quick Google found this:

Rules and Regulations
Similarly to human food manufacturing, animal feed production is subject to many rules and regulations. Before you start a pet treat business, you must contact your local Trading Standards for advice, since you must be approved by your local authority before you begin operating. You can find application forms on your local authority’s animal health website.

You must also consider whether you will be using Products of Animal Origin (POAO). POAO products contain meat, fish, eggs, honey and dairy. If you aren’t going to use products of animal origin in your pet treats, you can start production as soon as you are registered, and before a visit from a Trading Standards Officer. However, if you are using products of animal origin in your pet food, production must not start until you have received your approval from the APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency).

You can also find all of the key legislation and regulations on the Food Standards Agency website.

 

[Mark T Jones]

One thing missing from your list is market research. It's a crowded and competitive space - definitely not an easy one to crack

Money spent on quality research now may save you a fortune moving forwards

 

[Chris Ashdown]

You would need fantastic looking packaging to stand out with professional designs and a large marketing budget
Don't forget that although sales at first would be very slow, you still have to be able to afford larger premises and equipment if it takes off, making a few meals as day at startup may rapidly grow to thousands a day requiring machinery and space

 

[fantheflames]

What @Mark T Jones mentioned I think is extremely important. You need to identify what dog owners are looking for in treats first, which could include health benefits, flavour or dietary needs. As a result, this could help with building a niche like organic ingredients or treats for dogs with allergies. This would also help with understanding your target market. Sounds like you're doing your research, so perhaps complete your market research first before moving on to the other steps.

 

[HFE Signs]

I like the idea, people do love to spend money on a special Dog treat. How do you intend on testing the market? As mentioned above, branding is very important with this, be sure to push your USP with your branding.

I think a pop up stall in a busy shopping center would give you a good idea of how well your product is received by the public. I like this, you could do very well if you get this right, good luck guys.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Although a saturated market it is also a very big market
Its been along time since I owned a dog and our dogs were only working dogs recently my daughter got a cockapoo . For some reason Baily appears to like my wife and me as we take him for very long walks !

One thing that I have noticed it is that is a much bigger "consumer" market than ever before because we used to just throw the dogs scraps
Dogging is a massive market now and if you get the marketing right you would be on to a good thing

 

[WaveJumper]

Mentioned above pop up stands in a shopping centres is a good way of starting out both from a sales and testing the market point of view. It is a saturated market now but in another live I helped a young lady develop her treats business with stands in local town Centre Shopping malls, she then got snapped up by a large Regional - Bluewater Shopping Centre down in Kent and never looked back........shopping malls can be a great place to test your offer without to much of an outlay

For the life of me this morning I can't remember the name of her business, but ill never forget her white van with poor prints all over it

PS
Don't forget us cat owners