Hi Everyone,
A big thank you for Subscribing to our Website and this month we are offering a 10% discount on our Halloween Treats for our loyal followers.
We have some spooktacular biscuits for your pup to enjoy on the day. The offer finishes on the 23rd of October, as we will be dispatching from the following Monday.
This offer is only available to Subscribers to VIPets Bakery Website.
Have fun everyone
Kindest regards, Tarnia x
Just what the Vet ordered!
Everyone likes to ask their Pet “do you want a treat?” we love to give out dog treats and chews because it makes our Pups so happy and with our new box, you can also give your pup some real life benefits.
Doggie treats can be used to learn new tricks and behaviours, sneak in a prescribed pill (shh), help clean your dogs teeth or aid digestion.
All animals have dietary needs to keep them healthy and strong. Healthy Dog Treats or “functional food”, are a great way of slipping a little something extra without feeding them actual vitamins or minerals. We believe that single-ingredient treats are especially gentle on your pets system.
So we have decided that from May we will be adding to our collection, a new Monthly Subscription Box with all yummy treats containing lots of Super Foods. This months box will have Turmeric, Spinach and Beetroot, they are yummy, but also nutritious biscuits. These are really convenient as they are delivered to your door and saves you a visit to the supermarket.
At V.I.Pets Bakery, we like to use as many of these Superfoods in our Celebration Boxes as we can, so now we would like to also offer boxes you can use as treats everyday.
Each Superfood Hamper will have at least 60 treats in each box, so you can treat them all month knowing that they are getting a balance of the Super treat, (vitamins and minerals) with their normal everyday feed.
And there is more, each hamper will have a recipe card for a healthy treat you can bake at home. This month is Sweet Potato and Coconut and we hope you give this a try.
So when your pup asks for a treat, with a VIP Hamper, you will be prepared with the “right” treat
VIPets Bakery is teaming up with our friends at the Puppy Post The Magazine for Cancer Awareness Month – March
Tons of Puppy Pawrents and their Dogs, as well as Small Brands, are gearing up to pull together to raise money for Charity. The community of small businesses will be putting on Live Events, Live Sales, Dog Walks to help raise funds. There is a Community Page on the Puppy Post that contains a Diary of these events and also a total of the funds raised from each of the business supporters.
The plan is to raise as much as we can at VIPets Bakery to send off to our chosen charity. The Bakery will be producing this yummy treat box for March and for every sale, the Bakery will be donating £5 of the proceeds to Animal Cancer Trust UK as everything raised will be going to support people with animals who have cancer.
We felt it important to let you see that every penny raised is transparent and the funds going to the Charity is receipted. Each and every order will get a receipt for your records.
We are asking for you to support what we think is a very deserving Charity.
As always, lots of love Tarnia
Bear with me! This post is partly a personal gripe, and part warning based on my own experience.
We humans like to buy cheap and pretty, quickly on a whim
I often browse online and check out what competitors are doing, which small business owner and entrepreneur doesn’t? Sometimes (often) I am shocked, dismayed and angry at some (not all) of the pet food, and treats being sold online. What is going on? It seems that there are a plethora of people who seem to think it’s ok to appeal to the push-out and saturate the marketplace with really nice looking, inexpensive treats. They use all the right emotive words and marketing hype to optimise the chance of us humans to buy without a thought about what’s in the junk they produce. You are going to be mortified at how many pet-treat manufacturers there are in the marketplace, who claim to be animal lovers, professional chefs, and care about what they are producing. When you start to dig deep and look at their labelling, the content of the product, they are a disaster waiting to happen.
Some of us do things properly with animal safety in mind
VIPets Bakery and many small producers went through, and continue to go through, many health and safety checks, we keep detailed records of ingredients and subscribe to regulatory body rules. It’s a bit like insurance – you don’t need it until someones loved pet dies. So yes, I’m upset by the plethora of unlicensed, untraceable sellers, non-regulated treats and cakes out there! A lot of Online sellers seem to have seen this ‘lock-down’ as an opportunity to be unscrupulous and fill the pet feed market with some potentially dangerous feed. I appeal to all suppliers, It is essential to follow the Trading Standards Regulations and have a Track and Trace method to be able to send a recall notice to all shops they have supplied to and get the products off the shelves and destroyed.
So what happens when you purchase from a Pet Treat supplier, who isn’t registered? How do you spot them and not end up with a poorly pet?
Ok, so we know that there are many pet feed manufacturers who are unscrupulous, blatantly violate the law, and produce unsafe pet treats and cakes every year. This means that more and more Pet Parents are at the mercy of careless pet feed manufacturers. An example is the latest product recall (3rd Feb 2021) from Asda, in respect of Pedigree Mixer Adult dry dog food and Chappie Dog Food, due to the products containing high levels of Vitamin D. It reminds us how thousands of pets each year get sick from slow food poisoning from the innocently purchased feed, treats, and other pet food. Sadly most of these illnesses will go unreported.
This guide will help you to understand what you should be looking for when purchasing treats and cakes.
If you cannot find this information on any of the products and websites then please do not buy them.
What to look for:
Do not fall into the trap that the treats or cakes are pretty and cheap, it could cost you your pet.
All our Furr-Babies deserve some love, especially on the 14th of February. So if you are looking for a cute idea for Valentines, we have lots of cakes and treats for your Woof’ly Furry Valentine.
There are lots of pets out there that have been helping people cope with the Covid Restrictions and feelings of loneliness. They give us unconditional love and want to please us.
We at the VIP Bakery think that because they have been our friends and our confidants, over this last year, they deserve a treat. So in return for the love we are helping you to purchase any of our products with a 10% Discount Voucher.
Just pop Valentine2021 in at the Checkout.
Kind regards, Tarnia
Just a quick update, to you all and a voucher, for all our Subscribers to use on any upcoming Halloween purchase. You can redeem HOWLOWEEN20 to get your 10% discount on the checkout of Halloween products
The boxes will be ready to purchase in the first week of October, with lots of spooky decorated treats for you. We will be partnering with The Pet Party Planners for this event, and they will be bringing lots of eerie Halloween toys to the mix. Would be great if you could give their Facebook and Instagram account a like and share.
The weather has changed here in Saltfleetby and we are seeing the first signs of Autumn. The trees are turning into the most beautiful colours, reds, purples, orange and brown, and the grass has tinges of yellow. This is my favourite time of the year.
We have reached a new business milestone 4000 followers and likes on Facebook and I am so grateful for all the support. We love to see all the celebrations and thank you to those of you that share that special day with us. The shares, they are also fantastic as this helps us get to more people who love their pets.
Organic Pupcorn is one of the latest edition to our range of treats, this is especially for the older pups, who like a softer treat, but can be enjoyed by all. We are also introducing a Biscuit Happy Birthday celebration box with a round biscuit shaped birthday treat, with a personalised matching bone and one of my favourite little pups with a beautifully decorated collar. The little pup biscuit has been an addition to all the orders we have had from last year, and I hope you all liked them too.
Side Oven Bakery is now our main suppliers of Organic Wholemeal Flour for our biscuit treats. We have been trying out a few new suppliers and this flour stands heads above some of the others we tried. The flour is very flavoursome, it has a lovely texture to it when rolling and end result is beautiful. Highly recommend you having a look at what they supply and their range of Organic Cereals look delicious.
We have been very lucky here in Saltfleetby, and have been welcomed to the Lincolnshire area, by so many lovely new customers. Safe collection is always available from the safety of the front gates as is contactless payments on our card machine.
The opening of the Bakery and Treat Shop has obviously been delayed with Covid 19, but we are hopeful that this will pass and the doors can be open to everyone to pop in and see our amazing shop.
Since our little enterprise started, I have been so lucky with lovely customers, we have had some scary moments with Royal Mail and their delivery times not being up to the normal service you would expect, but I hope our Customer Service was up to scratch with reaction times and replacements when necessary. Looking after our customers is very important, and we pride ourselves on listening to any problems and try to achieve a great outcome for the customer. At the Bakery, we are aware that things don’t always work out the way we hope, so we have a willingness to change, adapt, and change any processes going forward. To make sure we always get it right, we need and appreciate your feedback, so please let us know, as we are listening.
For the newbies who have just subscribed, a little about what we bake and whats in the celebration boxes. We only use the best fresh ingredients and we don’t add any preservatives to them. This obviously affects the shelf life, but as in any celebration, weddings etc, where you order goodies for the day, we don’t expect them to last for more than a week. Some of our yummy biscuits last for up to a month, but they are best kept in the fridge, again, only the best ingredients with nothing added to make them last longer. If you look at our cake, you can see its a proper cake.
That’s all for now, just a big thank you and a little offer of a discount on our products when they launch, look forward to your orders and even more so, looking forward to seeing the happy pets.
Lots of love, Tarnia
Hi everyone,
Firstly, we have been sooo busy in May, June and July, with lots of lovely celebrations, so a massive thank you to all of you for your support in helping us keep going during lockdown.
My lovely sister Beverley, was helping me throughout, and because she loved the baking too, I was lucky enough to get a lovely summer break for a week on the canals around Oxford and Reading, and it was so beautiful and peaceful around there. The weather was very kind to us too..
We have had some absolutely fantastic reviews, which is heartwarming, so a thank you to all those who took the time to let us know about your experience with the Bakery.
Some more fantastic news for us, as we were contacted by a new start up business, who are looking for the Bakery to supply them with cakes and treats for their Pet Party Venture. During our conversation, I obviously asked why we had been chosen over the many pet treat bakeries out there, only to find that the lady is a Veterinarian, and as a business, looking for suppliers, they had struggled to find a pet bakery that had all the correct statutory compliance for selling pet treats in place. There are lots of Pet Treat and Cake bakers on Facebook, Instagram and Etsy, but the majority, much to her dismay, had not even registered with their local authority.
The Bakery and shop is nearly finished here, just getting the signage and stockists completed and we will be ready to open to the public.
I thought that if I talk everyone through the process for Pet Treat Baking, this may help some of you who want to start a bakery, as its a little bit confusing, but there is lots of help from Trading Standard, and I am always available on the phone to give you extra support.
Setting up as an approved Pet Treat Bakery
Firstly, gather up all the information you can on what ingredients are the most nutritious for dogs, cats, or horses. We choose only the most Healthy Ingredients and only use Natural Colourants.
Next, try to find recipes that just use those ingredients, and then have a go at baking those recipes yourself using any cutters or plungers you choose.
If you find you are enjoying baking and love the results, try giving them to family and friends to gain some feedback.
The next stage, should you wish to sell them, is to get yourself registered.
The most important thing to remember is Track and Trace, if there is a product recall from any of your suppliers, you must be able to contact your customers asap, and you must have Public Liability to cover any claims.
We here at the Bakery, want to make sure that all pets are safe, so if you notice a Pet Bakery, on Etsy, Facebook, Instagram or in your local Market, and they haven’t got any of the above listed, you can give them my details and I am more than willing to help them get to a position where they are Baking and selling safely.
Sending lots of love to you all and please shop safely. Kind regards, Tarnia x
Firstly, a really big thank you for your support over the past few months, the Covid 19 Virus that has caused so much chaos and heartache over the past few months, is now hopefully coming to an end. and we can start to get back to some sort of normality.
On a personal note, as some of you know, I lost my lovely Dad to the Virus, and as he lived in Dorset, the funeral arrangements were very strange as we had to sit apart, and only 8 people could attend. This felt really cold, as we couldn’t hug each other, everyone was upset, and as such we couldn’t celebrate my Dads life properly. As a family, we have decided that we are going to have a get together for a memorial service for Dad as soon as we can when this is all over.
Also, I lost my beloved horse Sonic Girl to a hoof ailment, her pedal bone was pressing on the base of her hoof, she was in pain and it couldn’t be put right, so we had to make the very hard decision to let her go to sleep. What is really lovely is, as we are now on my sister Bev’s farm, we were able to make her a fabulous resting place in the orchard with all her favourite apples. I can visit every day and pop a Polo mint on their, and its a really peaceful place for reflecting on our wonderful years together.
Throughout all of this, it was being able to bake, which I love, and also seeing others happily celebrating their pets, that kept me going, it was so lovely and so special, and I thank you for that, it was just what I needed.
We were also kept busy with setting up the new Bakery Shop, and we have had support from the local traders as they were willing to work here as they could easily socially distance themselves, it was just a bit difficult getting all the supplies they required as most of the DIY stores were closed. Now we are seeing more of the suppliers opening again, we can hopefully start moving forward again.
The Bakery is going to expand to include Doggie Birthday Parties, Doggie Camping and a lovely place just to sit and enjoy your pups company whilst you enjoy a full range of yummy cakes and treats for yourself in The School House Cafe at Sturdys Farm.
We will have a shop with bespoke personalised gifts, lots of lovely accessories, including leads, collars, bandannas, pet beds and of course all of our yummy cakes and treats for pets. If you would like to showcase any of your products in the shop, please let me know. One of the suppliers I am really happy to have on-board is Charlie & Boo, they have gorgeous homemade pet accessories.
We are also looking to add suppliers of homemade, bespoke pet soaps. as this will complement our ethos, of natural homemade products, I am sure there are plenty of other items that would fit in with what we are trying to achieve here, so please let me know if you have anyone you can think of.
Hopefully, in about 6 to 8 weeks we will be ready to open at Sturdys Farm, and at the opening, we will have the local press and some editors from your favourite Doggy Magazines to come and have a look at what we have done, and we will be reserving places for all of our VIP Friends who will, of course, have a lovely treat box to celebrate with us.
The Royal Mail postal service is still experiencing a few hick-ups in some areas, and orders can take a while to get to you. I have tried to send the celebration boxes out to you at least two or three days before to get to you, and I thank you for your patience. The best rate to choose at the moment is guaranteed next day, as we have the ability to track your items. 1st Class postage rate is not guaranteed, and if the parcel is lost, it can take up to 10 days before the post office will look into where your parcel has gone. If your delivery area is particularly bad, please consider the Guaranteed Next Day rate at checkout.
There are lots of new biscuits being added to the Website for the summer, and we appear to be very lucky with the weather at the moment here in Lincolnshire. You can browse through the range here.
Lots of love Tarnia
Just a quick note to you as I wanted to reach out and personally thank you! We would just like to say thank you for being part of our family. We are grateful for your patronage, your likes and comments on Facebook and Instagram, the like and follows all adds up, and we wouldn’t be here without loyal customers like you. You could have chosen any other business, but appreciate that you have stuck with the Bakery.
We are looking forward to Valentines Day, and as a reward for your support, we are offering 15% off all our Valentine Range so you can spoil your best friend, who loves to meet you at the door with a wagging tail and sloppy kisses.
Please use this code at the checkout: 66eu29jb
Thank you and have a great weekend with your furry family.
As an animal feed provider, we have to comply with the following regulations:
Our registration number with Trading Standards the governing body is GB218E2868
Our inspection is carried out on a regular basis and we are pleased to inform you we are compliant. Noted especially at the audit was the cleanliness of our kitchen!
The pet food industry is highly regulated, and this legislation applies equally to what can be described as commercial pet food manufacture on an industrial scale and to smaller scale manufacturers such as myself in a person’s private home.
Legislation on animal feed originates from the EU (rather than coming from the UK) and the overarching principle is that animal feed, including pet food, must be produced in hygienic conditions, and that the finished product is safe, is not harmful to animal or human health and is fully traceable. The main legislation for the manufacture of pet food, even in your own home is described below:
EU Regulations (EC) no 183/2005 laying down the requirements for feed hygiene, requires that feed safety and hygiene be considered at all stages of the production of pet food, wherever this may be carried out. The Regulation sets out the operating standards to which all pet food manufacturers must comply.
All pet food manufacturers must also comply with EU Regulation (EC) No 767/2009 on the placing on the Market and used of feed, this legislation covers matters such as:
We hope that all this puts your mind at ease, and please check that other providers of pet cakes and treats also meet the same standards. Be safe and be aware.
Kind regards, and always with your pets interest at heart, Tarnia
