About Us

Just as we’re told that fresh food is the healthiest way for us to eat, the same applies to our four-legged friends. Founder Dylan Watkins and his Chief Executive Dog, Poppy, launched Poppy’s Picnic in 2016 to make it easy for people to feed their dogs a raw food diet the way nature intended.

Headquartered in the heart of Wiltshire, our tasty wholesome recipes have been lovingly crafted with the help of canine nutritionists and fourth generation butchers. With no hidden nasties, the balanced meals contain all the goodness a dog needs for optimal health and wellbeing. The food can be bought in independent pet shops around the UK, online and in Hong Kong.

Poppy’s Picnic received four offers on BBC 2 Dragons’ Den in 2018 and has since been featured on Channel 4's Come Dine With Me (yes, we did feed dog food to contestants!) and on ITV’s This Morning as well in national news titles.

Poppy’s Picnic has won 10 national and regional awards and nearly a thousand 5 star reviews – and that’s just from humans! So what are you waiting for? Join us in our quest for dog bowl domination.

PAWS FOR THOUGHT? Read our timeline below to see how we’ve grown from Dylan’s bright idea, to standing on our own four paws. WOOF!

Poppy's Picnic launches!

OCTOBER 2016

Poppy's Picnic is GO GO GO! Welcome to Poppy's Picnic - our company launches to the world on Poppy's birthday :)

5 Star Reviews

NOVEMBER 2016

Our entire range is rated 5 out of 5 by All About Dog Food (the Bible of dog food review sites) and we are rated top for customer experience.

International Are Go!

DECEMBER 2016

How did that happen?! Our first international order of raw food to Hong Kong.

Two New Ranges

FEBRUARY 2017

Poppy’s Picnic COMPLETE Meatballs and ENHANCED mince range launch at the Hong Kong Pet Show. Both a global first for the pet food market!

World Exclusive Puppy Paste

APRIL 2017

Innovating again - we launch the world’s first Follow-on Paste for puppies.

Poppy the Dragon Slayer

MAY 2017

Shhh - off to film Dragons’ Den where we win over four of the five Dragons.

Entrepreneur Accelerator Scheme

AUGUST 2017

We secure a place on the NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator Programme.

We Are One!

OCTOBER 2017

Our First Birthday and our first show at Discover Dogs!

Hong Kong Foodie

NOVEMBER 2017

Christmas comes early! We ship a big order of our raw food to China.

Oooh, we're on the tele

JANUARY 2018

Dragons' Den hits the screens where we accept an offer from Deborah Meaden (but later turn her down).

Crowdfunding Launches

FEBRUARY 2018

We launch our crowdfunding campaign and hit 8,000 likes on Facebook!

Woohoo! We Overfunded

MARCH 2018

Crowdfunding round closes - and we double the money we want to raise. We hold our very first event at Crufts.

Our First Award

APRIL 2018

We win the Start-Up of the Year at the Wiltshire Business Awards - hurrah!

Mental Health Awareness Week

MAY 2018

In support of Mental Health Awareness Week, we held an event with the residents of the Dauntsey House Care Home to show how our four-legged friends can make a positive difference to our mental well-being.

Pet Product of the Year

JUNE 2018

Our COMPLETE Meatballs, ENHANCED Mince and Puppy EXPERT Follow-On Paste are all highly commended in the Pet Product of the Year category at the PetQuip Awards. Honoured doesn't cover it!

Pride of Britain

JULY 2018

We become an official member of the Made in Britain brigade.

Keepin' it Real with RAWgust

AUGUST 2018

We launch our first RAWgust campaign, helping more dogs switch to raw ...and Dylan's chuffed to be up for another award!

PP Takes on Trade

September 2018

Dylan is accepted onto the much coveted Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses programme and we attend our first trade show, PATS Telford.

Startup of the Year!

OCTOBER 2018

Poppy's Picnic wins the Business Leader: Startup of the Year Award and becomes an official member of the PFMA. We also celebrate our 2nd Birthday and reach 11,000 likes on Facebook. Phew, busy month.

Back on the Small Screen

FEBRUARY 2019

Poppy and Dylan appear on Channel 4's Come Dine With Me... feeding dog food to unsuspecting dinner guests. And then to Eamonn & Ruth - eek!

Poppy's Picnic 2.0

MAY 2019

Woohoo - we launch our shiny new website designed to make ordering as easy as possible!

Schnauzers on the Screen!

JUNE 2019

Dylan & Poppy star in NatWest's Rethinking Business campaign and our Bring Your Dog to Work Day research features in the national press.

Team of the Year

JULY 2019

We're crowned 'Entrepreneurs' Team of the Year' Finalists at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2019, ranked 6th out of thousands of businesses by Natwest's #PowerUp Index, and launch our Belly Rub Reward Scheme.

It's Time to Raw!

AUGUST 2019

Our RAWgust campaign reaches millions nationally via the airwaves and Dylan takes over the stage to talk all things raw feeding at Countryfile Live.