The Innocent Hound celebrates 10-year milestone

Yorkshire pet food manufacturer The Innocent Hound has completed 10 years in business.

Inspired by their rescue lurcher, Bongo, founder Chloe Heaton wanted to create a range of treats that mirrored “their values that they hold when choosing food for themselves”.

Haeton said The Innocent Hound “set out on a clear path to use locally sourced, quality ingredients, and British meat where animal welfare was a priority”.

Although manufacturing was never part of the plan, when its original supplier closed after just a few months after launching, The Innocent Hound was forced to make a radical decision.

With the help of their local butcher, and an experienced pet nutritionist, Haeton rented a small food production unit where the company specialised in producing high meat content sausages that it air-dried using a bespoke drying system.

According to the pet food company, the “popularity of the products” resulted in a move to a bigger factory in 2017 where it is based today.

The Innocent Hound has proven itself to be “innovative” and “groundbreaking” as it extended its product range with a host of healthy and functional treats, as well as a “unique” air-dried complete food.

The food produced by The Innocent Hound was the first of its kind to be produced in the UK and for that the brand won the prize for new Dog Food Product at PATS 2019.

With a team of nearly 30 people and a recently completed factory expansion, The Innocent Hound “is set to continue growing its business with exciting new plans”.

Reminiscing on the start of her business venture, Haeton said: “When we look back at the treat market 10 years ago, it was a very different scene – today consumers can find a far greater choice of good quality and healthy dog treats, something that didn’t exist when we first started. We’re proud to have played a key part in raising the standards.”