Rafae Dossal

co-founder of Waggles

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Rafae Dossal is a co-founder of Waggles, a pet food manufacturer. Waggles launched in January 2020 and makes wet pet food recipes. Dossal is chairman of a planned association of pet food manufacturers in Pakistan.

Early life and background

Dossal was born and raised in Karachi. He joined the City School Darakhshan campus in Karachi in grade 2 and left after O-levels. [1]

Education

Dossal did his A-levels at a school in Karachi. He graduated from a university in Karachi in 2016. He also took a couple of animal nutrition courses. [1]

Career

After graduating, Dossal worked for a couple of FMCG companies. He worked for P&G and left quickly because the work was somewhat boring. Dossal worked at an agency that managed the entire digital part for Unilever. Dossal worked for an agency that had many interns. By 2018 to 2019, he felt that his purpose was not being met. [1]

Waggles

Dossal said the name Waggles came from a session with interns at the agency. Waggles began in a home-based kitchen. Dossal said early Waggles products were tested with office colleagues and neighbours. [1]

Dossal said that when Waggles started, nearly every FMCG product made in Pakistan except pet food was locally made. He said that because Pakistan relies heavily on imported pet food, it should move towards making pet food locally. He said Waggles was meant to be a local brand that serves the local market and also exports from Pakistan. [1]

Waggles started with dog food, then added puppy food for smaller dogs, then moved into cat food. It began selling cat food in 2022. Dossal said cats are notoriously difficult water drinkers. One Waggles cat food variant has four pieces of boiled shrimp in each can, according to Dossal. [1]

Dossal said Waggles products have five to seven ingredients, and that all Waggles product offerings are grain-free. He said Waggles adds no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. Because it adds no colour, the colour of the food varies slightly. Dossal said the natural claims are backed by the ingredients, not only by the wording on the pack. [1]

Dossal said Waggles' ingredients are locally sourced. He said the can is the only part of the product that is imported, from China, and that most of the product is made in Pakistan. Dossal said Waggles is working to solve a supply chain problem with imported cans. He said Waggles now sources its chicken directly in Lahore. [1]

Waggles launched a pet food donation platform that Dossal described as the first of its kind. Waggles collaborated with Anoushey Ashraf on a donation drive that Dossal said is still running. [1]

Waggles sales and expansion

Dossal said Waggles moved early into e-commerce for pet food, and that this worked well. Waggles runs a direct-to-consumer retail channel in Pakistan, which Dossal said reached 33 cities. He said Waggles uses a subscription model because order values and repeat purchases are good. Dossal said Waggles has kept its pet food prices steady while other prices rose, and that it runs a nationwide 10 percent discount code. He said Waggles received about 1,500 sample requests in five days. [1]

Dossal said Waggles recorded about five crore rupees in revenue in the previous fiscal year, and that about 200 million rupees had been invested in the business. He said Waggles is 100 percent privately owned by its co-founders. Dossal said Waggles planned to begin retailing in Dubai, and that it plans to tap eight separate markets, including Africa, the Middle East and the UAE. He said Waggles is moving into more SKUs and product development. [1]

Views

Dossal said each person should do their part to keep animals safe in society. He said a 100 percent duty structure is already in place on imported pet food. He also said importers and retailers of pet food focus on margins rather than customer loyalty. [1]

Dossal said consumer confidence in trying new Pakistani products has increased. He said Pakistan has a large young population in which keeping pets is becoming normal. Dossal described himself as an optimist. He said he wants a large share of global pet food to come from Pakistan by 2050, and that Pakistan has the labour and agriculture to make quality pet food for export. [1]

Dossal said a manufacturer should operate as a proper registered setup, not a grey-scale operation. He said a company can manufacture or distribute, but not both. [1]

Personal life

Dossal said he does not have a pet of his own. [1]

Timeline

2016
Graduated from a university in Karachi.[1]
2018 to 2019
Felt his purpose was not being met while working in FMCG.[1]
2020
Waggles launched in January.[1]
2022
Waggles began selling cat food.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-07-06 Pakistan's first premium pet food brand, made in Karachi Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Rafae Dossal?

Rafae Dossal is a co-founder of Waggles, a pet food manufacturer. He was born and raised in Karachi. Dossal is chairman of a planned association of pet food manufacturers in Pakistan.[1]

What does Rafae Dossal do?

Rafae Dossal is one of three co-founders of Waggles, which makes wet pet food recipes. He is also chairman of a planned pet food manufacturers association. After graduating, Dossal worked for a couple of FMCG companies.[1]

Where did Rafae Dossal study?

Rafae Dossal graduated from a university in Karachi in 2016. He did his A-levels at a school in Karachi and joined the City School Darakhshan campus in grade 2, leaving after O-levels. Dossal also took a couple of animal nutrition courses.[1]

Where is Rafae Dossal from?

Rafae Dossal was born and raised in Karachi.[1]

What company did Rafae Dossal found?

Rafae Dossal is one of three co-founders of Waggles. Waggles launched in January 2020 and began in a home-based kitchen. It started with dog food, added puppy food for smaller dogs, and then moved into cat food.[1]

What is Rafae Dossal known for?

Rafae Dossal is known as a co-founder of Waggles, a pet food manufacturer. Dossal said Waggles products have five to seven ingredients and are grain-free. He is also chairman of a planned association of pet food manufacturers.[1]

Where does Waggles source its ingredients?

Rafae Dossal said Waggles' ingredients are locally sourced. He said the can is the only part of the product that is imported, from China. Dossal also said Waggles now sources its chicken directly in Lahore.[1]

What does Rafae Dossal think about pet food in Pakistan?

Rafae Dossal said that because Pakistan relies heavily on imported pet food, it should move towards making pet food locally. He said Pakistan has the labour and agriculture to make quality pet food for export. Dossal said he wants a large share of global pet food to come from Pakistan by 2050.[1]

References

  1. Pakistan's first premium pet food brand, made in Karachi . Thought Behind Things , 2022-07-06.
Show the source passages (62 statements)
  1. Dossal graduated from a university in Karachi in 2016. Yes, I graduated in 2016 if I'm not wrong. Yeah, 2016. From? From ZABIST, Karachi.
  2. Dossal was born and raised in Karachi. Born and bred in Karachi, bilkul.
  3. Dossal did his A-levels at a school in Karachi. I went to Southshore for my A-levels
  4. Dossal joined the City School Darakhshan campus in Karachi in grade 2 and left after O-levels. usse pehle City School Darakhshan campus, ek hota hai Karachi mein agar aap waqif hain usse, toh wahan grade 2 mein bharti hue the aur wahan se O-levels karke bahar nikle the.
  5. Dossal took a couple of animal nutrition courses. So, before that, I did a couple of animal nutrition courses
  6. After graduating, Dossal worked for a couple of FMCG companies. And uske baad phir I worked for a couple of FMCG industries.
  7. Dossal worked at an agency that managed the entire digital part for Unilever. I was working on the agency side, who managed the entire digital part for Unilever.
  8. Dossal worked for P&G and left quickly because the work was somewhat boring. FMCG mein gaya, P&G, literally, ke electrically kaam kiya, but jaldi se bhaag gaya wahan se kyunki thoda boring tha.
  9. After university, Dossal worked in FMCG, but by 2018 to 2019 felt his purpose was not being met. So, after university, FMCG mein kaam kara, lekin 2018-19 tak yeh feel ho raha tha ki yaar koi purpose pura nahi ho raha hai.
  10. Dossal worked for an agency that had many interns. I was working for this agency and we had this a lot of interns that came in over there
  11. Dossal said the name Waggles came from a session with interns at the agency. So, I sat down with those interns and I'm like, yaar aap hamare paas ek client aa raha hai aur usko banana hai pet food. Toh hum zara premium dog food banana hai unko toh aap uske andar naam-waam suggest karein. Toh Waggles was the name that came from there essentially.
  12. Waggles began in a home-based kitchen. yeh cheez start hui thi bilkul ek home-based kitchen se
  13. Dossal said that when Waggles started, nearly every FMCG product made in Pakistan except pet food was locally made. Us time pe humne identify kiya ki yaar Pakistan mein takreeban har tarah ki FMCG cheez ban rahi hai, except for pet food.
  14. Dossal said that because Pakistan relies heavily on imported pet food, it should move towards making pet food locally. Toh itni import reliance hai hamari country ki is cheez ke upar, so we should definitely like move towards creating pet food locally.
  15. Waggles launched in January 2020, before COVID hit, according to Dossal. No, we are a pre-COVID brand. We started in January and COVID hit in March 2020.
  16. Dossal said Waggles moved early into e-commerce for pet food, and that worked well. We moved really early on e-commerce for pet food and that worked brilliantly.
  17. Waggles started with dog food, then added puppy food for smaller dogs, then moved into cat food. We started off with dog food, then we moved into puppy food for smaller dogs and then we moved towards cat food
  18. Waggles began selling cat food in 2022. This was 2022 mein start hua hai cat food hamara.
  19. Dossal said cats are notoriously difficult water drinkers. Reason being ki yaar cats, for example, are notoriously difficult water drinkers.
  20. Waggles makes wet pet food recipes. So, we manufacture wet pet food recipes.
  21. Dossal described Waggles as a pet food manufacturer using simple, transparent ingredients. we manufacture pet food using very simple, uncomplicated, transparent ingredients.
  22. Dossal said Waggles products have five to seven ingredients. it's a 5-7 ingredient based product.
  23. Dossal said Waggles adds no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. we don't add any sort of artificial flavors, colors or preservatives to the food.
  24. Dossal said all Waggles product offerings are grain-free. hamari saari product offerings jo hain, woh grain-free hain.
  25. Dossal said Waggles' ingredients are locally sourced. woh locally sourced hain? Yes, 100%.
  26. Dossal said the can is the only part of Waggles' product that is imported, from China. The can is the only thing that we import from China
  27. Dossal said most of the Waggles product is made in Pakistan. I would say probably what 8, 90, 95% is made in Pakistan.
  28. Dossal said Waggles is working to solve a supply chain problem with imported cans. So, this is what we're also trying to sort out in our supply chain
  29. Dossal said Waggles was meant to be a local brand that serves the local market and also exports from Pakistan. Considering that we wanted to build a local brand that's serving the local market as well as exporting from Pakistan.
  30. Dossal said one Waggles cat food variant has four pieces of boiled shrimp in each can. hamari ek variant hai cat food ka fish and shrimp recipe in broth. So if you pop the can open, you will distinctly see four actual pieces of boiled shrimp in the can.
  31. Waggles launched a pet food donation platform that Dossal described as the first of its kind. It was a first of its kind tailor-built pet food donation platform
  32. Waggles collaborated with Anoushey Ashraf on a donation drive that Dossal said is still running. hence we collaborated with Anoushey on that as well and woh kaafi fruitful drive uski chali and woh abhi bhi live hai
  33. Dossal said each person should do their part to keep animals safe in society. each person needs to do their part to complete the objective of, you know, having animal secure in the society.
  34. Dossal said a 100 percent duty structure is already in place on imported pet food. 100% duty structure already in play hai
  35. Dossal said importers and retailers of pet food focus on margins rather than customer loyalty. kyunki jo importers hain ya retailers hain, unki koi customer ke saath loyalty nahi hai us cheez ke upar. They are concerned with the margins that are involved in the whole supply chain
  36. Dossal said Waggles planned to begin retailing in Dubai. isi tarah se humne wiggles.ae se Dubai mein retail karna start karna hai from next month.
  37. Waggles runs a direct-to-consumer retail channel in Pakistan. Jis tarah humne wiggles.pk se Pakistan mein retail karna apna direct-to-consumer channel start kiya tha
  38. Dossal said Waggles' direct-to-consumer business reached 33 cities in Pakistan. we scale that to 33 countries abhi, ah 33 cities in Pakistan abhi tak.
  39. Dossal said Waggles plans to tap eight separate markets, including Africa, the Middle East and the UAE. we plan on tapping eight separate markets, jiske andar Africa, Middle East aur UAE
  40. Dossal said Waggles recorded about five crore rupees in revenue in the previous fiscal year. so we clocked in about paanch crore rupaye ka revenue in pichle saal ke is fiscal year ke andar.
  41. Dossal said about 200 million rupees had been invested in the business. we are somewhere around 200 million rupees into the business already in terms of investment into Wiggles.
  42. Dossal is one of three co-founders of Waggles. there are three co-founders in total and this is 100% privately owned by us.
  43. Dossal said Waggles is 100 percent privately owned by its co-founders. this is 100% privately owned by us.
  44. Dossal said Waggles uses a subscription model because order values and repeat purchases are good. ek bahut hi subscription-based model ko lekar chalte hain, because we know ke yaar average order value accha hai aur repeat purchase hai
  45. Dossal said Waggles is moving into more SKUs and product development. We are going into more SKUs, more product development.
  46. Dossal said Waggles now sources its chicken directly in Lahore. Now we have graduated to the point ki we are sourcing our chicken from K&Ns directly in Lahore.
  47. Dossal said Waggles has kept its pet food prices steady while other prices rose. The prices of everything has gone up except for our pet food.
  48. Dossal said Waggles runs a nationwide 10 percent discount code. We are actually running a discount code with her name, a 10% discount code nationwide.
  49. Dossal said Waggles received about 1,500 sample requests in five days. we got around like say 1500 or so odd sample requests in a span of five days.
  50. Dossal said consumer confidence in trying new Pakistani products has increased. Toh usse yeh andaza hota hai ke consumer confidence Pakistan ke andar jo hai na of trying something new and wanting to shift on to it has increased.
  51. Dossal said Pakistan has a large young population in which keeping pets is becoming normal. Hamare paas ek youth ka ek insane bulge hai jo urbanization ke baad aur matlab us taraf chal pada hai jahan pe pets rakhna ek bahut hi normal si baat hai.
  52. Dossal described himself as an optimist. Uh Sir, I as a person am very uh optimistic.
  53. Dossal said he wants a large share of global pet food to come from Pakistan by 2050. I would want ki ek large number of contribution towards global pet food is coming from Pakistan.
  54. Dossal said Pakistan has the labour and agriculture to make quality pet food for export. Hamare paas labour hai, hamare paas agriculture hai, we have everything that we can utilize to make quality pet food for exports.
  55. Dossal said Waggles has taken four or five other Pakistani players on board for a planned pet food manufacturers association. we've already uh taken aboard four, five other players in Pakistan and we are wanting to make a pet food manufacturer association.
  56. Dossal is chairman of that pet food manufacturers association. I'm also the chairman for this association
  57. Dossal said he does not have a pet of his own. Achha, toh entire irony of this is, Muzamil, that I don't have a pet of my own.
  58. Dossal said early Waggles products were tested with office colleagues and neighbours. Plus, we tested with apne office mein colleagues ko diya, neighbors, neighbors ko diya.
  59. Dossal said Waggles' natural claims are backed by its ingredients, not only by the wording on the pack. it's not just a verbal thing that's written on the pack. It actually stands true to the claim.
  60. Dossal said Waggles adds no colour, so the food's colour varies slightly. aapke jo food mein aap koi color hi nahi add kar rahe ho na toh woh naturally uske andar slight variation aati hain.
  61. Dossal said a manufacturer should operate as a proper registered setup, not a grey-scale operation. bahut zaroori hai ke aap ek gray scale operation se ek proper registered setup ke saath aap kaam karein.
  62. Dossal said a company can manufacture or distribute, but not both. ya toh aap manufacture kar sakte hain ya aap distribution kar sakte hain, aap dono nahi kar sakte.