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Family-run Taylors Pet Foods has set itself a mission: to educate as many people as possible about pet nutrition – and encourage customers to read the ingredients’ listings to know what they’re feeding their pets!
Taylors Pet Foods is located in the small market town of Attleborough, situated between Norwich and Thetford, in Norfolk. The Taylor family has a long history of serving the town and its pets – it all started in 1984 thanks to dad Anthony and mum Linda, with a small pet shop in the town and a market stall. Sons Michael and Richard were roped in and helped out in school holidays. Eventually business at the shop grew to such an extent that Anthony was able to stop the market stall to concentrate fully on the bricks and mortar shop. Taylors Pet Foods is now housed on a trading estate and occupies 2,400sq ft, with the big advantage of ample free parking.
The two sons however, did not initially follow in these footsteps and for 10 years Michael was a tyre fitter while Richard was a coachbuilder for 14 years. Then Anthony started to talk to them about online sales and wanting the business to be in the right hands when he retired, so Michael came in to start the ecommerce side. As he states on the website: “There was only one problem…I couldn’t get excited about dog food. Fitting tyres to a Ferrari Enzo on the other hand”…
The turning point came when a Bern Pet Foods sales rep came to talk to them about the company’s Acana and Orijen foods. The sales rep, Tan Nagrecha, ranked a selection of the dog foods they were selling in order of meat content – it was like a light had been turned on and they were seeing things for the first time.
At Taylors, education is a high priority. Here, customers can lift the flap to see exactly how much is in each product
Michael started reading and researching pet food and visited Piers Smart, at Scampers Pet Store, in Soham, Ely. “I’d spend hours researching,” he said, and he also started contacting manufacturers questioning them about their ingredients. For example, one product belonging to a major global pet food manufacturer lists an artificial preservative for the UK market but a natural preservative for the Canadian market. The letter he received from one of its nutritionists cited cost as the reason.
Richard added: “It’s our only cold-pressed food; it’s popular with our customers and gives us a lot of repeat business. So many customers have had dogs and cats with health issues, and it’s all to do with what they’re eating.
When they first started delisting brands, the family produced a leaflet explaining their decision and why they were introducing new brands. Customer reaction was mostly positive. Michael said: “Most realised and accepted what we were doing, especially when we showed them what exactly was in the food they were feeding their pets. People do not realise what is in their pet food because people do not read the ingredients list.”
Taylors displays the All About Dog Food rating for each dog food it sells
To help inform and educate its customers, the store now displays the All About Dog Food rating for each dog food on the shelf front. (All About Dog Food is an online advice site providing independent dog food reviews, feeding guides, ingredients glossary and stockist locator.) With cat food, they display the percentage of meat on the shelf front.
Michael said: “We had one customer who saw our ‘raw food specialist’ sign on the road and came in. She came in to check with us if what she was doing was right, and has since bought raw food from us.”
It might help that shop cat Rosie (owned by sister Samantha, who also works in the store) comes into the shop every day and is the picture of health, being fed on raw and high-meat content food and treats. And Rosie is not at all bothered by customers’ dogs – living with three dogs, including shop dog Jess has definitely helped!
Explaining the Taylors’ philosophy
Taylors Pet Foods offers a large own-brand range – its Premium dog food has a meat content of 26% but at a fraction of the cost against other brands so customers have a range of price points. It also offers Taylors Gold and Meaty Green, which have been in the family business for years and years. Michael said: “We still sell these to customers who have used the brand for years or because their parents used to buy it. They have a very loyal base.” So loyal that Richard orders a pallet of the Taylors Premium range every 10 days.
Own-brand products are a good way of keeping customers as the food cannot be found on online sites or in other stores, although they note that the more observant customer might notice the packaging is similar to own-brand products in other independent retailers! Which was one reason why they decided to launch Lovel.
It’s annoying when manufacturers make promises that they are not going to go into grocery and then later change their minds. Michael said: “If brands are marketed as specialist, they should remain specialist – the knowledge we have has taken us years. And then to see a manufacturer chuck something into the supermarket that’s specialist – they do not have the knowledge or experience to sell these products, let alone the time to talk to customers.”
Richard added: “If your dog has a problem, we have the solution. We have a list of products we can recommend, whether it is for weight management or for example kidney issues, where pets need a low phosphorus diet. But for medical issues, we do ask that customers check with their vets.
Raw sells very well, and the seven freezers in-store are always being topped up
“I also think that raw works so well for us because we are seen as specialists. Many people do not understand raw, and so we have to explain what ‘complete’ means – it’s not about just feeding a bag of mince or chicken.”
Today, the shop has seven freezers in-store, four more in the storage area, and sells Natures Menu and Nutriment. The shop has always sold raw, from the days when raw meant ‘tripe’. But since the raw pet food market has taken off, they’ve seen sales surge. Michael said: “People are slowly realising that dry kibble is not what dogs are supposed to eat. Occasionally people come in and ask ‘What’s that?’, pointing at our freezers, and we tell them ‘raw’. They have said: ‘Oh, I thought dogs are meant to eat kibble’.”
