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With a business named after her kids’ imaginary pet dragons and a job description that includes taste testing pet treats, it’s no surprise ‘highly creative and a little bit crazy’ is how Emma Gibbons sees herself.
But Huds and Toke isn’t just a story of creativity, it’s also one of innovation, sustainability and passion.
Based at Coolum Beach on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Emma and her husband Russell founded the pet treat business in 2012 and since then it has grown into a multi-award-winning operation.
“At Huds and Toke we manufacture premium-quality dog treats, horse treats and small animal treats,” Emma said.
“As traditional meat supply prices have been increasing and product has been getting harder to get, we decided about two years ago that we wanted to get ahead of the curve, so to speak, and learn about insect protein and alternative protein sources so that we can plan ahead with regards to these kinds of products.”
Forming relationships with two producers in Australia, Huds and Toke now make their treats from farmed insect protein and vegetable surplus.
“Insects are an integral part of food waste management in Australia and part of what’s awesome about that is the insect larvae create this really high-protein meal that’s very palatable for dogs,” Emma said.
“We’ve been working with these producers to value-add that product, so it’s not just a highly-commoditised product; Huds and Toke is the innovator in between the meal and a product that the end user can give to their dogs.”
Above: Taste tester Pepper with a Black Soldier Fly and a 20% insect protein cookie.
The alternative ingredients mean both a lower carbon footprint and a reduction in waste.
“The insects allow us to have a sustainable, clear supply chain, and it’s a planet-friendly alternative,” Emma said.
“They use so much less water, they’re 12-25 times faster at converting feed into protein and they use way less land than other traditional meat sources.”
The use of vegetable surplus means an alternative destination for product not accepted by the traditional markets.
“This helps reduce wastage for the farmers, so they can still produce whole crops and know they’re going to get something for it at then end of the day,” Emma said.
It’s this innovation and entrepreneurial success that recently saw Emma named winner of the 2023 QLD AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award.
“I was extremely honoured to take out the award and to be representing Queensland in the national competition,” Emma said.
“In addition to being there with three other amazing finalists and listening to their innovations, which was just amazing, the award has opened up a lot of doors into being able to work with other agricultural industries which is really exciting.
“It was also great to get Huds and Toke’s name out there into the market so people can understand we put a lot of thought, care and research into our products.”
Not surprisingly, this care extends right the way through the manufacturing process to the taste-testing protocols.
“We do have quite a rigid criterion that a product has to fill so there’s a really high percentage rate of takers, so to speak,” Emma said.
“Sometimes I may nibble on them just to get an idea of the crunch and texture, but our whole team has dogs so we have a lot of dogs on hand to trial and test all our products.”
