Di Gilbranch - You may have seen me sitting by my van once a month or so on training days and wondered who is she and what does she do? Well I’ll tell you! I run Trophy Pet Foods for the Colchester area.

Trophy Pet Foods was established 17 years ago and is based in Oxfordshire with franchisees up and down the country. Trophy make all of their own dried dog and cat complete foods using ingredients sourced from animals fit for human consumption, we only use British ingredients and we DO NOT test our foods on animals in laboratory conditions. Trophy Pet Foods are against animal testing and were one of the first pet food companies to be approved under the BUAV no animal testing pet food standard. Can the brand you currently buy make this statement? Check it out at

Also check out website.

At Trophy Pet Foods we are passionate about ingredients and always ask people to check the ingredients of the food they are currently feeding.

Does your current food:

list vague ingredients like Meat & Animal Derivatives, Cereals and Derivatives of Vegetable Origin. Ingredients where it is not possible to figure out what they actually are? Believe me they are not nice!; do they list food ingredients on the front of the bag, eg, Chicken and Rice, but when you actually read the percentage of ingredients on the back of the bag are you surprised how little they contain of these foods?; do they list the ingredients so small that you need a magnifying glass to read them?!; do they not give you the full picture – what animal the meat element comes from, what cereals are used etc?; do they spend more money on advertising the food rather than in the quality of the ingredients? If the answer is yes to any or all of the above please speak to me. Trophy Pet Foods have a clear policy with regard to ingredient declaration. This means that individual ingredients are listed in descending order of inclusion, therefore you will know exactly what is in the food, week in, week out. Labelling a food with generic ingredients like ‘cereals’ or ‘meat and animal derivatives’ allows the manufacturer some degree of flexibility in what raw materials to use. This could be dependant on cost of such materials at the time of production. Therefore the actual ingredients could vary – ‘cereals’ could be wheat one week and oats the next. This could lead to stomach upsets and have real issues in a dog that has food intolerances or allergies. Therefore please do the Trophy Label Test and compare with your current food – you may be surprised. Also watch out for salt, we don’t add salt to our foods but others do and this can have several names other than salt. Look for sodium or sodium chloride – these are both salt.

Please do not assume that the cheapest bag is the cheaper food to feed. Always check the feed rate and calculate a cost per day. In general terms the cheaper the food the more you have to feed at each meal. Trophy Foods have excellent feeding rates which are specified to the weight of the dog and are generally lower than other well known foods. This is because the food is well balanced and concentrated, thus producing less waste products!

In 2007 Trophy Pet Foods brought out a new food designed specifically for Agility Dogs called Trophy Agility/Sporting and this food is supported by Graham Partridge. Graham is a championship judge for agility events but also competes in agility with his own two dogs. These dogs are now on Trophy, of course! The key benefits of this food include: A protein level of 26%, good quality oils, a slow and maintained energy release to allow competition dogs to “thrive” all day, wheat gluten free plus the added benefit of fish oil. It is suitable for: agility, sporting, working, pregnant, lactating, convalescing, active and adolescent dogs. It is also suitable for dogs in kennels where they could be perceived to be under stress. The ingredients are as follows: Maize, Oats, Chicken Meat Meal (>29%), Meat and marrowbone meal (>12%), Fish Meal (>7%), Rice (>5%), Peas, Chicken Oil, Dried Brewers Yeast, Fish Oil, Vitamins & Minerals and EC Approved Antioxidants. Because it is classed as a working dog food it is VAT FREE! There are several club members already using Trophy Agility/Sporting and if anyone else would like to try a free sample please let me know. It is very reasonably priced at £21.50 per 15 Kg bag. If you would like to try any of our other foods just ask for a free taste test trial or sample.

We don’t just cater for dogs, I am your one stop shop for all your household pets (not reptiles). On board I have toys, treats, leads, worming and flea treatments, shampoos and collars. Ask to see our catalogue. With Trophy Pet Foods you get an unrivalled service along with foods that are superior in quality and nutrition than many of the well known brands, for your dog. However you will be pleased to know that I can help you choose the right food for your dog as I am fully trained in Nutrition. I offer you a try before you buy service, and I provide a FREE delivery service. As a Trophy customer you have access to a dedicated customer service hotline for nutritional advice manned by experts at head office and backed up by veterinary support. I can also offer you a whole range of accessories and we produce a seasonal newsletter full of interesting and informative ideas.

So when you see me sitting by my van please come over and say hello.

I will be pleased to answer any questions you may have, or let you have a free sample of food so please give me a call on:

or visit our website and click on your local advisor.

Di Gilbranch

trophycolchester@yahoo.co.uk