Podium Pet Products is celebrating after becoming one of the first companies to be honoured with a King’s Award for Enterprise 2023.

The Berkshire-based company, whose popular brands include Dog Rocks and Be:Loved, has been recognised for its excellence in international trade.

Podium Pet Products is one of 148 organisations to receive a first-ever King’s Award for Enterprise. However, it is the second time a prestigious award of this kind has been bestowed on the company after Dog Rocks won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2016.

The King’s Awards for Enterprise was previously known as The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, and the new name reflects His Majesty The King’s desire to continue the legacy of HM Queen Elizabeth II’s by recognising outstanding UK businesses. 

The Award programme, now in its 57th year, is the most prestigious business award in the country, with successful businesses able to use the esteemed King’s Awards Emblem for the next five years.

Carina Evans, CEO of Podium Pet Products, said: “This is a tremendous honour for the company and recognition of the hard work, innovation and inspiration of a talented team.

“Having achieved the Queen’s Award for Enterprise seven years ago was marvellous for the company, and now to become one of the first UK companies to be honoured with a King’s Award is extra special.

“The company has grown significantly over the past few years, moving into international markets with a growing range of pet products, so it is particularly pleasing to be recognised for our international trade.”

Carina started the company in 2006 when a family friend mentioned a fantastic product called Dog Rocks that was selling well in Australia. She was working as an operations manager for a company that owned racecourses at the time but decided to start importing Dock Rocks. The product took off immediately in the UK and Carina managed to combine her two jobs for a couple of years before deciding to concentrate solely on the Dog Rocks business.

Taking the product into Europe and then the US were huge decisions that paid off, especially in the large American market, before Carina looked for new ranges of products to grow the business.

“Making natural products for animals was something I had been interested in for a long time, but it wasn’t until I found an old animal husbandry book that the idea of Be:Loved really took shape,” said Carina. “Using nothing but what could be found in the hedgerows and nature’s harvest, this book was a treasure trove of recipes to create treatments and balms to calm and soothe human and animal alike. We have reimagined these recipes for the Be:Loved brand.”

The full integration of Be:Loved into the portfolio prompted Carina to change the company name from Dog Rocks UK to Podium Pet Products, thereby encompassing all products under one trade roof.

Carina and the team have worked hard at the exporting side of the business, which now makes up more than half of the company’s sales.

“Export is now a joy but to begin with it was a minefield, especially in America,” admitted Carina. “Europe is becoming less traditional and regional with younger English-speaking buyers and savvy marketeers so therefore a more attractive market to us as well.

“Being honoured with a King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade 2023 will help us grow the business in all our markets, and it is an accolade to be treasured.”

For more information about Podium Pet Products visit www.podiumpetproducts.com