Friends and serial entrepreneurs turned business partners Justin Miller and Tom Simon made Zookie’s Cookies, their ready to mix and bake dog treats, a business almost by accident. Miller baked his own dog biscuits and had a social media bake sale to raise funds for people victimized by Hurricane Harvey. When he quickly raised over $1600, he thought about making a business out of it.
Both Miller and Simon love dogs and they found the number one selling dog biscuit has “disinfectants” and ingredients that are “toxic if inhaled.” That’s NOT what you want your dog eating! They started a hashtag movement called #TREATRIGHT.
It’s a simple product. There are two flavors: Peanut Barker and Cocomutt. An 8 ounce jar makes about 30 biscuits. Simply mix the contents with two cups of water and bake. A dog bone shaped cookie cutter comes in every jar, which cost eleven bucks. The guys raised $26,183 on Kickstarter, so there is demand. They’re also pretty sharp businessmen. They probably want a Shark to help grow the business quickly.
My Take on Zookie’s Cookies
My dog Zoey loves her treats. Her favorite is a soup bone which keeps her occupied for an hour or so. She likes biscuits, too. I totally spoil her and feed her the best stuff, not the “best-selling” biscuits. I also make her biscuits from scratch sometimes. They have peanut butter and bacon in them. She goes bonkers for those.
Zoey would like Zookie Cookie’s and I am going to try them out of curiosity. I ordered the “Shark Tank Special,” one of each flavor for $18.99 with free shipping. Since I bake my own, I probably won’t be a regular customer, but it’ll be fun to try it out. I am in. ****UPDATE I did order them and she loved them! ****
Do Sharks Like Dog Biscuits?
Zookie’s Cookies is going to be the classic “product not a company” pitch. It’s a good idea, but selling one off online won’t make it a huge business. This product needs to be in pet stores to work and there needs to be a lot of educating the consumer. That’s not often a task Sharks want to undertake.
I think the Sharks will think it’s “too early,” too. Unless Zookie Cookie’s comes in with HUGE sales numbers, I think they leave with no deal. Zoey will be happy though!
