Looking to replace processed food on the pet care aisle with fresh, healthy options

An acronym for biologically appropriate raw food, BARF India is looking to change how Indian pet parents approach nutrition.

Pets are like children, that’s why pet parents Nivedita Fernandes and Cosme Brian Fernandes decided to rethink pet care and nutrition for dogs and cats. “We could not imagine the thought of feeding our children heavy processed fast food everyday and therein built the thought of healthy, fresh, chemical, and preservative-free pet food,” founder Nivedita says.

The company reported revenue of INR 1.2 Cr in FY21, and last year it also introduced two more categories to scale up and reach more pet parents. The additional product categories helped increase the order volume by 3x, while the average cart size is now INR 3800, the startup claims.

Instead of processed pet food, the startup is looking to bring fresh healthy and raw food for pets, which not only reduces ailments, but improves their quality of living. Besides fresh ingredients, they contain essential bacteria, necessary to keep the intestinal flora in optimal conditions for pets. Looking to remain chemical and preservative free, BARF’s products are prepared with whole ingredients such as chicken, pork, asparagus, and carrots. It’s proportioned as per the exact needs of the pet and their nutritional requirements for weight loss, weight gain, improvements in skin quality, or specific dietary requirements.

The company produces its dog food with a variety of human-grade meat and bones, fruits and vegetables with the objective of feeding the pet a balanced diet. For cats, the startup has a Prey Model Diet with the addition of herbs in order to meet the nutritional requirements of cats which are obligate carnivores. The startup has 10 single protein products. Besides fresh and raw pet food, BARF India offers options such as krispies to train dogs, dehydrated treats, and customised and special diet plans.

For FY2022, the company is optimistic about growing its revenue 3x, thanks to additional presence on marketplaces. It has set an ambitious target of 15X revenue growth by 2025 and will scale up offline and online channels in the fresh and healthy pet food segment. Besides India, it is targetting to launch in other South Asian and Middle East market in the next few years.