Barking Heads

A fun natural dog and cat food that became a digital leader and driving force in the premiumisation of the UK pet food market.

Invested £5m in 2017, exited in 2021

Pet Food UK comprises three brands, Barking Heads, Meowing Heads and AATU, and was founded in 2009 by Paul Hunter, Dave O’Regan and Jim Moloney. They met and worked together in the pet food industry at Nutro, and Paul had previously run his own kennel business. Dissatisfied with the quality of dog and cat food on offer, they developed dry premium natural pet food ranges, formulated with the highest quality ingredients sourced from the UK.

With quirky names such as ‘Fat Dog Slim’ and ‘Purr-Nickety’, highly distinctive packaging, and a focus on quality ingredients, the products stood out against the established market. In 2015, the company introduced the AATU brand, a super-premium product following the 80/20 rule (80% meat, 20% vegetables), the world’s first single protein source dry pet food. Both brands were early players in the disruptive premiumisation of the pet food market that we now see as the norm.

When we invested in 2017, Pet Food UK products had 1,500 stockists in the UK including Pets At Home and Tesco, a revenue exceeding £10m, and sales across Europe that represented nearly 30% of the business.

They had not, however, yet cracked the growing D2C market, with only 10% of sales in the UK coming from digital channels. With our focused guidance on optimising customer experience, that shifted to c.60% of sales by the time we exited to Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN) in 2021.

We are hugely proud of the team and brands we helped build with Pet Food UK. High standards of product quality, innovation and sustainability, as well as the work done in recent years to build a loyal community of customers and partnerships with two leading charities – Dogs On The Streets and Pets As Therapy – have established them as a true brand legend.