BARF pet food supplier wins local business competition

A Sheffield-based dog food entrepreneur has won the regional heat of the Local Business Accelerator competition.

Owen Passey produces SmartBarf, a biologically appropriate raw food (BARF) product that emulates the nutrients dogs would ingest from prey, were they in the wild.

For winning the regional competition, SmartBarf receives three-months of colour adverts in the Sheffield region and a business mentor from the Chamber of Commerce. The company also goes on to a national Local Business Accelerator final, where it could win mentoring from TV Dragon Deborah Meaden.

Passey estimates that around one in 200 owners now feed their dogs BARF diets, which offers a potential yearly sales total of £3 million.

With the potential yearly sales figure, the 40 per cent profit margin from each 500g packet, the potential market size and the product’s shelf life taken into account, the competition judges had no hesitation in choosing Passey as the winner.