As part of our build up to the Queen's Award Gala Dinner this September, we're talking to some of this year's international trade winners.

In this interview, we talk to premium cats and dog food treat makers Fish4Dogs.

What does your business do and where are you at the moment in terms of your exports?

Fish4Dogs makes and sells premium food and treats for cats and dogs.  We use only fish as our protein and our simple and balanced recipes have proven extremely successful around the world.  

Our treats also use very few ingredients, with fish being the main ingredients.  We use fish because it’s so healthy for our pets.  It’s a great source of Omega 3, easily digestible and low in saturated fats. 

Around 60% of our turnover is from export business and we export to carefully selected partners and distributors in over 23 countries.

How did it feel to win a Queen's award and how has winning one impacted your business?

Winning the Queen’s Award for International Trade was a great accolade for the business and our customers/distributors around the world.  It’s a very important acknowledgement of all the work we put in and it comes on the back of 5+ years of year on year growth, driven by export sales.   Everyone of our distributors shared in our success and the Queen’s Award gives us added kudos when talking to new businesses.  It’s a real badge of honour.

You’ve signed up for IOE&IT membership. What was the main factor for you in taking up the membership?

The membership gives us great networking opportunities but also support in export expertise (if we need them).  We are only a small team in Rushock and despite a lot of experience in the team, even we sometimes need additional support in our dealings with the complexities of international trade.

What’s the next big thing for your business?

We have two big challenges.  We are already selling in Australia, but we are working hard to build the brand and really educate our distributors sales people into the benefits of our food and treats so we can become a brand of choice.    We are also very soon to launch in America – a very hard market to break into, but we have sister company building their business model and 4 of our board sit on theirs so we are working very closely to open up, what could be a massive market for us.

You can sign up to the Queen's Award dinner for a fabulous celebration of the Queen's Award winners' achievements at the Royal Horseguards Hotel here.

You can also apply for an award yourself in this year's International Trade Category - more info.