For a company that’s only five years old, Benyfit Natural has been making waves in the UK and Europe pet market and is set for even greater heights. Sandra Pearce talks to managing director Greg Van Praagh about the business and the raw pet food sector
Greg Van Praagh remembers the very first dog show Benyfit Natural exhibited at when a dog owner came to the stand, in despair about his Boston terrier. Greg said: “It was the All About Dogs show and this dog had serious diarrhoea, so bad that the owners had reached the point of considering getting rid of it. I talked to him about raw food, gave him my mobile number and he walked away with a dozen packs of food.
“A week later his wife called me and she said, ‘It’s changed our lives. The dog is now doing solid stools, he is very happy, we are no longer fighting about the dog.’ It was so insane, so impactful and inspirational – we made something, they took a chance and they got the result. They are still customers today and that’s why I do this, for these sorts of stories.”
Benyfit Natural’s story starts with Greg’s dad, Ben, who kept Labradors as working dogs and entered field trials, eventually moving into training and breeding. It was while at stud one day that Ben got talking to another owner who was feeding raw and became intrigued. He read into the subject and was so convinced of the benefits that he started making his own raw food.
Soon other owners were commenting on the coat condition and health of the Van Praagh dogs and, upon learning they were being fed raw, began asking for the food as well.
The Benyfit team at Crufts 2019 with Love Island TV star Jack Fincham (third from left)
As demand grew, the Van Praaghs knew they were onto something and Greg joined the company. But it was a ‘meeting of chance’ that led to him talking to the owners of Billy + Margot, whose parent company is the RPFC Group, a large global pet care company based in Australia. Greg said: “We knew we had to expand because of the demand and we started talking to RPFC about investment, and when we got down to the nitty-gritty, the upshot was that RPFC saw the potential and acquired the business in 2018.”
RPFC, a global market leader in chilled and fresh food for dogs and cats, had previously acquired Billy + Margot in 2016. RPFC was in turn acquired in 2017 by a consortium of Chinese and Singaporean investors, who have plans for RPFC to become one of the world’s largest pet food companies with expansion across Asia, North America, the UK and Europe. The acquisition of Benyfit was a perfect fit for the group’s strategy to be the leaders in a new era of pet food in the fresh, chilled and frozen segments.
Following the acquisition, Ben, then aged 78, took a well-deserved retirement, but Greg is still at the helm of the business as its MD. “Since the acquisition, the business has not changed, and our core values have not changed. We are now nine months in and the whole experience has been incredible for the team,” he said.
“The investment means we can build up the team and its infrastructure, but I now also have Billy + Margot under my wing and can bring the two brands together. It’s a perfect fit as we are both all-natural and share key ethical standpoints.”
The acquisition of Benyfit has also meant that Greg now has a ‘wealth of knowledge’ he can tap into at the parent company. “When you are driving a business forward, there are times when you drive up a path and you realise you have to reverse, but now, when I am at a crossroads, I can go to them, talk about the situation and sometimes even come up with different ideas and solutions. I could not be happier.”
Benyfit Natural now employs 26 staff, with 12 on the factory floor, producing 150 tonnes of raw pet food a month, which will double to 300 tonnes by the end of the year. It will soon take on an additional 4,500sq ft unit, which will hold upwards of 150 pallets, in addition to its existing purpose-built 7,500sq ft premises – and that’s not counting six 40ft freezer containers.
Greg talks candidly about some teething issues, such as shortages on certain products. “I just want to thank all our retailer customers for their patience and support in this transition. You do not take a business in four years from an old bloke and a middle-aged man to a 26-head count and the volume we produce; there will be shortfall, it’s the nature of the beast.
Benyfit Natural – Turkey Working Dog
“Thank you for bearing with us. We value our customers hugely and we try to make everyone happy.”
Benyfit has moved to a seven-day production schedule, giving it greater capacity. “We’re not yet at full capacity, and we’re still training staff, so we’re going a bit slowly still. But we will support you all the way; we’re not going anywhere and we are working really, really hard.”
The whole journey thus far has been ‘incredibly exciting and revolutionary’, he said. “We’ve received very positive messages and the support that we receive about frozen and raw is superb; I could not ask for more.”
Core values
“At Benyfit, we innovate – we do not stand still and are always moving forward,” he said, adding that the company’s core values remain unmoveable. These values encapsulate all aspects from the quality of ingredients, traceability and ethical sourcing to the handling and labelling of products, to adherence and compliance with all regulations and packaging. To ensure consistency, products are produced in 200kg batches, with regular visual and temperature checks, and finished products are then hand packed before being blast frozen.
“It’s even about telling the customer the right message, how to handle raw food and what responsible raw feeding is. That is what Benyfit Natural is about, it’s bringing what has been a fringe sort of feeding, a lot of home-prepared diets, to complete nutritionally balanced raw food. A product that is safe for the consumer, easy for retailers to sell in leak-proof tubs, and sustainable,” he added.
Benyfit’s protocols are so rigorous that it can trace the ingredients in every tub (each is fully recyclable and made from recycled material) of food all the way back to the farm it came from. The complete meals also use a herbal mix so each recipe has all necessary vitamins for a complete nutritional profile – and there’s a team of nutritionists and a vet working behind the scenes. He said: “We are focused on the highest quality, which also relates to animal welfare.”
Greg has been hiring staff who come from human-food-grade businesses – he is determined that Benyfit Natural operates at the same level, if not higher, than its counterparts in the human industry.
He said: “The key message about raw feeding is to make sure you are doing it in a right way and a professional one, and that is an intrinsic part of Benyfit Natural. We have a benchmark, something to aim at.”
Crufts 2019 again, this time Greg is with Benyfit colleague Leanne Bingham and TV personality Joey Essex of The Only Way Is Essex fame
Greg recalls an incident where a West Highland terrier had such irritated skin that it made its coat look salmon pink. It turned out that the dog was reacting to carrots in its diet, which caused a yeast infection – and thus was born the idea for Benyfit’s Meat Feast range. He said: “We produced this vegetable-free diet and put this dog on it, and in six weeks the irritation had all died down.”
The bottom line, he said, is that Benyfit is not about ‘mincing stuff up, putting it in a bag with a label on it’. “Everything is done extremely professionally, with a focus on the manufacturing process.”
At the moment, Benyfit cannot meet the huge demand for its products, but Greg is resolute that he will not deviate from its manufacturing process to up production figures. While scaling of operations is challenging, cutting corners is not the solution, he said – it’s not the right way to grow a brand or business.
“We have to do this in the correct time scale and make sure the infrastructure is in place to do the right thing. It’s about putting your best foot forward and driving the industry in a positive way. This is not just shovelling meat into a mincer and shipping it out.”
Just for the independent
From a retailer’s perspective, Benyfit Natural has all potential requirements under one brand. “What we are is an inclusive solution for feeding raw food safely,” he said. “There are different strategies for feeding raw food and we put out products that meet those aims, but which also meet our requirements of sustainability, traceability and complete animal welfare.”
The specialist independent retailer has always been a strong focus for Benyfit, and the World Explorer range was launched specifically for the independent. “It’s only available to the specialist retailer and is a conscious effort to help drive footfall into the independent – we know things are hard on the high street. We were determined to create a range that will drive people in to look in the freezer.”
World Explorer comprises four recipes featuring ‘novel proteins’ – Italian Buffalo, African Zebra, Australian Kangaroo and Welsh Lamb – in 500g packs, and launched to the trade at PATS Sandown. It also has a ‘decent margin’ of £1.22 a pack.
Apart from this exclusive range, Benyfit offers an attractive minimum order quantity and margins. “We also offer favourable terms where others may not,” he said. “We work with retailers on in house training, and always welcome people to the factory for a visit. And I am always available to talk to retailers, certainly within 24 hours of their call.”
Greg and Marie Jones, founder of Billy + Margot, judge the Fun Dog Show with Clare Balding (right) at Dogfest 2019
Although Benyfit Natural does direct sales, this is not its focus and it does everything it can to support the independent – it always tries to convert its online customers by pointing out local stockists, and will never discount. It’s also seen just one price increase in five years, which was signalled way in advance.
He said: “We thought long and hard before putting the price up. And even then, we explained why and did not just put it up. That’s not good business, biting the hand that feeds – really, it’s disingenuous.”
And all this is just the UK market – part of Greg’s remit is to turn Benyfit into a global brand in five years. “Basically, we will be taking all of what we do here and taking it overseas, to drive frozen as a category into the world,” he said.
The world’s your oyster? More like the world is raw.
Despite such a full plate, Greg still makes time for shows, both consumer and trade – the more the merrier. “We exhibit at PATS. PATS is great, it’s one of those where you get double, triple bites of the cherry – you get to launch new products, meet new customers and talk to existing customers. It’s all about feedback.”
He’s at Crufts for all four days and says there is nothing better than talking to owners about their dogs, their products, the Benyfit brand and its values. “Dog shows are all about connection and maintaining that connection. Our customers’ dogs are the lifeblood of our business and we want a happy pet parent and dog. I revel in the pet industry; I feel in my comfort zone and feel honoured and blessed to be here.”
World Explorer range is exclusively for the independent pet retailer
Not all raw is the same
At the time of writing, 92 raw pet food manufacturers are registered with DEFRA. The large number is a concern for Greg simply from a quality point of view.
“There are some who charge 60p per pound of raw dog food and that concerns me because I know how much it costs to make, but if you are making it at this price and making a margin, what is in it? If you are sending it off for testing, that costs money.
“How are you freezing? Do you have supply chain traceability, all the things we benchmark against?
“As for retailers, if something happens, how do you handle it? Do they have a recall policy, what safeguards are in place?
“How are you freezing? Do you have supply chain traceability, all the things we benchmark against?
“As for retailers, if something happens, how do you handle it? Do they have a recall policy, what safeguards are in place?
“From my point of view, raw is not raw is not raw.”
About 10 raw pet food manufacturers are registered with the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association and abide by a code of conduct. The PFMA has also published new sector guidelines for the manufacture of commercial raw pet food, which promote best practice in the sector.
Greg encourages all raw pet food manufacturers to join the PFMA. “There is a lot of experience sitting around that table, from a raw food industry perspective, and we all need to pull in the same direction to produce microbiologically-safe pet food. All raw manufacturers need to be open; we are in a sector that is growing rapidly and we need to protect it, to get better and make raw pet food safer.”
