Dog tucker a winner for K9

CARYS MONTEATH/The Press

ANIMAL FEED: K9 Natural founder Geoff Bowers, left, and director Bruce Mayhew with frozen pellets of raw dog food based on the natural diet of wolves.

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Geoff Bowers spent three months monitoring the feeding habits of the grey wolf in the freezing landscape of Alaska.

The former policeman, dog handler and dog trainer from Britain examined the carcasses of dead moose to see which parts the wolves ate, how much they ate and what they left behind.

Bowers says DNA shows dogs are 99.8 percent wolf and their digestive system is exactly the same, so it makes sense to base their diet on that of the wolf.

The DNA of a wolf and a dog is as closely matched as black and white humans, he says.

It is from that research that Bowers has based a range of K9 Natural dog food. The food is 100 per cent natural, raw and made from beef, lamb, chicken, venison, salmon, and a small amount of vegetables, eggs and fruit.

"Have you ever seen a dog cook its food?" Bowers says.

The meat, which is sourced from Silver Fern Farms, Alliance and Tegel, is of the same standard that would be used to make sausages for humans.

The business, which has been going for three years and employs 11 staff, is now exporting to Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore. It is also about to launch in Britain and Australia and then China and the United States.

Turnover has grown 600 percent year-on-year for the past three years. And K9 Natural is reaching a company milestone. It is going to make a profit for the first time this year.

Its growth and success were rewarded this month when the company was judged Canterbury small-to-medium emerging exporter of the year at the 2009 Air New Zealand Cargo Canterbury Export Awards.

The company's ultimate aim is to feed one percent of the world's 100 million dogs, for which it would produce 250 tonnes of K9 a day.

Bowers first knew he was onto something good when he fed his special dog food to the police dogs he was in charge of feeding and training in Britain.

He saw their stamina increase and vet bills halve in one month and then almost disappear completely.

He could not find anyone to make the product in Britain because all food produced for human consumption was consumed by humans and there was nothing left for dog food ingredients.

"I knew it was never going to get off the ground (in Britain)."

So Bowers moved to New Zealand as one of the first police recruits from Britain in 2002.

Once in Christchurch, he joined the South Island German Shepherd League where he met future business partner Bruce Mayhew, who was president of the league.

Mayhew says he saw K9 Natural as a good opportunity to put a unique product in the market.

He also had the necessary business acumen after owning Bells Gourmet Foods and he was involved in exporting.

The men kept their day jobs for a while, mixing the ingredients by hand at the weekends, but after launching the brand and a website in 2006, orders started flowing in from across the world, causing them to quickly devote all their time to K9 Natural.

They set up a factory in Sockburn 12 months ago and outgrew it three months later. In an effort to keep up with demand and to ensure continuity of supply, K9 has subcontracted some of its manufacturing to Aria Farms in Hamilton and Freeze Dried Foods in Hastings.

K9's factory is certified by the New Zealand Food Safety Authority and the making of the dog food is done to the same standards as human food processing.

That means the dog food is not the cheapest and is comparable with the most expensive dog foods on the market, but their growth shows people are willing to pay the money.

The company has just secured an SPCA contract in Hong Kong and four veterinary clinics in New Zealand are also selling the food, along with supermarkets throughout the South Island.

The biggest issue for the company has been its fast growth and cashflow.

Both men invested their own money into the firm and have taken on additional investment from a Southland farmer and a Christchurch banker, who were both dog owners. They have turned down offers of overseas investment because they want the business to stay in New Zealand.