Small Business: Dopaw brings glamour to raw pet food for paws-itive health

Lou Anne Lowry, founder of Dopaw, has a Master of Science degree, specifically in animal metabolism and nutrition.

Lou Anne Lowry, founder of Dopaw, talks to Tom Raynel about launching into the competitive pet-food industry, and why a raw meat diet is healthy for pets. Each Monday, we interview a small business owner, which is now a regular feature of NZME’s editorial campaign On The Up, showcasing uplifting stories of success, inspiration and possibilities.

What is Dopaw?

We’re a raw pet-food business that specifically makes treats for dogs. Our aim is to bring a bit of glamour and sparkle towards the pet-food market.

We want to make treats look good inside and out. That’s everything from packaging to what’s inside the treats, to what it’s made up of. We use human-grade ingredients and test everything in the lab so that we can make the product as good as it can be for dogs and their owners.

What inspired you to start the business?

I did my master’s in science, specifically in animal metabolism and nutrition. During my degree, I created diets and looked at the differences in proteins and metabolism, and I really loved that part of it.

Over a few wines with my mum, we talked and realised there was a gap when it comes to raw pet food, which we’ve always used. As a customer, if you go to the supermarket or if you’re online, nothing ever stands out or looks the part when it comes to raw food.

I wanted to really change the way people see raw pet food, and if they can see it on a supermarket shelf and actually be drawn to it, then they’ll take a deeper look and see how good it can be.

Raw food diets are good for dogs joints, their digestion, their skin health, their coats and can help with allergies.

What is the raw meat diet, and is it safe for pets?

There are heaps of benefits to raw food for dogs. It helps their joints, their digestion, their skin health, dealing with allergies, it can make their coats shinier, and it can help with smelly stools as well. So it’s good in all different ways.

If you’re going to compare it straight to a processed diet, such as kibble, the way kibble is formulated is they cook out all of the proteins. It gets de-natured through that process, and so you don’t get as much of that good stuff as you would if it’s completely raw. The less something is processed, the better it is.

If you’re going to switch your dog from a processed diet to a raw food diet, you want to transition them slowly. That’s to do with digestion. If we were to change our diet straight away, we’re going to get an upset stomach, and it’s the same for pets.

Is the business self-funded, and have your costs gone up?

Yes it is, we don’t have any outside investors, so that makes it a lot easier to run things. But at the same time, we’ve got to be smart with what we’re doing. It’s become more expensive to make pet food, and that all comes from the supplier side. They set the price to get product in bulk, especially if you’re after a certain quality of ingredient.

We’re in the process of expanding, so very soon we’re going to be able to buy bigger quantities, which means a smaller price. But a lot of small businesses can only buy that product in smaller quantities, which means the price is going to be a lot higher. Small and large businesses just have no choice but to increase prices for consumers.

The demand for pet food has also increased since Covid. Everyone got pets, they were around pets more, and they wanted to buy different things for their animals.

Dopaw is a raw pet-food business, specialising in treats, aiming to bring "a bit of glamour and sparkle" to the pet-food market.

What has been the biggest challenge in starting the business?

I would say there’s a few that I didn’t realise when going into it. One is transport, especially for a raw pet food, because it has to be refrigerated. We’re lucky in New Zealand that we have NZ Post, which helps with that, but it can be so challenging at a time like Black Friday or Christmas. We’ve had to close the shop early because, if it doesn’t get there overnight, it’s not going to be great.

There’s also competition for retail space as a frozen goods company. The big companies like Animates and Petstock have limited freezer space, so competing for that is really difficult. If you’re dry food, there’s a lot more shelf space for you.

What would be your advice to a budding entrepreneur wanting to start a business?

I would say don’t be afraid. You might be scared of what challenges are to come but, no matter what, you’re going to learn along the way. Even the best business owners in the world, if they’re going to start a business, they’re going to have a challenge they’ll learn to overcome. Don’t be afraid to just back yourself and do it.

Do you have a small business story you want to share? Send your pitches to tom.raynel@nzme.co.nz.

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.