After many years of running businesses and start-ups for other people, Catherine Sprouse was hungry for a new challenge. She wanted to start her own business, and was looking for the right idea.

“I’ve always understood the mission or purpose behind the work I do, and I believe in it — that inspires my best work,” Sprouse, 54, said. “It’s important to me to put my energy into something I really care deeply about, because I work seven days a week, and a lot of hours. My work is always first and foremost about caring for my family – and my pets are family.”

Sprouse, now the owner of a successful pet food company called Snarfies, based in Frederick, says the inspiration for her business came during a stressful time, as she learned to care for a beloved, very sick family dog, named Hershey.

Sprouse says Hershey was a smart, loyal and loving companion, who developed strange digestive issues, which were eventually diagnosed as an aggressive form of cancer. Hershey’s illness affected her appetite, and the family was desperate to get their 6-year-old beloved furry friend to eat.

They ended up making homemade food and treats to entice her, and according to Sprouse, “it made a huge difference.

“Her level of appetite and sheer enjoyment of eating food was so obviously improved when we added our freshly prepared food to her diet, I wondered if there wasn’t a good business idea in there.”

Sprouse got to work researching the pet food industry, which she says was “pretty terrible” at the time.

“It has been improving in recent years, but we’ve obviously still got a ways to go. Pet food is becoming less and less of a monopoly, so that helps, and it has definitely become more diversified, with different companies approaching the need to improve pet food quality in different ways,” she said. “This is a very good thing, for pets and their families. I feel fortunate to be a part of that.”

Efforts started with choosing the right name for the business. Sprouse said her team focused on important qualities and feelings they wanted to associate with their products. They decided that great taste was vital to getting pets to love the products and pet owners to purchase them again.

“We want it to taste and smell so great that they will ‘snarf’ it right up,” she said, “and that’s how our name came to be.”

Snarfies’ small staff makes every treat they sell by hand, in small batches, with fresh ingredients, in Frederick, and sells the treats directly to their customers on the Snarfies website and at farmers’ markets in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region.

“Our treats are high-value treats for most dogs and cats, and because of that we have a loyal following amongst D.C. and Virginia dog trainers,” she said.

Marketing the business has come naturally via word-of-mouth and social media sharing, Sprouse said. 

“One of the best things about our job is when we get emails, Instagram photos and videos, photos, and texts from customers who are having a great time sharing our treats with their pet,” she said. “Our team in the kitchen is always excited to see folks reaching out, it really makes our day to see so many people finding joy in and benefitting from the work we do.”

Snarfies also sources ingredients “as much as possible” from local and regional farmers. Sprouse believes the local focus is what sets Snarfies apart from other pet food and treat companies.

“Many pet food and treat companies these days put on the appearance of being local, but most products out there are manufactured and packaged elsewhere,” she said. “We do everything in-house in Frederick County. We make everything by hand, from start to finish.”

When developing a treat idea, Sprouse and her team focus on aroma, flavor, texture, and experience. Snarfies makes a wide range of protein treats, in different sizes and textures to help pet owners find what works for them and their pet. They focus on educating their customers on the importance of feeding fresh and nutritious foods to their pets instead of foods that are overly processed or loaded with salt, sugar, or other chemicals. 

“We all should be eating healthier – lowering our salt, sugar, and processed fat intake. As humans, we are sometimes four to five times the body weight of our pets – if processed foods with loads of salt, sugar, and processed fat is bad for us, imagine how much it affects our pets,” Sprouse said. “We think about this all the time, and are trying to find ways to bring better food options forward.”

Whether a dog is trying to pass a Canine Good Citizen and needs a high-reward treat as an incentive, or a cat is missing a few teeth and needs a soft and nutritious tasty morsel to entice her to eat, Snarfies works hard to find a solution for their customers.

Sprouse decided early on to focus on community-building and personal relationship-building with Snarfies, connecting with customers locally, rather than thinking about nationwide brand-building. 

“Instead of focusing our energies and resources on Amazon or social media marketing, we focus more on getting to know people in a neighborhood or local community, one market at a time,” she said. “We are mindfully growing from the ground up, one customer at a time.”

Snarfies works to connect directly with customers every day, Sprouse said.

“That’s where the joy comes from. We get crazy-amazing feedback from customers whose pets appreciate what we do,” she said. “As we grow, I know we will find more and more people who want to join our team, because the work we do every day makes life better for people and pets we love.”