Homemade Dog Treats as a Business?

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Echo24

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I'm considering a career change as I would ultimately like to work for myself. Just wondered if anyone runs a dog treat bakery and could share their experiences? Would home made dog treats and biscuits be something you would be interested in buying? My plan was to do stalls at dog shows, country fayres and potentially farmers markets in "doggy areas". My OH doesn't feel it's a viable business (he used to work on a market stall) but I feel there could potentially be a gap in the market.

Thanks in advance!
 
there was someone near me (SE Scotland at the time) who was doing it, trying to remember their names! sold online and did farmer's markets. she did a lot of gluten/grain free stuff and also had larger biscuits in the shapes of various breeds which always seem to sell well. got chatting with them as they had setter with skin problems too..

this is them

http://www.gourmetdogtreats.co.uk/e...bjectPath=/Shops/syc7wmzcv6mk/Categories/Shop
 
Thank you Mother of Chickens! I wanted to do it for exactly the same reasons my dog is currently on grain free diet and I know someone whose dog has pancreitis so can't have anything with fat in! I was thinking of doing little gift sets for Christmas but some farmers markets stipulate you cannot resell anything, it all has to be hand made. I used to a stall in Bluewater that sold dog biscuits but they've gone now and I used to always make a purchase whenever I was up there! :)
 
Another site for you to browse, they had a trade stand at Wellington Horse Trials and my dog loved their treats. The New Forest is full of dogs and I think they sell some in the local pubs, I know one of the holiday cottages includes them in their welcome pack so a few more possible outlets.

http://www.pawsdeli.co.uk/index.html
 
A friend of mine (and my dog's!) does this. She says it's very seasonal - a lot more shows, fetes etc in the summer. She does cat treats too.
 
That was my concern. Although you could do Christmas fetes but treats don't really have a long shelf life so I'm not convinced it's something that would work through winter.
 
The only thing I would say is that there are already a lot of people doing this. There are often several different stalls at dog shows with home made treats. I think you would have to do something that little bit special to have a big enough turnover to make a living out of it.
 
selinas spirit said:
Would you have to have any sort of food hygiene cert or council checking I wonder.
Click to expand...

yes you do as I investigated the very same thing last year, endless form filling, getting a licence as pet food seller/manufacturer, insurance, storage and transportation facilities, inspection of premises by council and health and safety issues to consider.They even inspect how you package it!
You won't believe how strict it is, especially if you are doing it from home, in the end I decided it was more trouble than it's worth.
 
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That's a shame. I have done a food safety certificate years ago but suspect they will be pretty strict if you're doing dog treats as a business. Thanks for the advice!
 
An acquaintance does this in Surrey - very successfully and has an online business as well. It's extremely hard work. Not just the red tape but the baking, the very early starts and long days at shows as well as fulfilling orders online. Show stands cost a lot. She has a marketing background so has made a great success of it but it wouldn't be something I would do lightly as it's a very competitive market. You have to sell at quite a bit more than the pets at home for example prices and not everyone wants to or can spend more for quality. They are not cheap but my animals love them.
 
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