Beyond the Dog & Cat Monopoly: Disrupting Small Pet Nutrition with Claire Hamblion-Jennings
Pet Business DisruptorsShow Notes
Clayton sits down with Claire Hamblion-Jennings, Marketing Director at Supreme Petfoods, to explore the evolution and business dynamics of the small animal sector. Claire breaks down Supreme’s journey from pioneering species-specific brands like Gerty Guinea Pig and Russell Rabbit to establishing the premium Science Selective line and the mass-market Tiny Friends Farm umbrella. The discussion examines the shift away from traditional muesli blends toward high-fibre, mono-component extruded nuggets, the challenges of cracking the US market, and how direct-to-consumer digital channels and veterinary education are reshaping small pet care worldwide
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The Power of Umbrella Branding: Transitioning individual legacy characters into an umbrella brand like Tiny Friends Farm enabled multi-species household loyalty and streamlined portfolio expansion across diverse retail channels.
Mono-Component Nutrition Over Muesli: The small pet food industry has largely shifted toward extruded nuggets to prevent selective feeding and protect sensitive gastrointestinal and dental health.
Hay Remains the Fundamental Anchor: Regardless of commercial diets, free access to quality fresh hay must comprise the vast majority of a rabbit or guinea pig’s daily intake.
Channel Strategy Protects Specialist Retailers: Supreme intentionally keeps its expert-driven Science Selective range exclusive to specialist pet shops to support independent retailers, while offering Tiny Friends Farm across mass and grocery channels.
Education Bridges the Veterinary Knowledge Gap: Because general practice vets receive limited formal training on small mammals, brands must invest heavily in veterinary CPD and consumer nutritional tools to elevate overall animal welfare.
BEST MOMENTS
"You’ve got to be completely bonkers to go into being a small pet food business... dog and cat food has got much more ownership than there is small pet ownership, so it’s quite a specialist niche to be in."
"Rabbits are concentrate selectors and they're hard-wired to go and eat the tastiest, sweetest ingredients available... in nature they have that seasonal balance, but pet rabbits will just eat whatever they're given."
"The 4 Ps of marketing—price, product, place, promotion—those four Ps are still essential... If it's all 'buy this deal on a Facebook ad today', you're just going to get spikes and troughs and you're never long-term going to build your brand."
"Our direct mail piece is sitting on the shelf—it's our pack. Having a really well-branded, strong visual pack with great brand story information... that's the most important thing we can do as a brand."
"If you put a rabbit in front of them, you might as well have put a chicken in front of them because they literally have done so little educational time looking at rabbits and guinea pigs."
Clayton Payne is an industry veteran of three decades of working in the pet industry. Brought up working in his parents' pet store, Clayton has seen the industry evolve over five different decades and has been on the cutting edge of the industry since the nineties. Building pet businesses from scratch, establishing multi-national distribution chains and having worked in every aspect of the industry, Clayton has a rare insight into the Pet Industry that is rivalled by few.
HOST BIO
Clayton has been the spearhead of many of the industry's changes and has introduced numerous new concepts to market with a trail of success behind him. He has worked in numerous countries within the pet industry, speaks four different languages and has established both import and export relationships on all continents (excluding Antarctica).
As well as being COO of one of the UKs fastest growing insect technology companies, Clayton is a Pet industry consultant who has consulted for many household brands and delivers sales training to pet trade professionals.
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