Sheffield-based retail analyst Owen Passey has seen a dramatic rise in interest in his SmartBarf dehydrated powder which can be used to supplement a raw food diet.

This week Owen explains the benefits of the product and why it has a growing fan base.

SmartBarf was developed for those raw feeders who find it difficult to prepare a sufficiently varied mix of vegetables and supplements in small quantities. It also saves time and effort for those who require large quantities on a daily basis.

How did SmartBarf come about?

Having been introduced to raw feeding in about 1990, I used to spend an evening once a month making up ready meals. This involved trips to butchers, fishmongers and greengrocers and processing my purchases in blenders, mincers and juicers.

When I got a second dog I had to carry this out every fortnight - my wife wasn't happy with the mess and I kept burning out the motors in our kitchen appliances! I was committed to including fruit and vegetables with their meats and carcasses and knew that I had to find an alternative.

I dabbled in sprouting seeds but didn't feel they added enough in the way of nutrients for the effort involved and then, in about 1995, I had my eureka moment – dehydrated ingredients.

I developed a recipe that I was happy with and which contained a good mix of different fruits and vegetables and it looked attractive as you could see the individual ingredients.

The current recipe is a powder as all raw feeders will tell you that plant matter has to be finely chopped if a dog is to absorb the nutrients. While the product was primarily for my own dogs I did start to sell bags to friends and family and even set up a web site to promote it under the name SmartBarf.

However, I had to cease production as some ingredients became unavailable and I felt the product no longer contained a good range of fruits, greens and root crops.

For a while I reverted to just a meat, bone and offal diet but couldn't shake the belief I had in the power of plants to add vital vitamins and necessary nutrients to an already good diet.

I trawled the internet, visited trade shows, spoke to people involved in food production and used the contacts I had when I worked for a speciality food ingredient company and eventually developed the current, and much improved Smartbarf recipe. Some of the ingredients are fair trade and some are used in human foods. I have to buy from a number of different suppliers and before processing them together.

My first customer was the local barf meat specialist that I was buying my meats from. They are still buying from me, and in increasingly large quantities. This gave me the confidence to set up a new website that allowed online purchases...and it only cost £100 - the only debt the "company" has had.

Things were bubbling along quite nicely and then I had a surprisingly large order, one that was too good. I spoke to the buyer and we agreed on a smaller more realistic quantity, and two months later, they placed another order, and have done so every other month since. It was their first order that necessitated, and paid for, new and larger equipment.

As demand for SmartBarf has grown, I have had to invest in new equipment and in new methods of processing in order to speed up production. All this was achieved by reinvesting the income that the hobby business was generating.

With sales to vets, breeders and retailers coming in and an invitation to a Pets at Home Innovation Day, I decided to enter a Business Competition run by our regional newspaper. The judges included a banker, the business editor and a senior officer of the Chamber of Commerce and they felt that SmartBarf showed the greatest promise. With this backing and having won a mentor for a year, I decided I had to take the business to the next level and made it a limited company during 2013.

Around this time I also developed a new website that now encompassed social networks as this is an important resource for the raw feeding community.

Since changing the packaging, we have taken on more stockists which should result in significant growth. We also have samples out with other major players in the raw feeding community.

What are is background?

I studied pharmacy in Aberdeen and this included pharmacognosy, the study of medicines derived from natural sources which clearly has similarities with the use of nutrient rich plants as a source of vitamins and minerals in food. I also had many years working for speciality chemical companies where researching new suppliers was an important requirement. More recently I have been employed as a data and forecasting analyst.

 
Is this now your full-time job?

At present, I run SmartBarf UK Ltd while employed as an analyst for a major retailer

 
How would you describe your business?

We are a one-product company manufacturing a natural multi-ingredient supplement aimed at dogs on a raw diet (barf).

Where do you sell your products?

SmartBarf is available from our own web site (www.SmartBarf.co.uk) and from a small number of retailers. We have new retailers lined up. The retailers who do best with our product are businesses (including a vets' practice) that believe whole heartedly in natural feeding methods.

Are there more products on the way?

We have an idea of where we want to take SmartBarf and it will involve developing the product.

For more information visit www.SmartBarf.co.uk