Our Story

Hi, I'm Esther, the proud mum of two little Maltese Shih Tzus named Jack and Chelo. I'm also a qualified chef, and I've been lucky enough to cook in some wonderful restaurants across Australia, New Zealand and London. Along the way I came to believe something simple but important: our pets' nutrition matters just as much as our own.

In 2018, my Jack was diagnosed with Cushing's Disease. It pushed me to look much more closely at the commercial dog food industry, and honestly, what I found concerned me deeply. I think it should concern you too.

The industry is largely unregulated, with vague minimum standards. Many large factory producers, and even some smaller brands, only manage to 'meet' those basic requirements through creative reporting on nutritional value in the fine print, and by bulking out their food with fillers that offer little to no nutritional benefit.

So I decided to do something about it. Armed with my research and my training as a chef, I set out to give Jack and Chelo the diet they deserved: real, delicious, genuinely nutritious meals made by hand. When I saw the difference it made to my own two pups, I knew I had to share it.

That's how Jack and Chelo was born, and these carefully curated, scientifically formulated meals are now ready for your doggo to enjoy too.

Today, Jack and Chelo is still a small, proudly Tasmanian business, and I couldn't do it without our wonderful kitchen team. Together we cook every meal by hand, in small batches, every week at our Hobart kitchen and store. They're the friendly faces you'll meet when you pop in to collect an order, and they put the same care into every dog's dinner as I first did for Jack and Chelo.