Global Pet Expo Takeaways: Chews

amount of interest and time given to the Earth Animal team.”

This year Rush Direct is celebrating its 20th anniversary. “For us, we’re moving forward; we’re getting a new look, we’re modernizing our packaging, we’re trying to emphasize our Ultra Chewy brand and our Ultra Chewy natural brand,” Herrenbruck said. “We’re going to innovate like we’ve never innovated before – we’ve got 10 to 20 concepts in the pipeline. I think what people are going to be surprised about is Rush is going to be your one-stop for innovation moving forward in treats and add-ons to your dog or cat’s diet. We think it will continue over the next three to four years. Our goal is to launch two to four significant game changer items in the category that will make us your one-stop shop for your treats. [At Global Pet Expo] You get to see what’s going on. I’ve always said, ‘While you’re thinking about it in this industry, somebody else is doing it.’ You have to stay ahead of the game. but it is great, as an example, our new look we can show that off at Global and get instant reaction from the retailers that stopped in. They have good ideas too and we take all of that into consideration and if there’s tweaks we need to make we’ll do it for the betterment of the brand.”

Canine’s Choice would like to personally meet with all new prospects and show them its line of products. “We can tailor a program to their needs,” Kramer said. “Canine’s Choice believes the personal touch is still a very important part of the B2B relationship. Canine’s Choice will be introducing rawhide alternatives in 2023. We also plan on upgrading all packaging.”

Vital Essentials would like for those who missed their booth to realize, “Vital Essentials is evolving our go to market strategy and approach as we deliver the best in quality freeze-dried and frozen food, treats and snacks for our pets,” Ebert said. “The evolution of the brand story is how all of this comes to life. We have always resembled a meat shop for pets and our new packaging and logo really bring this vision to life. Although we’re bringing in some fresh changes, what will remain constant is our ability to continue to deliver premium quality protein, along with our industry leading fill rate of 99.5 percent. To put it bluntly, we have the capacity and quality to deliver premium butcher cut quality proteins for our cats and dogs. To learn more, please contact the Vital Essentials sales team or one of our distribution partners so that you too can provide the best to your pets.”

The Earth Animal team believes skipping the Global Pet Expo means missing out on opportunities and competitive advantages those who attended gain access to. “Folks who did not attend missed out on some lively chats concerning our upcoming innovations and new products, specifically No-Hide Strips, the new Wisdom Air Dried dog food, and Nature’s Protection Skin Defense Chew, the first of our newly branded Earth Animal Apothecary line,” Moore said. “People who did not attend can catch up by contacting their local sales rep, connecting online, or going direct to our new Product Information Platform.”

“People who did not attend missed out on robust conversations and trainings on our new remedies, which as a scientist, I consider to be a true breakthrough in flea and tick prevention,” said Steve Kushner, PHD Earth Animal’s Product Formulation Scientist. “Clinical studies have been part of the product teams work and they are so very useful when reviewing product. It’s a good idea to catch up on these products by contacting your salesperson or viewing us online.”

For retailers who missed the M Pet Group booth, they should plan to meet face-to-face, call or email. The company believes missing a show puts retailers at a disadvantage. “They need to have some show they can attend, something they can do that gets them some visibility,” San Roman said. “It’s like anything in life, if you go there with a plan of attack and you get to see what’s happening in the industry, you can cover it all in one or two days as opposed to having to set up a Zoom call. I would say attending trade shows is critical to me if you want to be a leader in pet. If you don’t care about leadership roles or being on trend, then you don’t have to attend. Instead, you can just follow what everybody else is doing.”