Dogsee Chew refused a UK ask to drop its Made in India label

Sneh Sharma, cofounder of Dogsee Chew, said a UK distributor once asked the brand to remove the Made in India label from its packaging. She was speaking at Inc42’s D2C & Retail Summit 2026, reported on 19 August 2026.

The request reflected perceptions at the time that India was not associated with premium manufacturing. Dogsee Chew declined. It instead positioned its Himalayan yak cheese treats as explicitly Indian in craft and origin.

The brand now derives 95 percent of its revenue from exports across more than 30 countries. Its first international inquiry came from Spain, followed by the UK, Europe and the US. Sharma said the move to exports was driven by necessity, because India’s pet care market at the time could not support the brand’s premium positioning and ingredient standards. She added that perceptions of Indian products have shifted substantially over the past decade.

Other panellists, from Wagh Bakri, Stelcore and Globbel, and Da Milano, stressed authenticity and craftsmanship. They also warned that regulatory compliance costs can undermine export profitability.

The operator read

Country of origin is not a fixed asset or a fixed liability. It is category dependent. In pet treats, ingredients and terrain are the story, so Indian origin carries the premium. In categories where the buyer’s mental benchmark sits in Germany or Japan, the same label does the opposite work. Decide which one you are in before you design the pack, not after the first distributor pushes back.

Then pair that decision with the compliance warning from the same panel, because the two interact directly. A credible origin story raises your price ceiling. Registration, testing, labelling and renewal costs raise your floor. Model both per market before you commit. Build a landed cost sheet for your top three export markets that carries certification and annual renewal costs as line items, not just freight and duty. A premium story on a market whose compliance load eats the margin is still a loss.