Sell pet food and supplies online in the UK: labelling, registration and repeat orders
Who registers with Trading Standards and who needs APHA approval, what a pet food label and product page must carry, what a treat may claim, VAT and heavy-bag postage, and how subscriptions with delivery build repeat orders. Checked 9 November 2026.
This guide is for a UK pet shop, a treat maker or a raw food business that wants to sell pet food and supplies online. It covers registration, labelling, claims, VAT, heavy-bag delivery and repeat orders. Disclosure: we build Orbit Commerce, a UK ecommerce platform with subscriptions, bundles and shipping rules built in, so weigh the Orbit parts knowing that. Every legal and market fact was checked against the sources linked on 9 November 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.
In short
- Selling sealed bags from a supplier is retail, exempt from registration in England’s guidance. Make, mix, repack or rebrand pet food and you register with Trading Standards first; use meat, egg or milk, even at home, and you need APHA approval too.
- Every pack carries a statutory statement, and sold online most of it must be on the product page before purchase.
- Feeds and treats may be presented as maintaining health in healthy animals; “treats”, “prevents” and “may help” are medicinal claims, natural or not.
- Pet food is standard-rated for VAT and a 12kg sack posts at Royal Mail’s top band, so treats, accessories and the repeat order carry the shop.
- On Orbit, from £25 a month ex VAT, a subscription renewal creates a delivery order, a bundle sells a starter kit and a shipping class prices a 12kg bag apart from a lead.
How big is the UK pet food market, and where is the money?
UK Pet Food, the industry’s trade association, counts around 36.5 million UK pets in 2026, in 62% of households, and values the pet food market at £4.3 billion (UK Pet Food, read 9 November 2026). Pets at Home’s retail gross margin was 44.4% in the year to 26 March 2026 after it cut prices on over 1,000 food products by an average of 12%, while its subscription plans grew to 15.2% of consumer revenue (FY26 results, 27 May 2026). The money is in the repeat order, the treats and accessories sold beside it, and the advice that earns trust. That suits an independent shop, a treat baker, a raw food maker or a specialist; our trending products list has pet supplements and natural chews among its 2026 picks.
Do you need to register to sell pet food in the UK?
Pet food is animal feed in law, and anyone who makes, sells or uses animal feed must register with their local Trading Standards office (gov.uk, read 9 November 2026). Trading Standards’ guidance for England exempts a retailer selling pet food from feed business approval and registration; mix, alter, repackage or rebrand it and you are a feed business operator who must register (Business Companion, England, reviewed May 2026). Councils differ in practice, so ask yours in writing, as with selling food for people. Registration is free; approval, where needed, carries a fee (Business Companion, reviewed November 2025).
Treats made at home, and anything with meat in it
Baking dog biscuits makes you a manufacturer: register or be approved first and keep a written HACCP feed safety plan. Anything with products of animal origin, even meat fit for human consumption, also needs APHA approval, including “premises manufacturing pet food in domestic houses or small units” (Business Companion, November 2025). APHA says production cannot start until both it and the local authority have approved or registered you, approved makers test for Salmonella at an accredited laboratory, and premises, operator and equipment are approved before production (gov.uk, updated 3 March 2026; gov.uk, updated 4 November 2026). Milk and eggs count too, and “It is not permitted to make a commercial raw pet-food product from your domestic kitchen” (FSA guidance on gov.uk).
| What you do | Register with Trading Standards | APHA approval |
|---|---|---|
| Sell sealed bags, label untouched | Exempt in England’s guidance; some councils ask | No |
| Split a sack into small bags, original label kept | No approval if unchanged; ask about registration | No |
| Bake biscuits with no meat, egg or milk | Yes, with a HACCP plan | No |
| Treats or chews with meat, egg or milk | Yes | Yes, with Salmonella testing |
| Raw food | Yes | Yes, never in a domestic kitchen |
What has to be on a pet food label, and on the product page?
Article 15 of Regulation 767/2009 requires the type (“complete feed” or “complementary feed”), the name and address of the operator responsible, the batch number, the net quantity, the additives under the heading “additives”, and the moisture content where it is above 14% (Article 15, read 9 November 2026). Article 17 adds the species, instructions for use, a “use before” or “best before” date, and the “composition” in descending order by weight (Article 17). Article 19 adds, for pet food, “a free telephone number or other appropriate means of communication” (Article 19). UK Pet Food calls the block the statutory statement; its analytical constituents are crude protein, crude oils and fats, crude fibre and crude ash (UK Pet Food, Labelling). Raw pet food also carries “Use as pet food only. Keep apart from food.” (Business Companion, May 2026).
Online adds a rule most shops miss: for feed sold at a distance the mandatory particulars must be provided before the contract is concluded, except the name and address, batch, net quantity and storage life, which may follow at delivery (Article 11(3)). So the statement goes on the product page as text, not in a photo of the bag; on Orbit each item is a custom field shown by the Custom Field element, in the same order on every product.
Weights and measures, and the accessories shelf
Packs from 5g to 25kg fall under the Weights and Measures (Packaged Goods) Regulations 2006 (gov.uk, updated 20 September 2024). Leads, beds and toys are consumer products under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005: safe in normal or reasonably foreseeable use, supplier records kept, and a duty to report a safety risk to the manufacturer, supplier or Trading Standards (OPSS, updated 21 July 2026).
What can you claim about pet food, treats and supplements?
Feed law allows a claim only if it is “objective, verifiable by the competent authorities and understandable by the user of the feed”, and bans claiming a feed “will prevent, treat or cure a disease” (Article 13). The VMD’s guidance, published 14 January 2026 and updated 25 September 2026, says feeds and supplements “may only be presented for maintaining health in healthy animals”. Nothing may claim to treat or prevent disease or modify a physiological function, and “may help” does not save a claim. It adds that “Herbal products, nutraceuticals and ‘natural’ products follow the same rules as other products” (VMD, read 9 November 2026). Social posts, testimonials you publish and reviews on your own site count as your advertising. So “supports normal joint function in healthy adult dogs” is the shape the guidance allows if you can substantiate it, and “helps with arthritis” is not.
Is there VAT on pet food, and what does a 12kg bag cost to deliver?
You charge no VAT until taxable turnover passes £90,000 in a rolling 12 months (gov.uk, read 9 November 2026). From then pet food is standard-rated at 20%. HMRC standard-rates any animal food specially prepared for a pet species, canned or packaged as pet food or held out for sale as pet food, and all biscuit and meal for cats and dogs. Food held out exclusively for working dogs can be zero-rated (VAT Notice 701/15, updated 28 February 2023). Your wording decides the “held out for sale” test, so settle it with an accountant first.
Delivery is where the margin goes. Royal Mail’s medium parcel stops at 20kg, and the Post Office lists Tracked 48 at £7.60 up to 2kg, £9.60 up to 10kg and £14.30 up to 20kg (Post Office, read 9 November 2026). On a £45 bag a 44% margin is £19.80, and a £14.30 label takes most of it. The fixes are shipping rules, on every plan. A Heavy bag shipping class has its own cost per delivery method, so a lead in the same basket does not pay the sack’s rate. A “free over £50” offer is one rule, and local pickup is a method at £0. A delivery estimate per method shows a date at checkout and stamps a ship-by date on the order. Labels are bought from the order through Orbit Shipping, paid per label, or on your own carrier account (fulfilment; Royal Mail or a courier).
Setting the shop up: product types, variants and the facts a buyer needs
Every product starts on the same New Product screen with one of six types, on every plan with no product cap (products). A bag is a physical product with sizes as variants, each with its own price, weight and stock, and a shipping class. Raw food needs one more thing: APHA requires makers to give customers safe handling guidance on the website or the pack, and UKHSA’s advice is the base: freeze until needed, wash hands after handling and keep children under five away (UKHSA and APHA, read 9 November 2026).
The FSA found Salmonella in 20.8% of 380 raw foods it bought in 2023 and 2024 (FSA, 10 February 2026), so put the handling guidance on every raw food page. If you also groom or run daycare, each groom is a service product in the same shop, booked on the product page and paid in full at checkout; our guide to dog grooming and daycare bookings online covers the licence, the pricing and the booking set-up.
Building repeat orders: subscriptions with delivery, bundles and points
A subscription on Orbit is a product type of its own, with one plan or several, weekly to yearly or every two, three or four weeks (subscriptions, and the guide). Each renewal charges the saved card and creates an order in your Orders list, and a product set to ship carries its delivery on that order, so a four-weekly bag is a real delivery. Customers pause, resume, cancel at the end of the period and change quantity from their account, each with its own email; in Subscription settings you choose what they may do themselves, switch on the upcoming renewal reminder and set how many days ahead it goes out. A subscription product is subscription only, so “Adult Chicken 12kg, every 4 weeks” is its own product beside the one-off bag, priced for the saver. The customer pays for the first bag at checkout and for each renewal after.
The law is moving. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give 14 days to cancel a distance contract, counted for regular deliveries from the first delivery (regulation 30, read 9 November 2026). The draft Consumer Subscription Contracts (Cancellation and Information) Regulations 2026 are written to come into force on 1 January 2027, with reminders before renewal and an easier exit; on 9 November 2026 they were still a draft awaiting Parliament (draft regulations; gov.uk, 9 August 2026). On Orbit the tools for both are the renewal reminder email and the cancel button in the customer’s account.
Four more tools build repeat orders. A puppy or kitten starter kit is a bundle of up to 30 physical products, available while its scarcest part is in stock (bundles are switched on for your shop on request). Gift cards are a product with amounts as variants, emailed on payment and spent over several orders. The Loyalty Points add-on gives signed-in customers points per £1 on paid orders, spent on products you pick (loyalty). Product Reviews is a free plugin where every review waits for your approval, which the VMD’s line on reviews makes worth having (reviews). For opened bags and refunds, our returns law guide has the wording.
Your first ten orders
- Register, and get APHA approval if you use meat, egg or milk.
- Type each line’s statutory statement into the custom fields.
- Price a four-weekly subscription for the three best sellers, a little under the one-off price.
- Set the Heavy bag class, the free delivery threshold and local pickup, then test a 12kg basket in the Rate Tester.
- Email the regulars whose dogs you know, with a discount code limited to them.
- Put the maker’s feeding guide on each food page, and nothing medical.
- Build a puppy kit and a kitten kit as bundles.
- Ask for a review in the order email and approve the honest ones.
Where Orbit fits
Everything above runs on the Solo plan at £25 a month, or £19 a month billed yearly, ex VAT, with no cap on products. A bag paid with a UK personal Visa or Mastercard costs 2% + 25p in card fees on Solo, one published card rate per plan with nothing added on top. Loyalty Points is an add-on priced on its page in the plugin store; Product Reviews is free. Ask for the review in the order email, or the Workflows plugin can send a templated email on a fulfilment trigger. In the theme store the Biscuit theme was built for a pet food and supplies shop and the Paws theme for pet supplies, treats and accessories. Pick either and change its colours, fonts and logo in the dashboard.
Read next: selling supplements online and what you may claim, whether a small shop needs a loyalty scheme and selling meat and dairy online.
Questions people ask about selling pet food online
Do I need to register to sell pet food online in the UK?
Not for sealed, labelled food from a supplier, which England’s Trading Standards guidance treats as exempt, though some councils ask retailers to register, so check in writing. Make, mix, repack or rebrand pet food and you register with Trading Standards first, free of charge; anything with meat, eggs or milk also needs APHA approval before production (checked 9 November 2026).
Can I make dog treats at home and sell them online?
Yes, with the paperwork first. Baking treats makes you a feed business, so you register with your local authority and keep a written HACCP plan. Treats with meat, fish, eggs or milk, even human-grade, also need APHA approval, with Salmonella testing, before production starts. Raw pet food cannot be made commercially in a domestic kitchen.
What must a pet food label include?
The statutory statement: complete or complementary, the species, the composition in descending order by weight, additives, the analytical constituents, feeding instructions, a best before date, a batch number, the net quantity, the responsible business’s name and address, and a contact number. Online, all but the name and address, batch, net quantity and storage life must be on the product page before purchase.
Can I say a treat helps with joints or anxiety?
Not in those words. Feeds, treats and supplements may be presented only as maintaining health in healthy animals, so “supports normal joint function in healthy adult dogs” is the lawful shape, while “helps with arthritis”, “treats anxiety” or “may help” a condition are medicinal claims, whatever the ingredients. The VMD applies the same rule to natural products, testimonials and reviews on your own site.
Can a customer return an opened bag of dog food?
Usually not: the Consumer Contracts Regulations exclude goods liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly from the 14-day right, and the right ends for sealed goods unsuitable for return for health or hygiene reasons once unsealed. Say so in your returns policy, keep the full 14 days for accessories, and be as generous as you like when a dog refuses a new recipe.
Start with the call to Trading Standards and, if there is meat in anything you make, to APHA. Then build your first product lines, three subscriptions and a bundle, and order a bag from your own phone to see the delivery date and the renewal. The 14-day free trial, no card required, is long enough for that.