The Store Making Vegan Accessories For Pets

Between 2018 and 2023, the pet industry is estimated to grow by 25% to around £2.1billion in the UK alone.

So it makes sense to get involved. And that’s exactly what the founder of Noggins & Binkles decided to do. Rose Coon started the company upon her return to London after living in the Seychelles and Mauritius for seven and a half years.

“When we lived in the Indian Ocean it was pretty much impossible to find accessories for our cats, Noggins & Binkles, particularly beautifully designed and ethically made vegan accessories, so I decided to make my own,” she says.

“I realized that the accessories I was making for our cats and neighbor’s dogs were pretty unique and even if I wanted to source similar products in the UK, I wouldn’t be able to, so I then started planning Noggins & Binkles with the idea of launching as soon as we got back to the UK.”

The brand is named after Coon’s two rescue cats, Mr Noggins, who actually turned out to be a girl, and Mr Binkles, who was indeed a boy. All the products are made in a studio in London using a variety of materials, including vegan “leather” cork, Piñatex – a EPTA-approved vegan leather made from waste pineapple leaf fibers – and organic cotton, as well as vegan felt made from recycled plastic bottles.

“Although it is a heavily saturated and competitive market with online retailers and marketplaces – such as Amazon and eBay – selling pretty much every pet related item you can think of, a large majority of the cat and dog accessories available are mass produced with little thought given to the materials used,” 32-year-old Coon says.

“However, research suggests that there is a growing interest in unique pet products and there has definitely been more interest in vegan products, although the increased awareness is probably more associated with groceries and eating out.”

Coon says the popularity of Veganuary, a month in January where people go vegan, has helped raise the profile of living a vegan lifestyle.

In 2018, the UK launched more vegan products than any other country, with the number of vegans in the UK estimated to have quadrupled between 2014 and 2019 to 600,000.

“It’s a niche market,” Coon says of the vegan pet accessory industry. Sourcing material has been a challenge, as “suppliers often don’t know if a material is 100% vegan”.

Coon, whose competitors are scarce bar those on Amazon and Etsy, says her plan is to raise more awareness of ethical and vegan pet products.

“We are still a young company so our main focus at the moment is making sure we design and make the best products that we can to ensure both our furry and human customers are happy.”