Australian dog food company set for expansion

The company launched in March 2022, just at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic; it offers human grade pet food for dogs.

Its range includes home cooked products made from fresh meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds with no preservatives, along with freshly packaged meals, baked loafs, mini roasts, sausages, raw food and even muffins.

The first Pet Butcher store opened in a converted human butcher store in Adelaide with its second outlet opening in the same city in May 2023.

“You walk into the store, and it looks better than most butcher shops. The staff are all presented immaculately with name badges, The Pet Butcher aprons, white shirts, black pants, and the cabinets look amazing. We have gone back to ‘old school’ service.”

“We have almost humanised pet food. What is really driving our success is that we don’t add any preservatives and we are 100% natural,” Martin says.

And the company continue to collaborate with specialists on ways to improve shelf life.

Martin admits he has some “pretty big aspirations.”

Cat diets 

The company is looking to further expand, with a new 'human grade' facility incorporating baking and meat production to open in Hindmarsh, Adelaide in April 2024. It also intends to introduce a range of cat targeted recipes before the end of the financial year and to relaunch its subscription delivery service, which had to be put on hold due to the company needing a bigger production facility.

Its third store will open at the Hindmarsh site while there are also plans for a fourth site in Adelaide and a move into the Brisbane market.

“We want to get to Brisbane pretty quickly,” he confirms.

“We might try a ‘big box’ format there.” By that he means one big shop of 300 to 400 square meters with production on site and the opportunity to push out home deliveries.

He is also exploring ways to keep a lid on the costs of production as the company grows.

“I think our pet butcher model could sit inside every supermarket,” he adds. 

The Pet Butcher was recently awarded the title of Best Pet Food Company 2024 in South Australia at the Australian Enterprise Awards.