Sep 20, 2016 1:49 PMA year ago, Gretchen Mannix of East Hampton had a problem with her five-year-old Cockapoo, Stevie.
“She’s a very picky eater,” Ms. Mannix said. “So I tried sprinkling chicken crisps as a kibble topper on her food and she ate it up. Then I shared it with some friends with dogs. They loved it and encouraged me to try selling it.”
Now, Ms. Mannix makes her own Chicken Veggie Crumble topper, and she’s also been cooking, packaging, and shipping her treats to pet stores since October of last year under her own brand name of South Fork Pet Company. Her treats include Turkey Crisps, Chicken Crisps, and Cod Skin Crunch. Her products were first sold in the One Stop Pet Shop in Amagansett and are now on stands in the One Stop Pet Shop in Southampton, Harbor Pets in Sag Harbor, The Under Dog in Bridgehampton, and 4 Paws and a Tail in New York City for $14.99.
Ms. Mannix’s treats are human grade, made with local ingredients and no preservatives. She dehydrates the treats to give them their final appearance and gathers actual cod skin from local fish markets for the Cod Skin Crunch. Ms. Mannix’s treats keep her busy as she follows the guidelines of the Association of American Feed Control Officials to ensure her treats are safe. She also assembles the packaging, sends out samples for testing and registers her treats with the State Department of Agriculture.
“It’s a start-up business that takes a lot of investment,” Ms. Mannix said. “I used to be in marketing and now I work as a social worker, but this takes up 80 percent of my time. When the stores tell me that the customers love the treats and even when I see the dogs eating the treats, I really do love it.”
