As the honest-to-goodness saying buy the farm , ‘ the female parent of invention is necessity . ’ Typically an entrepreneurstarts a businessbecause they see a need in their residential area or they discover a product that is n’t already uncommitted to consumers . In Jessica Borneman ’s case , her patronage was started to fill a need in the preferent manufacture for good , nutritional dog treats that would meet her hotdog ’s needs .
Borneman ’s basset hound - blackguard / Labrador retriever mix was take into their kinsfolk when he was just 8 weeks sure-enough . They choose the name Tank , but he quickly became know as Tanker Tot thanks to Borneman ’s hubby who thought the detent ’s stubby pegleg looked like white potato tots .
When Tank was about a year honest-to-god , his parent began to note signs that he was having problem with his digestive pathway . They switched his dieting to a healthy , millet - based dog nutrient , but they could n’t rule a suitable treat that would appease his sensitive stomach .
Photo: Autumn Parry
Borneman had experience as a fond possessor and general manager of a preferent storage in the past tense , and she make up one’s mind to utilize her knowledge of the favourite industriousness to make a treat that would meet armored combat vehicle ’s motivation as well as the needs of favored owners who were calculate for a levelheaded and affordable delicacy for their dog . She spent two old age formulating the perfect formula , and beganTanker Totsdog treat at farmer ’s markets shortly after that .
With some help from her hubby , she was able-bodied to ticket tune the recipe and by nature increase the shelf life of the treats , which is presently six months . The crispy , biscuit - like treat are useable in three flavors : peanut butter banana , sweet-smelling white potato pie and cheddar cheese . The society also offer pupcakes for extra occasions like birthdays and holiday .
Now , Borneman ’s destination is to expand her product line . She ’s recently added paw and nose wax , chicken jerky and beer bit . Thebeer bitsare made with the helper of another local business .
Photo: Autumn Parry
“ The beer bits are made with craft beer maker ’s grain . Apocalypse Ale was awesome enough to give me a five congius bucket of played out grain . It ’s malt barleycorn . … It was a win - profits , they get to stock thedog treatswith their beer grains and they get some place for those [ grains ] to fundamentally be upcycled . ” – Jessica Borneman
Borneman only utilize human - score ingredients in her products . She says that industry standards differ greatly from favourite food for thought to human food , and she require her products to offer favourite and best-loved parents the good quality potential . Lindsey Bender , the owner of a local pet grooming beauty shop that stocks Tanker Tots , say that she feel it break dog possessor a lot of peace of judgment when she can tell them that the kickshaw are so all - natural they could eat them themselves .
Borneman is so passionate about make Tanker Tots that she makes her own peanut butter from scratch and fag her own millet flour . She also makes the parkway from Virginia to North Carolina every few months to pick up the 400 pounds ofsweet potatoesthat she needs to make the batter for the biscuits . Although the ingredients change depending on the flavor of the delicacy , every Tanker Tot recipe include millet , sweet-scented potato and vitamin E.
Photo: Autumn Parry
On top of ensure that her ingredient are the proficient and her biscuit are handmade in low hatful , Borneman also take the extra step of register herdog biscuits , include each private flavor , with the state of Virginia .
Theprocess is complicated , and Borneman was not required to do it . It involves catch her feed license from the Department of Agriculture , sending the mathematical product out for science laboratory examination and registering all her label and test analysis report with the DoS .
The process can take anywhere from 6 - 10 month , which sometimes get her novel Cartesian product rollout to a halt . She order it ’s deserving it though , because it adds an redundant horizontal surface of professionalism to her Cartesian product that preferent owners are very thankful for . The fact that Borneman is so confident in her product and she takes the time to control that they are certified secure before localise them on retail shelves , record her true commitment to favorite health .
