Megan Austen likes to cook, but not just for humans.
Owner of Woofas, healthy treats for dogs and cats, and Hoofas, healthy treats for horses, Megan is now in charge of a family owned business stretching back more than 20 years.
Megan's mother-in-law began baking the cookies for the family dogs and eventually the idea grew after years of positive feedback from friends and family. Woofas was born six years ago.
While Megan confesses she is "sometimes" a good cook for the family, she hits the nail on the head with the canines providing a range of treats which are free range and cater to a variety of diets, including raw and wheat free treats.
"I spend a lot of time making treats, so I like to experiment around different meal ideas and play around with healthy food. I'd like to bring a lot more healthy eating into our own life style.
"It's great because it adds into the whole wellbeing. It's good to know what you're feeding your animals, like with us. A lot of the commercial foods have additives that we aren't really aware of."
The products are stocked around Hamilton at CareVets, Farm Shop, BinInn St Andrews, Animal Feed Barn, and Fountain City Saddlery as well as at the Hamilton Farmers Market and Tamahere Market. Woofas are also stocked at the Waikato SPCA and all proceeds from the sales go to the shelter.
With flavours such as kumara and salmon, or mint and parsley kiss crackers, it's a wonder how these flavours are thought up.
"You get inspiration from different things and you think these flavours will go well together and research the benefits of those ingredients, then try them on some willing pooches!"
The family has a dog called Moe, a cat, chooks, and a few cows to add in to the animal mix. But the equine side of the business came about when Megan was asked to visit Horse of the Year held in Hastings, with her stall.
"As a one-off I did a lot of research into horse treats and what they eat and did a range of treats specifically for that event and decided to just go with it because we were pretty proud of what we made and the treats out there were quite different. We've never gone out to be like anyone else."
Megan said the plan is to grow the business and stock in more locations around the country, but are already in Auckland, Tauranga, New Plymouth and are available online.
Megan will be back at the Hamilton Farmers Market from February 7.