How it started
From one bag in an attic to a warehouse in Zwanenburg
The moment
It started with Maxx, and a stomach that had a lot to say. After yet another restless night, the vet looked at us and said: “Take a good look at what you’re giving him between meals.” So we turned over a bag of treats, and there was a list of ingredients we couldn’t even pronounce. What they actually were, we had no idea.
The search
Fine, we thought, we’ll just buy something better. Easier said than done. We went from pet shop to pet shop, scrolled through web shops and read more labels than we cared to. What was called “natural” was full of additives. What was truly pure came from the other side of the world. And what was pure and European cost more per bag than our own breakfast. One honest ingredient from Europe at a normal price: it simply didn’t exist. So we started Woef Woef.
“If I wouldn’t give it to my own dog, I won’t sell it.”
The first step
Eventually we found a producer in Europe that made exactly what we were looking for: one animal protein, nothing added. The catch: they didn’t sell by the bag, but by the twenty-kilo box. So one day there was a mountain of treats in our attic, along with a kitchen scale, a stack of bags and a heat sealer that mostly gave up late at night. The first bags went to the dog owners we ran into in the park every morning. “What’s in it?” “One thing.” We had that conversation so often that we put a simple web shop online. We packed every order ourselves, with Maxx as the strictest quality inspector: whatever he left behind didn’t leave the house.
Now
The attic has since become a warehouse in Zwanenburg. Parcels leave from there every day, and that one bag has grown into natural dog treats, toppings, snack boxes and wet food. Thankfully the heat sealer has been replaced too. But what matters has stayed exactly the same. Every treat still has just one animal protein. Everything still comes from Europe. And every new batch only goes into the shop once we’ve looked at it, smelled it and, yes, tasted it ourselves. Maxx still keeps an eye on things. He’s a bit greyer around the muzzle, but just as critical.
