“Losing my dog Jake a couple of years ago completely changed how I looked at the pet food industry”
A dog-lover dived head-first into the world of animal nutrition after losing his own four-legged friend in tragic circumstances. When Ben McIntyre, 30, lost his beloved English bull terrier Jake suddenly to liver failure, he began putting together his own dog food recipes with the aim of boosting the lives of other canines.
He said: “Jake had not long turned seven when his liver and kidneys packed in. We just thought how sad it was at the time, but we had just been feeding him supermarket food – whatever you might pick up when you go shopping. Looking back, it was pretty abysmal.
“Dry kibble is convenient for the owner, but not for the dog. They’re mass produced, highly processed. But if that’s what you put in the bowl in front of them, that’s what they’re going to eat.
“It was a double-edged sword when I initially found out about raw dog food. I was like a dog with a bone. It was so obvious yet I’d never thought of it before. I worked at the Port of Liverpool at the time and I wasn’t enjoying that too much, so when I came up with the idea I jumped at it.”
Working initially from a small café kitchen, Ben began formulating meals using fresh, natural ingredients without fillers or additives. He launched his own business, Mersey Raw, in 2022, shipping doggy meals with a minimum 80% meat content – significantly higher than dry kibble diets, which can contain as little as around 4%.
The company’s raw minces are made using frozen ingredients with no fillers, additives or artificial ingredients, offering what the brand describes as a ‘biologically appropriate alternative’ to heavily processed pet food.
What began as a personal mission has since grown into a seven-figure business, producing more than 80,000 meals per month, serving over 2,000 regular customers and supplying more than 70 independent pet retailers nationwide.
Since launch, Mersey Raw has shipped over 55,000 direct orders, along with more than 1,000 wholesale orders to independent pet shops, meaning the brand is estimated to have fed over 50,000 dogs across the UK – including Ben’s own dogs, German Shepherd Luna and French bulldog Pluto.
Ben said: “My dogs are now the picture of health. Their teeth are clean, their coats are shiny, they’ve got plenty of energy and their gut health is spot on. Everything is as it should be.
“Owners assume that dog food is something you buy from the supermarket, but that’s like saying microwave ready-meals are human food. It’s just what’s cheap and easy. Dogs have been around for hundreds of years, but they’ve only eaten these biscuits for the past 80.”
Today, Mersey Raw produces 19 different raw food products, including chicken, beef, venison, wild rabbit, oily fish and goat.
The product range has expanded rapidly since the early days. When the business first started, Ben sourced ingredients from local farm shops and butchers, meaning production was limited to what was available and typically just 100kg per product at a time.
Mersey Raw now operates with a team of 12 employees and has built a strong national customer base, maintaining a 4.8 Trustpilot rating thanks to consistently positive feedback from dog owners.
Ben, who grew up in Bootle and previously worked as an engineer, said: “I left engineering because I felt like there had to be a better way to build something that actually mattered.
“Losing my dog Jake a couple of years ago completely changed how I looked at the pet food industry. When you start researching what goes into a lot of mainstream dog food, it’s shocking. I knew there had to be a better option for owners who want to give their dogs the best possible nutrition.
“What started as a personal mission has grown far beyond anything I imagined. Seeing the results customers get with their dogs, whether it’s improved health, energy or quality of life, is what keeps driving us forward.
“Our goal is simple: to change how people feed their dogs and make raw feeding accessible to more owners across the UK.”
