Lily's Kitchen

Today we’re celebrating #WorldMentalHealthDay, and this year’s theme is workplace mental health. It feels fitting then to announce that we’ve been awarded bronze certification as part of the Mind Workplace Wellbeing Index Survey! We’re so proud to have earned this award. The index is designed to recognise the good work that employers are doing to promote and support positive mental health. It helps us to understand what we are doing well and where we can improve our approach. By signing up, we’re making a long term commitment to support our team’s mental wellbeing. As a business, we have always believed that looking after mental health is just as important as looking after your physical health, and so also offer a number of other resources and initiatives to ensure our team are in tip-top mental shape:   - PawsForThought: our Wellness Action Plan which allows managers and employees to have a confidential and open dialogue about mental health when needed. It creates space for the development of personal action plans for members of our team to proactively manage their mental health - Mental Health First Aiders: team members who are fully trained up to provide peer-support in person or remotely - Employee Assistance Programme: a confidential 24/7 helpline designed to help colleagues deal with personal and professional problems that could be affecting them at home or at work, their health, or general wellbeing - Mental Health in the Workplace Training with Mind: we aim to create an environment in which everyone is supported to take the necessary steps to nurture their own health and wellbeing while at work and beyond. This training helps us to ensure our team is equipped with the skills and coping mechanisms to do this - Occupational Health: support via an external provider for professional support and referrals, if needed - Neurodiversity Support: we offer ‘Lunch & Learn’ awareness sessions to help understand our differences, and fidget toys, should they be beneficial - Calm App Access: everyone on our team can enjoy access to this app which aims to support everyone at every step of their mental health journey - Dog-Friendly Office: we know that pets can offer mental health support in many ways. Embracing this, our office is dog friendly meaning cuddles, walks and play breaks are available whenever our four-legged friends join us

This time last month, we’d just set off on our Fish & Chips Roadshow! Over two and a half weeks, we: 🚐 brought the Lily’s Kitchen magic to 12 locations 🐶 gave 750 dogs a taste of our delicious Fish & Chips recipe 👋 met 4,000 pet parents and got to tell them all about the power of proper food 🐕 saw 460 Lily’s Kitchen bandanas worn with pride 🐾 sent 410 branded tote bags out into the world, and 🛍 gave away 2,200 goody bags Experiential events like this give us the chance to meet customers on two legs and four, and we had so much fun doing it. Our last stop was at Saltdean Lido where we captured this video – we hope you enjoy! #properfoodforpets #powerofproperfood #petfood #experientialmarketing #marketing

The last week of September marks International Happiness at Work Week. From flexible working to the right equipment for a safe home-working environment, Pawternity leave to mentoring, and from office socials to our very own sports club (and lots more besides!) our aim is to make sure that our team feel happy while at work. This year, our Culture Team has fully embraced the Happiness at Work initiative and pulled together a schedule of activities as part of our wider wellness calendar. Kicking off the week, a remote Pilates class was hosted for everyone to join, especially those working from home. For people in the office on Tuesday, dedicated our meeting-free Golden Hour to a run/walk & talk, and today, we had a lunchtime painting session. Some sweet treats have been popping up here and there, and on Friday, an early 3pm finish to say thank you for our team’s hard work. Underlying all of this is a serious message about the importance of a healthy work/life balance. As a B Corp, we’ve made a commitment to make sure we are contributing to the overall wellbeing of everyone on our team, and making sure that they are properly supported. Our team is what makes our business a success, after all! #happinessatworkweek #companyculture #bcorp

It’s that time of year again! We’re excited to be getting back together with our B Lab UK friends at Ella's Kitchen, COOK Trading Ltd, Vivobarefoot and Riverford Organic Farmers to launch our joint mentor scheme for 2024. Even better, the initiative is growing and we’re all delighted to welcome THIS™ into the fold! Now in its fourth year, the B Corp Mentor Scheme matches mentors and mentees from across all six businesses to draw on a wealth of skills and experience, exchange knowledge, support career development and share insight and wisdom. It’s our third year participating, and the members of our team who have taken part have found it rewarding and inspiring to collaborate in this way with fellow B Corps who are committed to using business as a force for good. It’s a great way to support our team with personal and professional growth, as well as offer them new perspectives and opportunities to learn from people’s experiences within different businesses and organisations. We can’t wait to get started! #BCorp #Bthechange #businessasaforceforgood #mentoring #traininganddevelopment

Nothing says summer like Fish & Chips by the sea, so even though this year’s weather has left a little to be desired in the UK, we decided to see out the season by bringing a taste of the seaside to our four-legged friends around the country. Since the end of August, our perfectly Lily-fied van has been visiting a variety of pet stores, including a number of Pets at Home branches, and a dog-friendly beach. The star of our roadshow is one of our newest recipes, our Pub Lunch Fish & Chips. Dogs around the country have been able to taste it for themselves in our Doggy Diner, as well as having fun with our games. And of course – we couldn’t let them go home without a goodie bag in their paws. This weekend, we’ll be at Saltdean Lido hanging out with all the pooches checking in for a dog-friendly swim. Come and say hi if you see us! #properfoodforpets #experientialmarketing

We’ve been so proud to work with Dogs Trust for the last few years because like us, they want dogs to live their best lives. Since 1891, Dogs Trust have been fighting to make tomorrow’s world a better place for all dogs, working tirelessly to ensure every pooch receives the love, care and training and forever home they need to thrive. This year is extra special because we’ve launched our limited edition Dogs Trust Dinner, modelled so well here by Ronnie who is being looked after thanks to Dogs Trust Cumbria. A nutritionally complete and grain-free recipe*, this dinner is made with natural ingredients, including chicken, and features ham, sugar snap peas, spinach, carrots and apples along with our botanical blend. We're donating 100% of profits** from the sales of this recipe to support Dogs Trust and their work providing life changing care and forever homes for over 12,500 four-legged friends each year. What better way to treat your best friend to a delicious dinner than by helping build a better future for another furry family at the same time? *Made in a factory that handles grains so traces may be present **Total donation of £10,000. See https://lnkd.in/e2YC6iqc for more info. Dogs Trust Registered Charity Numbers: 1167663 & SC053144 #properfoodforpets #dogstrust

Let’s talk about impact! As a B Corp (and the first pet food company anywhere in the world to become a B Corp!) we use our business as a force for good. That means we measure our impact on the world around us, our team, and our customers. We’re in a recertification year, which means that we’re being reassessed on how we deliver on our B Corp commitments. We’ve got everything crossed that we will improve on our existing score of 92.3! A key tool to help us stay on track is our Impact Report, or as we like to call it, our Paw Print for Progress. Each year we review everything we’ve done, where we’ve hit our targets and where we’ve got room for improvement – all of this, and more, goes into the report. This year’s report has a whole new structure and considers everything we’ve done in three sections: Beyond Business as Usual, Sourcing with Care and Reducing Our Pawprint. This reflects some significant projects we’ve established on the way to the next step in our sustainability journey. We’re really proud, and as we wait to find out the results of our latest recertification, we hope you’ll enjoy it - click this link to read: https://lnkd.in/eWdvcb2N #bcorp #businessasforceforgood #impactreport

Ahead of the semi-final clash between England and the Netherlands, it feels like the perfect opportunity to share a recent event we hosted for Dutch dog parents in Amsterdam’s Westerpark. Having entered the Dutch market in 2017, we've been growing steadily and our recipes can now be found in grocery and specialist pet stores all over the country. “As part of our summer tour of Europe, we wanted to share the Lily’s magic with Dutch pet parents who have welcomed us so warmly in the last couple of years,” said our International Brand Manager Sophie Bryson. “Being able to meet pet parents in person has always been special for our team, and helps us bring our brand and values to life, so it was wonderful to hold an event like this in Amsterdam.” For one day jam-packed with fun, our immersive brand experience, ‘Lilyland’, welcomed more than 250 consumers, influencers, journalists, and of course dogs. Food trucks offered Puppuccinos and snacks for both dogs and pet parents, while four-legged guests could enjoy a ball pit, have fun in our playground for dogs, take five in the reading corner, and much more besides! Our guests left with goodie bags to try some our delicious recipes at home, personalised food bowls and a fun snap taken in our Pupparazzi photo booth to remember the day. To everyone who visited, tot ziens, we hope to see you again soon! #petfood #experientialmarketing #popupmarketing

We’ve had a very busy June, but one of the highlights has to be our Pampered Pets event hosted by our international team in Belgium. Since launching into the Belgian market in June 2023, we’ve been focused on our mission to inspire pet parents in the region to feed pets properly and to have fun while doing it. With this in mind, we created an extra special event in Antwerp for pooches and their pet parents to enjoy some relaxing experiences together! Invited journalists and influencers visited with their dogs and shared fun moments from grooming sessions to playing in the ball pit. Alongside this, we incorporated educational activities which highlighted the benefits of feeding proper food. Our craftier guests were also able to create bespoke items to take home, along with a goodie bag full of pampering essentials and, of course, Lily’s Kitchen recipes. “Our Pampered Pets event in Antwerp was the perfect way to celebrate 12 months of Lily’s Kitchen in the Belgian market,” said our International Marketing Manager, Catherine Young. “Meeting pet parents is always a pleasure and it’s a great way for us to build brand awareness in a really authentic way.” The first of a series of events taking place across our European markets in 2024, we are excited to meet more passionate pet parents from across the continent.   #petfood #lilyskitchen

Pets are the perfect example of unconditional love in its purest form. No matter who you are, what you look like, or who you love, their love is boundless. For that reason, we have been proud to support the LGBTQ+ communities since we began. 🌈This year we are thrilled to introduce our special mini-series, Love and Pride, with Max Hovey and Ginny Lemon to support Switchboard - National LGBTQ+ Support Line and the LGBTQ+ communities. Join us as they share stories, and heartwarming moments of unconditional love and pride. But that’s not all! We’re donating 100% of the profits from our Love and Pride recipes* in the UK to Switchboard, a charity dedicated to supporting the LGBTQ+ communities. Your purchase will directly contribute to providing essential support and services to those who need it most. 🏳️🌈 Celebrate love and pride. ❤️Show your support. 🐱🐶 Enjoy tasty treats. Stay tuned for our upcoming episodes and let’s spread love together! *Total donation of £26,000. See lilyskitchen.co.uk/pride for more info. #LoveAndPride #LilysKitchen #SwitchboardCharity #Pride2024