A Swiss Pet Food Startup Company based in Zurich
Dr. Maria de Bettencourt Tavares, an expert in Biomedical Sciences and Food Ingredient Development, founded Loonawell in February 2020
Maria tells us how one particular incident accelerated her entrepreneurial journey:
“I was once at an international Pet nutrition conference, and a prestigious veterinary closed the conference with the sentence – our pets, are the mammals on earth with the highest incidence of cancer and, in my profession, we all know that the number one reason is poor nutrition – when I heard this statement so blunt and clear, I couldn’t stop but wondering: is the food I’m giving Luna, contributing to her death sentence? … After having read and studied hundreds of dog food & treats ingredient labels I was still not sure of the answer, so I’ve started Loonawell.”
LOONAWELL was born to create Healthy Dog Food and Treats. The first months after the creation of Loonawell, were dedicated to an exhaustive scientific review. We wanted to know, for sure, which ingredients contributed to our dog’s health and which were harmful or just filling in the space, but with no nutritional value. After that initial period, came the product development stage, where we have prototyped and prototyped, collected feedback from our 4-legged friends and their owners.... and the result ? Our first 4 products were born. 4 different types of treats, filled with natural vitamins, amino acids, and minerals, not from additives but exclusively from the bio-origin healthy ingredients we use. Finally, a great trusted complement for our dog’s diet.
But this is not all. Maria, our founder, personally eats from every batch in order to complete a full sensory evaluation of our products. As Maria says “by trying and testing the treats from every single batch I can not only attest their quality but I can also finally rest and know that I’ve developed the right product for mine and so many other dogs”.