How to Start a Pet Gourmet Food Bakery Business



Career eGuides Marketing eReports

Virtual Face-to-Face

Released 04/01/2008

Pet Bakery
Barkery Gourmet Food Service
Dog Treat
Cat Snack
Pet Bakery

Breaking Into and Succeeding in Pet Gourmet Food Business
Starting A Pet Bakery
Becoming A Dog Barkery

I don’t have a degree in the culinary arts. I’m not even certified in a cooking-related field. Can I?

This is a very common statement used by home gourmet cooks. While becoming certified as a cook is never a bad thing, the truth of the matter is, number one, you do not need to be certified to enter in this industry. Number two, many great cooks learned everything they know from their own experimentation and learned knowledge. Anyone with the passion for pets and cooking can make this venture a success.

Animals do not have the same nutritious needs as us humans, so even if you did have a culinary degree, you would not necessarily be much farther ahead of the person who does not. They also have quite different taste preferences. Don't worry so much about the certification and culinary degree.

Knowledge of animal-related health and digestive system is actually much more important and we have talked to Anthony Zolezzi, a natural food expert and author of How Dog Food Saved the Earth.

I’m not a professional chef; I can only cook for my family. Can I?

The lucky thing about cooking for animals is that they are actually not as fussy as us humans for the most part. Check out those dog treat aisles in a pet store. They might not look or taste appealing to humans, but they are delicacies to our pets.

You may want to create a unique look to the treats, of course, but this will be entirely for the pet owners’ pleasure, who are the paying customers. Just as you care about what your family eats whenever you are cooking for them, a successful gourmet pet chef will care about what their customers pets eat.

Many credible businesses have been built out of one person’s pursuit to create something better, that nobody else has thought of. Don't hold off on the creation of your business simply because you do not have professional chef experience. After all, you are likely not going to need it.

I don’t know how to bake or prepare any special meals for pets, but I love animals. Can I?

This book is meant to give you confidence that you can prepare healthy, tasty, and nutritious food for animals without any particular skill or training. One of the most important things you will need for this career decision is a genuine love for animals. Every single professional we spoke to in this industry truly loved what they were doing and had a pure passion for the animal first and the business second.

This isn't to say that there is not a great potential for business growth and money in this industry, because there is. This industry caters almost exclusively to animal lovers who have a relatively high income, little time, and are willing to spend the extra money for a happy and healthy pet. Your love for these animals and efforts to create nutritious food is what is going to catch these customers attention and build your business up from the ground.

I don’t have a lot of capital to start a professional bakery. Can I start one from home?

Many pet gourmet professionals first get their foot into the door by working from home. With the availability of Internet, all you really need today is an impressive Web site to give face to your home-based business.

The Internet is known to give a big power to a small dog as it is hard to distinguish large corporations from a home-based startup, as long as the Web site is representable and approachable. In addition, starting a Web-based pet gourmet store is actually relatively inexpensive.

I don’t know any recipe for pets. Where can I get them?

There are recipes available out there that you should acquaint yourself with in the beginning, but in general it is always best to come up with your own creation. This will be the ticket to the survival of your business and a great way to keep your creative juices flowing.

Every professional we spoke to emphasized the importance of coming up with your own inventive pet food recipes and highlights that nobody else is offering them.

Where should I market them?

This will all depend on how much starting capital you have to work with. One of the most inexpensive methods to start a pet gourmet business is to begin with a Web site and local home catering. To further increase your profit potential with this business model, you can place your brand in a local pet store on consignment. To accomplish this, all you need to do is impress them with your product. In this scenario you are distributing your goods at relatively low cost to you.

If you live in a good market and you have a healthy capital from which to start, you may find that opening your own small store is a smart investment. This can sometimes give your product credibility. You will still want to try to get other pet stores to sell your product on consignment to help with customer awareness. A website is important no matter which path you choose. Many companies make thousands of dollars simply off the sale of products featured on their Web site.

Can I really make a living selling gourmet food for pets?

You would probably be quite surprised of the business potential of this industry. Imagine 75 million dogs and 88 million cats in homes all across the United States. Then imagine that every year these pet owners invest over $40 million a year just to keep their furry companions happy and healthy.

Translate that through the handful of custom pet food businesses and you can begin to get an idea of the potential that can be found in this industry. Animals are like a part of the family today, statistics show that 47% of owners consider their pet a part of the family, and what parent isn't willing to spend the money to ensure their child a better quality of life?

For those who are able to get their product in the eyes of their target customer and prove them a uniquely customized product over the typical large brand, they can offer products at twice the price and consumers are willing to spend the extra.

Large corporate pet food companies have traditionally monopolized much of this industry, but with the popularity of the organic and health conscious consumer, there has been a nice niche opened to the consumer who expects more out of their animal food than the traditional large conglomerate is unable to provide.

Statistics

As already mentioned, the pet industry is huge. Possibly in excess of 300 million pets are living in homes across the United States. It is estimated that by the end of this decade, we will be spending in excess of $50 million a year just on our pets alone. Pets have become dearest members of our family and we are always on the lookout for ways to further humanize their furry friends with unique products.

American Pet Product Manufacturers Association (APPMA)'s statistics collected through a recent national pet owner survey revealed there are 88.3 million cats and 75 million dogs kept as family pets. Pet industry spending in 2007 alone was US$ 40.80 billions. That's with a "b." And approximately US$ 16.1 million was spent on food alone.

Food is actually the second most costly part of pet ownership. It takes an average of US $217 per year for dogs and US $188 per year for cats. Surgical veterinary visits was the number one expense at US $453 per year for dogs and US $363 per year for cats. Animal treats came in seventh in these surveys at US $66 per year for dogs and US $40 per year for cats.

Pet Demographics

The gourmet pet food industry is popular everywhere, but there are specific regions that tend to spend the most on their pets.

• The greatest potential for customers is in the east, north central region of the United States, rather than the west, north central region.
• Most customers will typically live in larger cities and have large households, with higher than average annual household incomes.
• The average age of your target customer will be married, 44 years of age or younger, and have children under the age of 18.

Trends

A huge trend right now as described by the APPMA is the “humanization” of pets, which means that a lot of big names companies traditionally known for their “human” services are going to peoples’ pets now. Such companies as Paul Mitchel, Harley Davidson, Omaha Steaks, and Old Navy are offering new lines of pet products, covering a range of pet shampoos, clothing, toys, and gourmet treats and food.

This will help to popularize the trend for unique animal services and gourmet treats, as well as create some competition from the larger pet businesses. Luckily, there is plenty of money in this industry to accommodate a large number of newcomers.

The notion of “mere” pet food itself is becoming a complete and balanced diet that is actually quite similar in quality to human prepared food has become more widespread. Gourmet pet food is becoming a tasty treat and health conscious, quality controlled, specialized packaged item. Formulas are customized for puppies, kittens, reptiles, birds, fish, adult pets, senior pets, and pets with special needs and illness.

The focus is not only only good taste and quality, but also giving animals the same care as humans to allow their quality and quantity of life to excel past what it was a few years ago.

With the introduction of technology, many of today’s retailers offer lines of products that feed and water animals. Within this, there are also products catering more towards human desires, such as designer feeders, food, clothing, and foot wear. These are of less interest to the animals of course, but are quite popular with their owners. This also follows trend for day spas for animals that allow a pet to have a pampered day of meditation, yoga, gym workout, massage, purified water, and of course human quality gourmet meals, snacks, and treats.

This also points to the trend that animals are traveling with their owners more often now. Even some hotels are accepting them as guests with open arms, giving them separate robes, treat baskets, and breakfast/diner in-room dining options. This further increases the potential to sell branded food items to hotels and spas as well as doubles the market for treats, since owners will be looking for easy snacks to give their pets while out on the road. There may even be a calling for a pet supermarket in the not-so-distant future.

Looking at some of these trends, one might be tempted to see far they would go. People are benefiting from this mass pet hysteria for their own health. Yes, it would appear that animals are indeed actually good for us in many ways.

Health Benefits of Keeping Pets

• Dr. Karen Allen, at The State University of New York, has found that people with high blood pressure can receive dramatic reductions to their hypertension simply by owning a pet.

• Josephine M. Wills, Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition in the United Kingdom, has found that the impact of stress, especially for males, is substantially decreased for owners of pets.

• The National Institute of Health Technology Assessment has shown that pets decrease the risk of Heart Disease for pet owners by providing them with psychological stability. This sense of stability is what is believed to protect them from negative feelings that can lead to heart disease.

• The National Institute of Health Technology Assessment has also found that pets reduce doctor visits and lower health care costs, especially for non-serious medical conditions.

• Pets have also been shown to help fight Depression. They provide companionship, reduce loneliness, bring a renewed interest to life, and while bonding with their owner, foster a unique sense of security.

So, as a pet gourmet food business owner, how much you can earn annually?

Disclaimer: these figures are approximate, depending on the scope of business and number of clienteles.

$500 to $2,000 per month for a home-based business
$35,000 to $400,000+ annually for small to medium-size businesses

About the Authors

Jennie S. Bev is THE fashion, image and fun careers expert, whose reputation has been acknowledged by prestigious media internationally. She has been profiled and mentioned in Entrepreneur, Teen People, Canadian Business, Home Business, Dong (France), San Francisco Chronicle, The Independent, Daily Southtown, The Arizona Republic, Chic (UK/Asia), Fit (Asia), Femina (Asia) and Dewi (Asia).

Editor-in-Chief Jennie S. Bev was named an EPPIE Award finalist in Non-Fiction How To category for excellence in electronic publishing. She has published over 80 books and 1,000 articles in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany and Southeast Asia. She is also a college professor based in San Francisco Bay Area.

Co-author Eric J. Leech was born into this world without a GI Joe (with a Kung Fu grip) or silver spoon, Eric J. Leech grew up on the streets of the small town of Grand Junction, Colorado. After high school, Eric found his way to Colorado State University where he attained four degrees in Psychology, Social Sciences, English and Theater Arts.

Eric has since put every degree to good use with a variety of career accomplishments. These accomplishments include seven years as an actor/model and Production Assistant for various television and film projects. He also maintained a successful business as the co-owner of an outdoor living structure design company for several years before pursuing his full-time career as a freelance columnist/writer.

Since that decision Eric has been featured on such international magazines as the Circle (India), Urban Male Magazine (Canada), UNO (Philippines) and Coffee House Digest (International).

This 66-page instantly downloadable StyleCareer.com eGuide Breaking Into and Succeeding in Pet Gourmet Business brings you valuable insider tips, advice and suggestions not available elsewhere to help you embark on this highly lucrative career path. It is a great starting point where you would be able to find out where to find additional information required.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Myths, Realities, and Basics
I don’t have a degree in the culinary arts. I’m not even certified in a cooking-related field. Can I?
I’m not a professional chef; I can only cook for my family. Can I?
I don’t know how to bake or prepare any special meals for pets, but I love animals. Can I?
I don’t have a lot of capital to start a professional bakery. Can I start one from home?
I don’t know any recipe for pets. Where can I get them?
Where should I market them?
Can I really make a living selling gourmet food for pets?

Getting Started
Statistics
Pet Industry Outlook
Pet Demographics
Food & Supply Retailers
Trends
2007 Pet Product Trend Report
Health Benefits of Keeping Pets
Earning Potentials
Opening Your Own Store
Consignment
Catering/Selling From Home
Cooking for Pets
Basic Recipes
Ingredients
Ingredients to be Weary of
Equipment to Use
Home Cooking
Contract Packaging
Trainings and Workshops

Starting the Business
Business Models
Business Model One: Open a Physical and/or Online Shop
Business Model Two: Consignment
Business Model Three: Catering/Selling from Home
Must Have Equipment and Raw Materials
Product Testing
Giving Out Samples
Promoting on A Shoestring Budget
A Web Site is A Must!
Other “Piggyback” Products

Being Successful
Success Traits in this Industry
Trade Shows & Expos to Attend
Organizations

Success Profiles

This eGuide literally saves you hundreds of dollars spent on professional workshops and training and hundreds of hours of research. It will help you break into the career of your dream faster without having to repeat the same mistakes that most newcomers do.

You can have this exclusive eGuide right away by instant download for only $25.95, which you will earn many times over with your first paid job. This special low discount price is reserved for today, Saturday, 13-Mar-2010 18:19:36 PST only. (Regular price: $35.95)

Breaking Into and Succeeding
as in Pet Gourmet Food
66 Pages
Regular Price: $35.95
Sale Price: $25.95

IMPORTANT NOTICE:
If you pay by eCheck via PayPal, it will take 3-4 days for it to be cleared by the bank. You will be sent the automatically-generated download link upon clearing of your eCheck.

The fastest way to enjoy your eGuide is by paying with credit card (the download link will be sent to you immediately without any delay).

Ordering from us is completely safe and secure as we have partnered with two of the most trusted names in providing utmost security to the e-commerce industry: PayPal and E-Junkie.

Within minutes of the approved payment, you will receive an e-mail containing the link where you can download your order.

*Please note that when you place an order on our website, your download link is sent to the email address that PayPal has for you on file.

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED

Satisfaction Guaranteed: You've got nothing to lose.
You have 10 days to review your eGuide. If you're not satisfied for any reason, contact us via this form for full credit that can be applied against future purchases. Due to the nature of digital info products, we cannot provide any refund.

Read your new eGuide with