EMEA Entrepreneur. Wolfgang Maurer, Co-Founder, HelloBello. Imagine a world where our four-legged pupper friends live very short lives compared to us humans. But sadly, we don’t have to imagine this because it’s the scientific truth. Many factors play into a dog’s lifespan, be it nutritious food, vet-approved diets, healthy environments, good social relationships, routine exercise, and regular check-ups among others. Genetics and the size of the dog breed are also determining factors in how long a dog lives. 

Our dogs are not just pets, they are our loyal paw-buddies and cherished family members, a man’s true best friend. Dogs have a remarkable way of enriching our lives and leaving positive impacts just like Hachi. The dog who faithfully waited for years outside the train station for his owner in the movie “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale”. Having such a devoted companion is a priceless gift. Therefore, it is crucial to show our appreciation by providing them with the best nutrition and diet plan. One way to do this is by consciously choosing traceable ingredients that are of premium-quality food for dogs. Pet Food Manufacturing in Austria, brings you HelloBello – a company dedicated to manufacturing and delivering fresh, vet-approved, and individually tailored nutritious food for dogs. With HelloBello, you can ensure your beloved paw-friend receives the highest quality food, designed to meet their specific dietary needs. Show your gratitude and take exceptional care of your furry family member with HelloBello’s expertly crafted food for dogs. Only the best for the best, this food and beverage manufacturing company was co-founded by three Viennese in Austria, but whose idea for HelloBello’s start-up venture was initiated by co-founder Wolfgang Maurer. 

This article will delve into how Wolfgang Maurer addressed a food problem for dogs by coming up with the idea for HelloBello, and how he built the start-up business alongside his other co-founding partners. 

Wolfgang Maurer – Recognizing the Problem:

With a vision for dogs to live long healthy lives, Maurer – a resident of Gmunden, Austria, came up with HelloBello after an incident that left him quite frustrated. It all started with Mia, who is Maurer’s sister’s lab retriever dog. One day like any other, Maurer had to head to the local supermarket to purchase food for Mia. There, he found that the pet food sold at the store looked terrible and smelled quite bad, and was surely not going to feed that to Mia. He headed back home and sat down to search the internet for good and healthy food for dogs, but unfortunately, the internet just responded with several names and ingredients but no suitable food. Frustrated with the lack of transparency, authenticity, and traceability of the ingredients sold, Maurer was hit with an idea and envisioned a brand that manufactured and delivered fresh food for dogs that were highly nutritious, healthy, safe, the best, and vet-approved, allowing dogs to live long and healthy lives. This was the beginning of HelloBello in 2019, the best sustainable pet food start-up in Austria.

HelloBello’s Journey:

“For us, dogs are equal family members. They give us so much every day, so we see high-quality food as a way of saying thank you.” – says Wolfgang Maurer, Co-Founder of HelloBello in Austria. 

Partnering together with Stephan Freh and Patrick Etz who shared the same vision, Maurer decided over the next year in 2020 to collaborate and work closely with veterinarians to develop, create, and manufacture freshly cooked food for dogs that are individually tailored for every breed, size, and dietary requirement. Launched in October 2020, HelloBello was featured on a television show called “2Minuten2Millionen” led by Maurer and veterinary doctor Eva Schmal-Filius who presented their business idea. In support of this, two dogs of the business family – Mia and Lilly joined the stage to convince investors to invest in HelloBello’s aim and vision. 

Veterinary doctor, Eva Schmal-Filius who has been in charge of developing and creating freshly cooked recipes at HelloBello to date, says – “In practice, I see the consequences of poor and incorrect nutrition every day. Deficiencies often only appear in dogs after several years – and are then all the more difficult to get under control again. The animal benefits in every situation from a complete feed that is tailored so precisely to the individual dog.”

HelloBello is aimed at improving the lives of dogs by crafting nutritious meals and snacks made from cows, pigs, and chickens, that are combined with other ingredients like carrots, peas, spinach, millet, rice, pumpkin seeds, potatoes, parsley, flaxseed, parsnip, hemp oil, and rosemary. With regulated compositions and additional nutritional additives, each recipe is made to specifically suit every dog’s diet. With individually crafted personalized dog food that is vet-approved and developed, with ingredients that are locally sourced, freshly cooked,  and delivered frozen to maintain freshness, HelloBello is revolutionizing the Pet FoodTech Manufacturing Industry. 

HelloBello’s Speciality in Manufacturing Pet Food for Dogs:

To put it simply, HelloBello manufactures pet food for dogs because “they deserve it.” With every recipe crafted with traceable ingredients that are locally sourced from Austria and Germany, HelloBello addresses a global pet food problem. 

It is estimated that over 40% of dogs are over the normal weight and over 4.4 million out of 11 million dogs in Germany and Austria are affected by abnormal and unhealthy weight gains. This problem deeply affects dogs and decreases their lifespan by two years. Many brands and companies till today have manufactured pet food for dogs but fail to provide full transparency and remain quite opaque about their ingredient list and sourcing locations. With almost a majority of the food given to dogs being commercially sold as dry and wet foods, on the other hand, we quickly end up whipping a two-step ingredient meal for our beloved paw-buddies. But, they deserve the best of the best, and with no added meats other than beef, chicken, and pork, freshly cooked meals are delivered to your doorstep. The business also encourages dog owners by providing HelloBello’s dog food subscription meal plans to ensure the long and healthy lives of their paw-buddies.

Today, the pet food manufacturing business is looking forward to improving its integration of AI systems and tools to enhance shopping experiences. An additional 3 million euro investment will be secured for business developments this year in 2024. HelloBello has moved its production facility from St. Pölten to Innviertel, Austria, and is looking forward to expanding business operations across Germany and Switzerland.