Global Pet Expo Takeaways Private Label

The private label segment has always played a significant role in building consumers’ trust in retailers and appealed to those who value competitive prices. During this year’s Global Pet Expo private label manufacturers showed retailers they are here to help them navigate through establishing a proprietary brand and how to maintain demand with ease and confidence. One topic during the show was how retailers are making tough decisions about which national brands to continue carrying in their stores while exploring how their own label can complement their offering.

“It was a huge success,” said Nick Carter, Chief Revenue Officer for Value Pet Supplies. “We went in with the whole booth themed around the whole DIY clear packaging for resale. Collagen sticks were the focus and we had a couple hundred bags we were handing out to people, getting feedback and talking to folks. People were ridiculously excited about it. Someone said, ‘This was genius,’ which makes me laugh because it’s a clear bag of treats. It was one of those kinds of a-ha type of deals where people said ‘yes, this makes sense for my business, I want this.’ I feel like we exceeded our goals in terms of the responses we got for the DIY program and so that was very exciting.”

“At Global, we were excited to continue to build on enhanced private label solutions—private label is no longer just chicken and rice diets,” said Alphia Chief Commercial Officer Heather Govea. “Alphia is helping retailers move to more solutions-based diets, giving their products the same consumer appeal and solution-based stories as national brands. Alphia is built on a combined experience of more than 70 years. That foundation was built on trust, food safety and high-quality products. We pride ourselves on bringing scale and the ability to reach consumers across the country. We work to ensure we leverage our ability to innovate and procure unique and differentiated ingredients. We’re excited about expanding our ability to help our retailers fill more shelves and reach more pet parents.”

Whether or not they visited the

Phelps Pet Products booth during Global Pet Expo, the company is hopeful retailers realize, “First and foremost, they should know that Phelps Pet Products is the leading innovator of certified clean-label smokehouse style jerky dog treats,” said Rick Ruffolo, CEO and President. “We offer private label, contract manufacturing, and even three national brands where we put our expertise to the test. The best first step for a new customer often is to come to our website to explore. If, for example, they are interested in carrying our brands such as the Disney Table Scraps line, there is a tab where they can order right online —or get redirected to one of our distribution partners. Our website also has a ‘Contact Us’ option that sends an e-mail directly to me if someone has questions or would like a follow-up meeting.”

Based on the feedback from the show, the Value Pet Supplies team plans to add more of the DIY offerings, specifically in smaller pack sizes. “We launched with 25-count collagen and one-pound yak cheese as an example which are roughly $40 at MSRP items, and the feedback we got was, ‘Geez, if this was more like a $20 type item I would be all over it,’” Carter said. “In April we’re going to launch 10-pack and 5-pack collagen so more like the $10-20 MSRP packs, and we’re going to also launch 8-oz yak cheese so that will be more like a $20 MSRP item. We’re also going to be introducing additional products. We’re seeing a lot of success right now in the supply chain is starting to work in our favor so there’s more products we’re going to be able to be launching this year as well. We also have a bulk program which is treats in a box—package them however you want. That’s been successful surprisingly so since we launched it about a month ago.”

“We were thrilled to see so many of our innovations that we have been collaborating on ‘behind-the-scenes’ with different brands were being highlighted in several different booths, as well as in the New Products Showcase,” Ruffolo said. “Of course, I cannot share specifics, but it was gratifying for our team to see the results of many months of product development, sourcing, and production activities. Some of these initiatives went from concept-to-market in less than six months. One of my all-time favorite TV show lines was from the A-Team in the 80s when Colonel John ‘Hannibal’ Smith would say, ‘I love it when a plan comes together.’ While our plans might be a bit different than what Colonel Smith’s team had in mind, we all are humbled, excited, and appreciative to see that Phelps has become the ‘A-Team’ partner of choice for brands interested in innovating their dog treat, cat treat, and topper business.”

“The unsolicited feedback we got from showing people the DIY product was, ‘Oh this is great because we can’t make any money on national brands anymore,’” Carter said. “We used to carry more than 100 national brands five years ago, and we’ve systematically had to get out of that business and build up our house brand business because we saw the writing was on the wall. The nationally branded products that are going out through the discount outlets, a lot of times they can be purchased for cheaper than what’s on the price sheet. It makes it awfully hard to make money, so selling your own brand gives you an opportunity to put margin back into your business. That was the core of the excitement around the program.”

“That was definitely the biggest thing —their response to this idea was, ‘Wow, people love my brand, but I don’t have the means to purchase the materials, sort them, package them, but I can put a sticker on, and I know that people will buy them, and they trust my store,’” said Laurie Paszkiewicz, Value Pet Supplies President. “Their margins are shrinking on other brands so they’re looking for a way to continue to be able to make money but also grow their name and their customer base. All in all, everyone was very excited about this. The biggest reaction was: ‘All I have to do is put a label on it?’ That’s all you have to do; you don’t have to spend a ton of money, there’s no order minimums, it’s always free freight, you can buy as little or as much as you want as frequently as suits your needs. They were like, ‘Oh gosh, that’s easy and user friendly’ and everyone was excited.”