Dog Deli – Folkestone harbour’s foodie venue for dogs

Dog Deli has been a part of Folkestone Harbour Marketplace since summer 2023.  Andy and his family got a miniature dachshund during lockdown and little did they know that would lead to a new business venture.  Now, after a successful first year at Folkestone Harbour they were able in 2024 to open another branch in Dymchurch.  Folkelife met with Andy to find out how the Harbour helped as an incubator space for his business.

“Like many people, we got a puppy in Lockdown.  Ours is Ruby and she’s a miniature Dachshund.  We started to research the right sort of treats to give her and little did I know that this was going to turn into a business!  I was made redundant during Covid.  After finding out about the treats you can buy in supermarkets I thought it would be good to find the most natural and best thing for my dog.  The things you can buy easily tend to have a lot of grain in them, which dogs struggle to digest.  There are also a lot of highly processed snacks which aren’t very good for maintaining a good weight etc.  So, I started to look around and found some great suppliers of treats that were much more healthy.” 

The harbour is the right place

“I started to sell online, but then wanted to have a place people could visit.  I’m from Littlestone, but we came along to Folkestone to have a look and see if there was somewhere we could open a little shop.  The Harbour is full of dog walkers; dogs love the beach, so it made sense to come here.  Sometimes though, with the hut only being 3m squared, it gets a little crowded in here!  In the summer of 2024, a year after we had opened at Folkestone Harbour, we opened our second place in Dymchurch.  That’s a lot calmer!  There’s more space, and there’s time to chat.  But, I love being here at the Harbour so that’s not going to change.”

healthy snacks for dogs

“There’s a lot here that looks like the animal it came from.  A chicken’s foot is a chicken’s food.  There are hairy rabbits’ ears which are a great treat to help aid digestion, and a natural de-wormer.  The hair, any treat with hair or fur on does this, goes through the digestive system and ‘collects’ any stubborn worms along the way.  

“We have buffalo ears which are a high-protein, low-fat treat, and good for dental hygiene too.  A lot of things you find in supermarkets can just be empty calorie snacks, and we don’t want that.  You can see from the labels on our treats that they’ll tell you how long they’re going to last – is this a quick treat or a long-lasting one.  That’s useful to know.  We also give a guide as for the age-appropriateness too.  The majority of our snacks are suitable for 12 week old plus puppies.  You can use these for training purposes. 

“At the back of the hut you will find our meat sticks – these are high-protein, grain-free snacks which might be easier to look at for the squeamish!  And we have buffalo horn which is a good substitute for a dental stick.  These horns are really long-lasting and a great thing to chew on for your dog, promoting good dental hygiene.”

every day is a learning day

“We’re learning every day on this job, and it’s lovely to meet customers and talk to them about the treats we have on offer.  You can hear some people walk past the hut saying ‘oh, we don’t give our dog treats’ and it’s good to chat and tell them the sorts of things we have here.  There are so many dog owners around here that the hut can get quite intense.  It’s been amazing that we’ve been able to open our shop in Dymchurch as a result of being here at Folkestone Harbour. 

“We get a lot of repeat customers and it’s great to see a dog heading for the hut, knowing exactly where it’s going!  I like to believe we’ve become a firm favourite down here.”