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| Baker Lee Eun-ju shows off a cake she baked for dogs, at her shop in Mangwon-dong, western Seoul. /Courtesy of Lee Eun-ju |
By Kim Se-jeong
Lee Eun-ju, 30, is no ordinary baker. Every day, she bakes cookies and cakes but they're not for humans.
They're for pets only, mainly dogs.
Her tiny shop called Just Jeomrye, located in Mangwon-dong, western Seoul, sells more than 10 kinds of baked snacks. Jeomrye is the name of her dog.
"I had a blog and a YouTube channel about making snacks for pets. People began to like what I was doing and I decided to open a shop," Lee said Thursday during an interview with The Korea Times.
Baked goods for dogs have an important ingredient replacement.
Instead of flour, Lee uses oatmeal and ground meat, often chicken or duck. Mixing them with butter, eggs, cheese and ground vegetables, she prepares the dough.
The smell is so good when the cookies are done they make even human mouths water.
"Some customers tried them but they taste bland," she said. That's because she doesn't use sugar and salt. "Nutritionally speaking, they're bad for humans."
She also makes vegetable cookies and cow liver cookies for "dogs with special needs." Vegetable cookies are for dogs with meat allergies. Cow liver cookies are good for dogs with an excessive amount of tears, a type of allergy, she said.
She also makes non-baked goods. Dried salmon is a popular item. "We buy fresh salmon from the market. Glazing it with melted cheese, we dry it in a machine for several hours. Dogs like it a lot." She said fresh salmon makes a big difference and customers know it.
But fresh ingredients mean expensive products.
A cookie using chicken meat costs 1,000 won. Twenty-five grams of dried salmon costs 2,500 won.
"Certainly, it's more expensive. Compared to those products made by companies, what I make is up to three times more expensive," she said. "Yet, this shows the people who come to my shop really care for their animals and I can feel their affection when they're here. And I enjoy that."
She said her cookies and snacks aren't for cats.
"Cats need softer food. What I have, except for dried salmon, doesn't fit cats."
Her pet baking career began in 2015 when Jeomrye arrived at her home.
"My sister adopted her from two nurses who were sisters," she said.
"One day, I saw her eating a sausage which had a strong smell of chemical seasoning. I was sure it wasn't good for her and I thought of making sausage at home."
She enjoyed making snacks for Jeomrye and began sharing what she did on YouTube, as well as creating a blog that drew fans.
Later, she was invited to write columns about pets for an internet news outlet. Right now, she writes for an animal blog run by Naver and Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times.
"I care about what I feed Jeomrye. I want her to eat healthy food. Likewise, more and more people care about the health of their pets," she said.
Almost two months after opening the shop, she hasn't had a day off yet. "It's a lot more work than I thought, but I like what I am doing," she said, adding a special thanks to her husband who helps her a lot.
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