Pawniolo Pets creates raw pet food, treats and other items for furry family members, but the venture initially began with owners Nick and Miki Vericella preparing food for themselves.
Nick is a third-generation rancher, and the couple would often make meals out of the cattle, chickens, sheep and other animals that they raise on their Hawaii Island property. As they did that, they started to ask themselves, if they were eating all of this good meat, why was their dog still eating dry kibble?
“She is our baby and she should be eating as good as we are … and it was another way to utilize [the animals],” Miki Vericella told Pacific Business News. “We really wanted to honor our livestock, and the best way to do that would be to use it fully and not waste an ounce.”
So they started making food for their pup, too, and when they posted about it on social media, they were surprised at the response.
“We had people reach out to us being like, ‘I hear you make raw food for your dog, would you sell some to me?’ At first, I was kind of like, we don’t do that, we just do it for our dog,” Vericella recalled. “But with more people reaching out and wanting to purchase, we saw an opportunity.”
They launched Pawniolo Pets four years ago, making their official debut at a farmers market in December 2019. Today, the brand has various sales channels, including farmers markets and pop-up events, an online store, and wholesale to other retailers.
In addition to expanding their consumer reach, the company has also grown on the producer side. Originally, they created products just from the livestock on their own ranch, but today, they purchase animals from a growing roster of 27 other local ranchers, farmers and hunters.
“There is a need for these farmers to sell their animals … and we are happy to be that person,” Vericella said.
One of the company’s recent accomplishments, Vericella said, has been implementing new home-compostable packaging. As for what’s next, Pawniolo Pets is in the process of expanding. She said they plan to install new equipment that will enable them to increase production volume, and they’re revamping their warehouse to optimize efficiency.
Vericella shared more with PBN about the company’s growth and her experience as a small business owner.
What has been your strategy in growing the company over the years? We did an accelerator called Mana Up. We were in their sixth cohort, but the learning doesn’t end after you graduate. They are always keeping you in that network, and they are always looking out for you — they will text me, saying, “Hey I have this opportunity” or “I want to introduce you to this person,” so I am really grateful to them for that. They opened my eyes that this business has potential and it can go bigger.
… We’re just always learning and always trying to make our products better. We are always trying to think of new products that we are going to make, and we’re busy with pop-ups. … This year, we did so many pop-up markets and events — meeting people in person [has helped grow the company]. Word-of-mouth has also helped, and then building relationships with our customers. We try to keep everything really personal — I’ll email people personally [about their orders]. … We have about 30 retailers now. A lot of them are small boutique pet shops. … We are in most of the small pet shops in Hawaii, and then we are in shops in San Francisco and Brooklyn and Colorado. … [Most] of our retailers that we have are ones that have reached out to us. … And then, when people see our stuff on the shelves, then we will get a lot of re-orders on our website.
What is one thing you have learned as a business owner so far? It’s never good to bring your work home, but when your work is at home, you can’t really avoid it, so making time for family is important. That was a huge thing for us — learning how to balance home life with business. [To have that balance,] we have hard stops, and Sunday is family day. Even if we have a ton of stuff to do, we make time for ourselves and our family. There is never going to be enough time for those things; business is 24/7, so you have to make the time.
What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur? Do it. Just do it. It is never going to be the right time, but if you have an idea and a passion, go for it. If it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work, but if you don’t try, then you will never know.
Pawniolo Pets
Nick and Miki Vericella, co-owners
Website: pawniolopetshawaii.com
