How Chopsticks Nourished Beco Pets’ Dream

Bamboo chopsticks are the simplest of eating utensils and they are used to feed 4.5 billion people every day. But according to award-winning British pet industry entrepreneurs Toby Massey and George Bramble, chopsticks’ potential for ‘feeding’ the pet sector is also “huge”.

Beco Pets are Great Britain’s biggest manufacturer of eco-friendly pet products and accessories. Today this young company is also thriving in the US with their range that is, they say, 'better for your pet and better for the environment'. 

All Beco products are designed in Britain. Beco’s range covers the four main life activities of dogs and cats – ‘Fetch’, ‘Eat’, ‘Poop’ and ‘Sleep’, in other words, toys, bowls, poop bags and beds. Beco’s dog and cat bowls are made from bamboo fibres taken from off-cuts when chopsticks are produced, and Beco beds contain stuffing made from recycled plastic soda bottles. Toys, like bones, are created using 100 per cent natural rubber. The company also uses discarded rice husks in their products.

“Bamboo is an amazing material. It's a type of very fast-growing grass, which is one of its fantastic properties,” says Design Director and Beco co-Founder Toby.

“Because it can be reproduced very quickly means it's highly sustainable. Bamboo also has incredible properties of high strength, which is why it is used in lots of products. It's grown across Asia and the type of bamboo we use is actually the waste material from chopstick factories.”

London-based Beco Pets, which began trading in 2008, was formed by chance after two college graduates in their early 20s were introduced to each other by a mutual friend. Toby, then aged 22, was living 6,000 miles away from home in Hong Kong at the time. His friend and business collaborator-to-be, George Bramble, now Beco Pets’ co-Founder and Sales Director, was also fresh out of college, dreaming of starting his own business.

Within a year of joining forces, they’d won their first award, in 2009, for ‘Best New Product’ for their Beco Bowl. The range has been extended to include cat litter trays, Sporks, food scoops, and a wide range of different pet accessories, all robust, long-lasting and fun.

“The worldwide potential for using bamboo chopsticks is huge now, especially with the growing demand of consumers worldwide for ethical and eco-conscious products,” predicts Massey.

“This is no longer just a Western idea. It's now acceptable in the Far East that products should be eco-friendly. Everything we do is about being eco-conscious and we believe there's now great potential for us to sell our products all over the world.

“Our small idea of using chopsticks has grown into an international business.”  Food for thought…