Home-cooked dogfood company Different Dog raises £10m

Fresh dogfood company Different Dog has raised £10m to open a new site for producing its “hand-cooked, human-grade meals”.

Husband-and-wife duo Charlie and Alex Thurstan started the company in 2017 after growing frustrated with the “mass-produced, highly processed nature of petfood”.

It offers a personalised subscription service with a tailored meal plan for each dog based on its age, breed, activity level and dietary needs.

The £10m will be used to build a new “state-of-the-art facility” in Telford, the ‘dog capital of the UK’. The city has the highest density of dogs in the country – 8.2 per 20 people, according to a recent study.

Different Dog will also put some money into a new marketing campaign and hiring more staff.

The company does not publish its annual sales figures but said its revenue had doubled for five consecutive years. It said it employed around 100 people.

One of its major investors is Charlie Oscar Group, a growth consultancy that has worked with brands including Lucky Saint, Gymshark and Neom.

Its founder, James Connelly, said: “Different Dog is leading the way in pet nutrition, offering a fresh high-quality alternative to traditional petfood.

“With the growing demand for higher-quality, more nutritious options for pets, we’re excited to support the team as they scale their operations and bring their innovative approach to even more dog owners.”

Different Dog says it creates new recipes every week, cooking the dogfood gently in a pan “just like you would at home, which makes it more digestible and delicious”.

Alex Thurstan, co-founder of Different Dog, said: “More and more owners are seeking healthier options for their dogs, and seeing clear benefits from feeding hand-cooked fresh food. We’re delighted that this investment will help us take things to the next level and change even more dogs’ lives.”

The UK is home to more than 13 million pet dogs, according to a recent study published in Scientific Reports, four million more than previously estimated. Brits spent over £3.7bn on petcare last year, according to NIQ.