Growing Lily’s Kitchen into a global pet food brand

Lily’s Kitchen went from a small operation to feed just one dog, to a hugely successful enterprise, so popular it was bought by Nestle Purina.

The company is run by CEO Nick Magalini who has over twenty years in the pet food industry.

Nick tells us about how they maintain a 'cooked in the kitchen' small business culture, while growing into an international brand, and what it means to be the first UK pet food company with B Corp status.

They have gone from strength to strength, most recently seeing sales in UK grocery growing by more than 27% during the pandemic pet-boom.

Henrietta Morrison is the founder of Lily's, who started the business for her pet dog Lily. The idea was to produce food filled with honest, natural ingredients - unlike many products she found in the shops.


In this episode:

  • The story behind Lily’s Kitchen
  • How do you contain the ‘cooked in the kitchen’ small business style when growing it?
  • The cult following and maintaining loyalty from customers against competition
  • Being the first pet food company with B Corp status
  • How Lily’s Kitchen conducts business and sustainability
  • Do customers care about a B Corp status during a cost-of-living crisis?
  • How they formulate new ‘smell good’ recipes
  • Who is the Lily’s Kitchen customer – pet or human?
  • Exciting new vegan, plant-based, and innovative products


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