Award Winners!
PET INDUSTRY FEDERATION MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR 2016
21nd November 2016
On 1st November 2016, Naturediet Pet Foods ltd was announced as a winner of Pet Food Manufacturer of the Year 2016.
The prize was presented by Chris Barrier of Red Dwarf fame to Carol & Robin Orrow.
Naturediet is a family run business which was founded by Robin Orrow after he studied at agricultural college. Robin’s vision over 40 years ago was to produce a healthier, more natural food for dogs than the contemporary feeds of the time. This vision initially led him to produce a raw feed which which was later developed into a complete cooked wet food.
Owing to increased consumer demand, Naturediet has recently undertaken expansion by moving to premises three times the size of it’s previous site.
Duty the decision making process to expand it was very quickly determined that Norfolk in the UK was to remain the home of Naturediet.
By expanding it’s operation, Naturediet has increased employment opportunities within the local area both directly and indirectly as 40% of raw materials are sourced within East Anglia including fresh vegetables from local farmers.
The new machinery purchased as a result of the expansion has enabled production to commence of a new smaller 140g duo pack. Naturediet takes the issue of sustainability very seriously and reasons that by offering it’s food in multiple formats should enable the consumer to purchase the product in the correct size for the breed. This in turn should have an overall positive effect on the environment.
Right from the design stage of the factory Naturediet’s carbon footprint has been considered, the factory is located geographically close to it’s main market reducing miles driven in delivery, the production line contains all the latest and most energy efficient machinery. Which reduces electricity and water consumption. The patented pack uses seventeen percent less plastic than some competitors trays to store the equivalent amount of feed and is in the process of implementing the cycle to work scheme.
In addition to offering existing products in a new smaller format, the new factory has facilitated the development and launching of a new dry food and semi moist treats to complement the wet food offering.
Moving premises provided further benefits beyond that of additional products, shortly after moving to the new site Naturediet invested in a new piece of CRM software and the staff training that was requires to use the software. This has greatly improved the customer experience by ensuring all correspondence between consumer and Naturediet is of the expected standard.
Naturediet is absolutely committed to quality, a testament to this is the Quality Manager who has been internally trained and then promoted to the role after originally joining Naturediet as an office assistant covering maternity leave. Almost a decade in this person is now trained and working towards ISO9001 and ISO14001 accreditation for Naturediet.
