It all started with a farting dog

In 10 years we've gone from feeding one windy dog called Rudie, to serving over 315 million meals to dogs across Europe. Here's our story.

Two people walking a black dog on a grassy path, with houses in the background under a blue sky.
A brand film explaining the story of Butternut Box, focusing on feeding a life together between dog and human.

Fresh food transformed her health

Rudie the Staffie had chronic wind, and nothing shifted it. Not even the vet-backed cans or prescription diets.

Dave, the founder, smiling near a stove with pots cooking ground meat and mixed vegetables.

Dave started cooking for her in his mum's kitchen. Within weeks, her health turned a corner, and Rudie stopped living up to her name.

Kev and Dave Butternut Box Founder

He told his mate Kev, and together they realised it wasn't just Rudie. Most dogs were eating food that didn't really look like... food.

Assorted pet food items on a tiled surface include kibble in a bag, canned food, a dish of wet food, oil in a bowl, and a container of powder.

The industry had a bigger problem

The menu looked like this:

Option 1

Tinned mystery mush

A metal bowl filled with chunks of fresh dog food on a gray background.
Option 2

Dry brown balls

Both only need 4% chicken to be labelled "with chicken"

Dogs deserve better.

A fresh take on dog food

First Butternutters

Kev and Dave start feeding more and more dogs. Word starts spreading: the dogs are thriving, and their humans are pretty pleased too. They quit their jobs and Butternut Box is born.

A Butternut Box cardboard package sits on mossy stone steps, featuring a paw print logo and company website.

First thousand meals

The home kitchen can't keep up, so we build one that can: Rudie's Kitchen. We add more recipes, treats and chews to our menu - each batch made with the same care and quality as the first.

Two smiling individuals posing in front of stacks of cardboard boxes labeled "Fresh, Honest Dog Food."

First million meals

We hit one million meals - that's a lot of empty bowls and wagging tails. We start more feeding dogs across Europe. The fresh food movement is growing.

Packing boxes at Butternut Box, boxes on a conveyor belt

Where we are now

a dog wearing a chefs hat

10 years

of putting the food back into dog food
A dog wearing a cone

10

countries & counting
A dog wearing sunglasses

315m+

meals served
illustration of a dog with a ball in it's mouth

300,000

meals donated to dogs & cats in need
A dog holding a lead in it's mouth.

Feeding a life together

Ten years in, our goal hasn't changed: help more dogs live longer, healthier lives.

FAQs

Human-quality meat and vegetables, gently cooked to create simple, tasty, complete meals. All created with the right balance of vitamins and minerals for dogs of every age.

We take the best quality ingredients that we can find, gently cook them at 90 degrees, and quickly freeze them so that we can lock in the freshness without relying on any nasty preservatives.

To get started, you'll need to create an account. This is what you will use to manage your subscription moving forward. We'll ask you some questions about your dog (or dogs) then recommend a bespoke plan for them. You can choose which of our recipes you would like to receive and we will deliver them in convenient portions direct to your door.

Butternut Box is fresh dog food, which means it isn't excessively processed like wet or dry food. Instead, we use whole, human-quality ingredients you can see and say. Our meals are gently cooked at 90°C to lock in the nutrients, then frozen ready to serve from the fridge. Finally, each recipe is taste-tested by us to make sure it's the best it can be. Good enough for us, good enough for them.

Yes, all Butternut Box meals are complete and balanced. We actually go one step further, as they’re also highly digestible, which means the good stuff in our food is more easily absorbed, and dogs get more nutrients with every bite. And more nutrients on the inside means more benefits on the outside.

When we say human-quality ingredients, we mean ingredients that have been sourced from the human food supply chain. In other words, ingredients like chicken, beef, carrots or peas that are of such high quality, they can be (and are) used for our own human food. Once they're inside our Kitchens, they can no longer be used for human food, but they can always be easily traced back to their origins and retain their quality from the moment they're sourced to when they're served. This is unlike the ingredients used in many kibble or wet foods, which are often difficult to trace and not fit for human consumption.

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