MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Pet food maker Aneisha Soobroyen
AneishA soobroyen, 31, launched health-focused pet food brand scrumbles in June 2018 and recently featured on TV’s Dragons’ Den. she lives in London with her co-founder husband, Jack, their cat boo and dog smudge. I’VE always been interested in nutrition. I was working in a grocer, selling healthy children’s snacks, but I never imagined I’d become something of an expert in pet nutrition, too.
That is until 2015, when we adopted Siberian cat Boo. She hit it off with our dog, Smudge — but she didn’t get on with conventional cat food, which made her poorly.
The vet gave us a probiotic supplement, but, when we tried to transition to a normal diet, we were back to square one. I’d spend hours boiling chicken and rice.
I scoured the internet for an alternative, gut-friendly pet food, but couldn’t find anything. Boo would try to eat Smudge’s food.
I knew we needed a solution for both cats and dogs — something that wouldn’t make Boo ill and which would give them both all the nutrition they needed. I also wanted it to be responsibly made. That was my light bulb moment: Jack and I decided to make it ourselves. So I quit my job and called on pet nutritionists. It took almost three years to come up with recipes we were happy with — and that our pets (and a panel of furry friends) enjoyed.
The products avoid common allergens such as gluten, dairy and soy, and have probiotics. Sourcing the ingredients and manufacturing recipes as locally as possible avoids unnecessary carbon consumption.
We’ve committed food and 10 per cent of profits to charities such as All Dogs Matter and the Mayhew.
We knew we wouldn’t be able to take a salary in the early stages, so saved to pay monthly expenses.
But it was worth it. So many people told us Scrumbles had changed their pet’s life now we’d settled their sensitive stomachs.
We’ve now expanded into natural dog treats, baked in eco-ovens, with plastic-free, compostable packaging. We have 16 products and are stocked in independent pet shops, a select number of Co-ops and on Ocado, Fetch and Amazon.
We’ve just appeared on Dragon’s Den. It was a slight test of our relationship — Jack turned down Deborah Meaden’s offer for 20 per cent of our company! But, yes, we are still married — and our sales spiked 20-fold the morning after.
It’s a joy to spend more time with Smudge and Boo, who are such an important part of the business.