INTHEBLACK February 2022 - Magazine - Page 54
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FURRY
REVOLUTION
STORY BELINDA PARKES PHOTOGRAPHY JARROD BARNES
AS HUMANS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THEIR APPRECIATION OF CRUELTY-FREE ALTERNATIVE
PROTEINS, LESLIE MOYAN FCPA ANTICIPATES A SIMILAR CHANGE IN THE MARKET FOR PET FOOD.
L
eslie Moyan FCPA believes there is a
revolution underway within the pet
food industry. It is being fuelled by the
humanisation of our companion animals
and a growing consumer awareness around
plant-based diets, sustainably sourced food
and alternative proteins. Moyan hopes to add
momentum to this movement in his role as
founder, CEO and CFO of Melbourne-based
TBH Pets, which stands for ‘To Be Honest’.
The accountant, consultant, academic and
entrepreneur has a vision to disrupt the pet
industry by converting the consumer mindset
to a healthier and more sustainable pet food
product through his start-up TBH Pets.
“We believe animals should not be
slaughtered to produce food for pets,” says
Moyan. “This is not sustainable or ethical.”
Together with co-founder and friend Blair
Triplett, Moyan set out to create a cruelty-free
pet food that was both nutritious and tasty, as
well as environmentally responsible.
EARLY EXPERIMENTS
Moyan and Triplett began their experiments
with dog treats, made using healthy, humangrade, plant-based ingredients. Then, they
began working with a more unusual ingredient
– crickets, which contain nearly four times
as much protein as beef, are much less fatty
and whose environmental footprint is tiny in
comparison to cattle.
The partners conducted hours of product
trials on dogs belonging to friends, relatives
and neighbours, always followed up by
interviews and feedback from their owners.
54 ITB February 2022
They also researched the pet food market and
identified their two key brand targets as female
millennials and the over-55s.
Moyan, who has held senior finance roles
with Citicorp Scrimgeour Vickers and PwC,
sees a real opportunity for TBH Pets.
“We’re on the cusp of a number of major
trends,” says Moyan.
“Sustainability is one, plant-based is another.
We have other ingredients becoming available,
one being hemp, which is an emerging trend,
as is insect proteins. The overarching trend,
however, is the increasing humanisation of our
pets.”
SCALING UP
The next move for TBH Pets was to move their
operation from the kitchen table to a small
bakery, and then to a larger facility with HACCP
(hazard analysis and critical control points)
international food safety certification.
They began with two vegan dog treats –
Nutritious Seaweed with Chickpea & Sweet
Potato and Superior Hemp with Quinoa & Carrot
– as well as two cricket-based treats – Organic
Cricket with Hemp & Camomile, and Organic
Cricket with Roasted Pumpkin & Almonds.
In addition to the usual channels, the
premium-priced treats – which retail for A$12
for 100g – are also sold through cafes, with
the hope that pet owners would grab not only
a coffee for themselves, but also a treat for
their dog.
With the business slowly building
momentum, the next step for the partners is,
rather unexpectedly, to take a step back.
“Blair and I, as the founders, want to replace
ourselves as quickly as we possibly can with
people that are more talented and better at
each job than we are,” says Moyan.
PLENTY OF CURVEBALLS
Since coming up with the business concept in
early 2019, the business founders have had to
overcome some serious obstacles.
The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the
face-to-face meetings with customers so
crucial to their product development. They
also underestimated how difficult it would
be to create an all-natural product with no
added fats, sugars or preservatives, but that
still appealed to the pets’ tastebuds. (They
engaged a chef and a vet to help.)
Perhaps their biggest stumbling block has
been changing the consumer mindset.
“Most pet ‘parents’ don’t realise dogs are
omnivores,” says Moyan.
“Persuading humans that pets can extract
sufficient nutrition and protein from a plantbased and insect-protein diet is more difficult
than we anticipated, so we are investing heavily
in education around this.”
BIG INVESTMENT, BIG AMBITIONS
The self-funded venture has seen A$100,000
poured into TBH Pets so far, but Moyan
believes the strong partnerships with online
retail channels and medium-sized pet store
chains will have the business making a profit
within months.
TBH Pets has an ambition to become the
leader in holistic pet products. The company