September 2022 Pet Insight

Pet SeptemberInsight2022 Inside Special Report: Hollywood Feed 2 • Market Focus: Dallas 6 • SuperZoo Takeaways Series 10 • Leading Women in Pet 32 • Q&A Interview: Shari White, Petco, The Health + Wellness Co. 42 Women in Pet Pet Insight lauds the pet industry’s top businesswomen, unified by their ability to coach, passion for the industry, initiative and optimism

Acquisitions

History

Hollywood Feed began in the 1950s as a small feed store, but later expand ed and shifted its focus from feed to pet food and supplies. In 2006, Shawn Mc Ghee and partners bought three Holly wood Feed stores and was able to grow the business to 16 locations in just five years. Each year after, Hollywood Feed expanded its store count through open ing new locations and various acquisi tions.Hollywood Feed set out on a mission to offer high-quality products, excel lent customer service and advice. The retailer has prioritized its employees, consumers and community. Hollywood Feed has dedicated its time to giving back to the community such as offer ing online classes, supporting more than 150 animal rescue groups, mak ing donations to shelters and hosting adoption events. Hollywood Feed has several Made in the US lines that have expanded over the years such as its Mississippi Made, Pennsylvania Made and Georgia Made product lines. These items in these product lines are sourced from the US and manufactured by Americans within the communities the company serves. The Mississippi Made products, especially its dog beds, have grown in popularity over the years and have become a staple and signature of the company. Alongside this, Hollywood Feed’s Georgia Smoked Jerky is part of the company’s Georgia Made products, which features single-sourced proteins such as wild boar and venison, chick en and salmon flavors—all sourced in Georgia. The company also sources several of its all-natural dog treats from Pennsylvania such as its jerky and burg ers, which are all made in Pennsylvania along with its chicken, turkey, pork and beef treats.

the growth the compa ny has seen and acquired, Hollywood Feed has set itself apart within the in dustry. The company’s associates com plete more than 40 hours of training every year—the training is conducted by veterinarians, nutritionists, vendors and behaviorists. The retailer offers high-quality foods, Made in the US prod ucts, treats and toys while striving to give each pet and their owners a unique, one-of-a-kind shopping experience.

“There’smembers.”always four dynamics I look for in an acquisition,” McGhee told Pet Insight in April 2022. “It starts with people and an alignment around the purchase of the customer and the cus tomer experience with the people I think is always first and foremost. Then we get into product. Within the pet in dustry, you have a varied product as sortment and product focus and strate gy. In some of the larger categories you have people that are out selling fish and hamsters and small animal categories reptiles and all of that, which we don’t participate in, so it’s much easier to do an acquisition with a group of stores that are aligned around canine and fe line, for the most part. Then I think it’s market. When you look at the market it’s really the adjacencies within the states and the adjacencies with our ge ography that start to make sense, and of course product aligns around the customer and market and where the directive of the customer segmentation you’re looking at going after is. And last, I think it just has to be a good fit overall. I think all the components have to come together and you have to have the right capital markets to make it make sense economically, and you have to have a willing participant in a seller, and you have to have a willing participant in a buyer, and I think that’s what aligned with this particular transaction.”

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Through several acquisitions and expansions, the company has grown to 98 locations. In 2011, Hollywood Feed acquired All About Pets, a family-owned dog and cat food retailer. All About Pets had three locations at the time that were later rebranded as Hollywood Feed stores. According to the company, the acquisition made sense for sever al reasons, but one was location—All About Pets stores were all located with in a mile of an existing Hollywood Feed stores.In2018, the retailer acquired Rucker Pets, which had four Atlanta-based loca tions. The transaction grew Hollywood Feed’s presence to 16 stores in Atlanta. According to media reports, McGhee ac knowledged the reason behind the ac quisition and why it made sense for the company.“Therecent trend of regional brands consolidating made the timing right for this latest acquisition,” said McGhee. “A key component to our growth is strate gic acquisition of like-minded brands in pet-friendly markets—and Atlanta tops thatCindylist.”and Scott Rucker, owners of the company mentioned, “We have loved every minute of growing this business and meeting all of you. Your support for the past 12 years has been unparalleled. The time has come for Scott and me to see what the next chapter in life holds forAlongsideus.”

When looking at the alignment of val ues between PetPeople and Hollywood Feed, McGhee mentioned it starts with the customer experience.

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Recently, Hollywood Feed acquired PetPeople, which was the largest acqui sition of Hollywood Feed’s history and one of the largest in the history of the pet industry. This acquisition expand ed the retailer’s presence to five new states.

Hollywood Feed

“We’re thrilled to welcome PetPeo ple’s team members and customers into our family,” said McGhee in news reports. “A like-minded retailer, they share our dedication to providing the highest level of care, products and ser vice to our customers and their furry family

SpecialINSIGHT Report

Hollywood Feed has become a na tional powerhouse in the pet indus try with numerous new locations open ing every year. The company is noted for its courteous service, experienced workers and high-quality pet supplies and products. As an industry leader and pet specialty retailer, Hollywood Feed has also been Pet Insight’s fastest grow ing chains for the last three years.

PetPeople, based in Columbus, OH, offers premium pet food and treats as well as several services. Hollywood Feed mentioned the retailer aligns with its mission and values including its commitment to helping local animal rescues and shelters.

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New Puppy?

While Hollywood Feed is well known for its Made in the US product lines, its Mississippi Made bed line has become the most wellknown. According to media reports, McGhee expressed that the company want ed to create a line of dog beds that were not only high-quality, but would also make a difference in the industry and environ ment. During the inception of this product line, the Mississippi economy was declining, and the compa ny decided to provide those within the community a job and a chance to thrive.

Mississippi Made

The company has continued to ex

Looking at the future and opportuni ties for growth, McGhee expressed that the prospects are endless.

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ployee education. I have learned a lot and have been able to consult experts in the field about what is good for dogs to digest and what ingredients I should be using,” Sarah Nicholson, Director of Bakery Services said.

Growth Over the Years

— Shawn HollywoodMcGhee,Feed

While looking at the rest of 2022, Mc Ghee said, “you’re going into the fourth quarter, which historically has been the peak time of the year, and there are a lot of unknowns and it’s going to be diffi cult and very challenging. The last piece is we think there are other opportuni ties out there that may present them selves to us and we would be open to those acquisitions should they come at the right time and the right place.”

Special Report: Hollywood Feed

pand over the years through growing its footprint, but also through expand ing its offerings and services. In 2019, Hollywood Feed began offering sameday delivery services using their own drivers. The company purchased Nis san Versas and expanded its services from five days a week with a two-hour window to every day of the week. Each location has its own driver and service options.In2020, Hollywood Feed launched online classes through Hollywood Feed University. Education is at the heart of the company, and these classes focus on pet’s nutrition, physical and emotional health, behavioral issues and training.

The retailer began manufacturing and selling its beds in 2012. The line of beds is made with materials from recycled plastic bottles and feature REPREVE recycled fibers. “We pride ourselves on being a good steward of the environment, so finding a way to use the highest level of recycled mate rials in our products was the next logi cal step,” said McGhee. “The number 31 next to the water bottle symbol on our beds means that the fabric from just one of our dog beds consists of fibers from approximately 31 recycled water bot tles. We’re proud to give these plastic bottles a second life providing comfort to our four-legged family members.”

“The individuals in the PetPeople stores are very motivated towards serv ing the customer and delivering a supe rior customer experience at the store level,” he said. “I think that aligns very well with being similar, the saying goes, almost across the board within the Hollywood Feed sets of stores. Those things are just natural.”

“I think there is more opportunity to day than there’s ever been. What’s hap pened with the consolidation—a typ ical mode is that a manufacturer gets purchased and the first thing they want to do is go to the larger market which means you’re going to move into food, drug and mass, and that moves them out

of the independent pet space or moves them out of the pet spaces as an exclu sive,” McGhee told Pet Insight in light of its recent acquisition. “And I think that creates an opportunity for that new, young, brand and that new young idea to come into the space and create that niche opportunity. I think the second thing is capital has never cost less, so the No.1 thing that every new brand needs is more money. And if that money comes to you at a lower cost, it’s going to improve your chances for success. Thirdly, I think what hap pened was if you look at the pan demic and go in and look at the math, the number of businesses in the US came close to doubling during the pandemic, so you’ve had this huge entrepreneurial flashpoint that was fu eled by a lot of people having either tak en buyouts or a lot of people were able to get stimulus or a lot of people were able to acquire capital at a really attrac tive rate, and what that does is they’ve gone out and created new business es across many fronts, at a level we’ve never seen in the US. And I think it’s too early to say exactly how it plays out, but I think that if I was an entrepreneur to day, I would be more emboldened to be more aggressive and go after areas in the pet space. It’s much easier to create a nice business in a $200 billion indus try than a $100 billion industry.”

In the hopes of providing pets with high-quality, all-natural and decadent treats, Hollywood Feed opened its own bakery in Tennessee in 2016. McGhee opened the store after he had been struggling to find a tasty treat pets love with healthy “Hollywoodingredients.Feedisgreat with em

PG 4 / PET INSIGHT

“This was never a ‘We started with one store and it was a hobby and we built it into multi stores.’ There was a plan from the very beginning to go national and be a national chain, and we have continuously reassessed the plan and iterated on that depending on what’s happening in the industry. But our intention has always been to continue to grow and to continue to get better and better at what we do. And I think many of the other chains that we’ve seen out there, an individual or a family started with one store or two stores, and then they became four or five and at some point that challenged them. We’ve always had this as the plan and my experience is running very large, multi-billion dollar retailers, so being able to see the future because of my experience is a huge advantage.”

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Pet Supermarket has been in the business for more than 40 years and now includes more than 200 locations. The company carries more than 2,500 brands and offers several services to its consumers such as grooming, dog washing stations, adoption and VIP

ing banning the retail sale of puppies, which will put the entire Petland fam ily out of business. I understand that the purpose is to stop puppy mills. No one should buy from puppy mills. I tru ly support this call. However, we work with responsible, licensed and vetted breeders only. My breeders are licensed and inspected by the USDA.”

Patio was founded in 2005, and is a pet care facility that offers training, boarding, grooming and trans portation services. In an interview with Pet Insight, April Prohaska outlined how she started the company and how The Pooch Patio has grown in the Dal las market. “I moved to Dallas in 1994 and decided to pursue a career working with pets in 2000 after leaving the cor porate world,” said Prohaska. “I created and started an in-home pet sitting and dog walking business called Paws Pet Services which grew to have 14 employ ees and more than 2,100 clients within three years. In 2004, I began developing and strategically planning my business plan for The Pooch Patio. My goal was to bring traditional pet services like day care, grooming and boarding together with the social aspect of offering a space for dog owners and their companions to sit, stay and mingle.”

While some pet stores and their own ers went unaffected, Petland Dallas Owner Jay Suk mentioned the ban could put him out of business. “This store has supported my family, my 30 employees and the Dallas community for 14 years,” he said. “My store generated $2.4 mil lion of tax revenue for the city for the last three years. The city is consider

Not unlike other cities in the US, Dal las has been facing illegal dumping of pets within the city. In a recent press conference, it was established there are more than 60 locations that are used as chronic dumping sites within the city.

“The Pooch Patio opened its doors in 2004 and was the first business of its

Founded in 1988 by Harry Shallop and Jack Berry in Michigan, Pet Sup plies Plus has grown to include 659 total locations. The company became a franchise and was acquired by Sentinel Capital Partners. In 2020, the company partnered with several pet food brands to provide shelters, rescues and adop tion organizations more than 16,000 bags of pet food. The company also has a branch called Pet Supplies Plus Cares, which has helped find homes for more than 4,000 pets each year.

Petcare Clinic services. Pet Supermar ket works with several rescues to host adoption events and get pet parents ready to bring an animal into their homes and lives.

While many cities are known for being pet-friendly, Dallas has unique qualities that have helped it be come a hub for pet owners and retailers in the market. Looking at the state of Texas, 58.2 percent of households own a pet, 43.4 percent own a dog and 20.5 percent own a cat. In Dallas specifically, there are more than 600,000 dogs and cats in households.

CityVet was founded in 1999 by Chip Cannon in Oak Lawn in Dallas. The com pany had a goal of creating a unique and high-quality pet care experience for clients. There are more than 20 loca tions with five in Dallas taking up 2.78 percent of the market. There are three banners under the company: CityVet, CityPet Supply and Ruffit. Ruffit focuses on boarding, grooming and daycare ser vices while CityPet provides pharmacy services in store and online. CityVet offers the primary veterinary services and is led by Cannon.

Dallas Independents:

Pet Supplies Plus: 19 locations

Pet Supermarket: 6 locations

There are 180 independent pet spe cialty retail locations in Dallas. There are 33 single-store retailer locations, which occupies 18.33 percent of the market, and there are nine indepen dent pet retailers that have multiple locations, which holds 5 percent of the market.ThePooch

“Illegal dumping affects quality of life, property values, contributes to blight and hurts the perception of our city,” said Mayor Pro Tem Erik Wilson. Penal ties for illegal dumping range from 180 days in jail to two years in state prison plus fines. City officials urged citizens to call 911 if they witness illegal dumping and note the vehicle license plate and suspect description to assist authori ties.The Dallas City Council passed the or dinance to ban the sale of pets in stores across the city. “While Dallas is a place for businesses to thrive and it’s clearly lucrative, we must also be mindful of trends and practices around this issue,” said Councilwoman Gay Donnell Willis. “So, even with the passage of an amend ed ordinance, residents can still get a puppy or kitten of their choice in Dallas. They can either adopt or rescue an an imal from one of Dallas’ many shelters and give that pet a home or they can re search a breeder to find a pet they like.”

Hollywood Feed: 22 locations

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The city is known for its hot weather, but the city and community have imple mented several ways to ensure pets are healthy and happy, but also for strays and rescues, that they have a chance at finding a forever home.

Dallas

CityVet: 20 locations

Although the banning of pets in stores was difficult for some retailers, it opened a door to the opportunity for partnering with rescues and shelters to help hold adoption events. Leading retailers have taken advantage of this chance to help the community grow and prosper while giving animals a second opportunity.

Beginning in the 1950s, Hollywood Feed has grown to become a pow erhouse in the marketplace. Owner Shawn McGhee and his wife purchased the company in 2006. The company has played a valuable role in the community and partnered with several rescues and shelters while hosting adoption events at select locations. Hollywood Feed supports more than 150 animal rescue groups while contribution through do nations and hosting events to provide affordable microchipping and fundrais ers.

services are and it is our desire to ex ceed our patrons’ expectations through effective and honest communication, safety for our staff and our pack are al ways a priority and being fully transpar ent with our clients.”

Nora Crosby, Owner of Dog City, ex plained how she started her company, which offers doggie day care, walking,

boarding and grooming services to Up town Dallas in Victory Park. “I was in the broadcast business for more than 30 years and wanted to do something different,” Crosby said. “I took a year off to kind of sleep on it and see what came my way and what made me happy.

I wanted to build something that was upscale for people specifically that live in an upscale area like the Victory Park area. So, I decided to get a good location where there were the young profes sionals that were looking for good ser vice and came across a great location in Victory Park in Dallas, which is one of the upper scale areas. I found a great lo cation there and built the location from ground zero—it was nothing but a shell, so I designed it. It is very colorful, very friendly, very dog oriented. Everything from the floors to the air they breathe. I built it based on giving excellent service to that Crosbyclientele.”highlighted the importance of ensuring her clients are comfort able and satisfied with the level of care their pets are receiving—there are no secrets, and everything is out in the open, which is something pet parents look for and appreciate. “They want to make sure their pets are in good hands, and that’s why I built something that is transparent. People can walk by and look through the window and see their pets. I also have cameras in the daycare areas where they can always check in on their pets. That was their main concern; taking their pet back and not knowing where they were going. So, transparen cy is a big factor and that’s why we built a glass house and see their dogs or look into the cameras.”

“I focus more on the quality versus quantity,” she added. “I have had op portunities to take a bigger space next door, but I felt like I was going to lose that quality service that we provide.”

style and a happy pet. The Pooch Patio will continue to strive to provide our ex ceptional high quality and professional pet services for our corporate minded client and our stay-at-home pet owners wanting the very best for their compan ions. We recognize how integral our

I came to the con clusion that taking care of dogs was really my passion.

kind to open its doors offering all-en compassing pet facilities in the coun try,” Prohaska continued. “Dallas is one of the top 10 most pet-friendly cities in the country with more than 80 percent of pet owners who consider their pets to be family members. I could not have chosen a better market to introduce my business concept. We sustained our small busi ness operations for 14 years in a 3,300-squarefoot space and then in 2018 moved the business to an 11,000-square-foot facility. With the business move, I decid ed to focus our operations on high qual ity, professional services only, and add ed dog training, pet taxi services and cat boarding to our revenue streams.”

I also saw oth er places where I would take my dog and see cer tain things that I would change and make better.

Prohaska summarized what she would like pet parents and others in the industry to understand about the mar ket and how the company has been able to thrive. “Pet owners will continue to have a need to socialize, train, groom, maintain and board their companions,” she said. “Our broad array of services is integral to maintaining a healthy life

“Our clients entrust us with the care of their companions, and we take that responsibility very seriously,” she add ed. “Our clients know that we cater to the safety of our pack and our staff first and foremost and we do an exception al job acclimating daily to what is best for each environment based on staffing, number of dogs, their temperaments and our unpredictable weather.”

“The rest of this year and in 2023, we are looking to expand into delivery and online orders,” she continued. “We are hoping to cater to our customers that work long hours or that do not have time to come in and shop since most have gone back into the office.”

Lauren Ermish, Owner of Uptown Pup, expressed how the company de cided to open its location in Dallas. “My family lives in Dallas, and we wanted to be close to them,” said Ermish. “Family is very important to both my husband and me, so it seemed best to be nearby. We set up shop in a cute little neighbor hood called State Thomas. There is al most a 1-to-1 ratio of humans to dogs, which was a large deciding factor to our decision to set up shop here.”

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Market Focus: Dallas

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When looking at future opportuni ties, Prohaska mentioned that the chal lenges faced within the last two years hit everyone hard, but the company still is moving forward. “As with other small businesses across the country, our op erations have been severely impacted by the pandemic, supply chain and la bor shortages,” she said. “We are very grateful to our loyal patrons for their continued support as we have survived the drastic effects that wreaked havoc in 2020 and 2021. Our goal is to miti gate the continual staffing shortages by the end of the year, and to get our newer employees fully trained in their roles.”

While characterizing pet owners in the area, Ermish has noticed several unique qualities over the years. “We have a lot of customers that work long hours and want to offer the best men tal and physical exercise for their pets,” said Ermish. “In Dallas, quite a few dogs have seasonal allergies, protein aller gies, and skin and coat concerns. Their owners are looking for opportunities to improve stools and their skin when it comes to their pets.”

“We are very grateful to our loyal patrons for their continued support as we have survived the drastic effects that wreaked havoc in 2020 and 2021. Our goal is to mitigate the continual staffing shortages by the end of the year, and to get our newer employees fully trained in their roles.” — April Prohaska, The Pooch Patio

try, and the innovation in these areas are stronger than ever this year,” he said.Interest in premium foods, specialty diets and supplements also continue to grow, said “AlternativeMason.proteins, raw and freezedried foods, all the unique diets that promote health and longevity are popu lar,” he said. “Pet owners have shown an increasing interest in offering their pets an elevated quality of food and nutri tion. Supplements, including CBD prod ucts, are more popular than ever to help aid anxious or arthritic pets, as well as those with chronic health issues. “

surge in new pet adoptions during the pandemic. Pet parents are not compro mising on their pet’s care and are not necessarily switching to value-based brands.”AIand smart products are grabbing a space in the pet world, guided by con sumers’ desire for convenience and in formation-sharing.“Theselatesttech products, like smart litter boxes, interactive toys and puzzles, app-controlled feeding bowls, and even health monitoring devices help pet owners both enhance the lives of their pets and manage the day to day responsibilities that come along with pet ownership,” said Mason.

Elsewhere, supply chain logistics re main very much a hot issue, and retail ers are still actively looking for available product, reflected Holly Sher, President of Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Company.

Participants, whether attendees or exhibitors, start planning months in advance, scheduling meetings, secur ing inventory and supplies for demon strations and planning strategies to ensure they’re not wasting any time at the three-day event. Some report that this year’s attendance seems to have bounced back to pre-pandemic levels, allowing them to enjoy a blissfully busy show and going home with renewed vigor to start looking ahead to the end of the year and beyond.

“Manufacturers and retailers alike continue to experience staffing issues, ingredient shortages, long lead times, price increases and fuel costs. WPA is committed to helping pet retailers nav igate these challenges and encourage pet retailers to be flexible and resource ful to deal with these disruptions. Being part of SuperZoo allows pet profession als the opportunity to build stronger relationships with partners for both ex hibitors and retailers, which is key for this exact reason,” he said.

“SuperZoo is known as a launching pad for new products within the indus

The pet industry continues to see the residual challenges and disruptions brought on by the pandemic, like supply chain issues and inflation, said Mason.

There was a lot of innovation on dis play at the New Product Showcase as well as the area dedicated to Emerging Brands this year.

“This year’s New Product Showcase featured more than 900 innovative and trend-setting products, including our 2022 Judges Choice Award for Best New-to-market Pet Product, Dinbeat’s UNO Wearable Harness, which is a wearable vest that can be used by vet erinarians and pet owners to wirelessly monitor a pet’s vitals,” he said.

The variety and quality of discussions at SuperZoo are a testament to the fact the event is considered by many as an important touchstone every year to come together and assess the collective pulse of the “SuperZooindustry.continues to be the pet industry’s largest and most compre hensive show in North America. There are more buyers, more exhibitors, and more products at SuperZoo than any other pet retail event in North America. We can’t wait to do it bigger—and even better—next year,” said Mason.

Mason continued, “And while there are these challenges, we also see op portunities—prices have gone up, yet shoppers have not cut back or traded down. There continues to be a signifi cant demand for pet products due to the

It’s been well established that the in vestment of time and finances for stakeholders to participate in the World Pet Association’s (WPA) annual Super Zoo gathering, North America’s largest pet product marketplace, is far from trivial. The event is very much worth it given the unparalleled access and op portunities it offers for suppliers, man ufacturers, distributors and retailers to meet with, learn from, and collaborate with each other on endeavors that ul timately serve the best interest of pet parents and their pets.

“For us, I have never been busier at a show,” she said, lamenting that she had to turn down more inquiries that she would have liked in order to keep the business sustainable for her current partners. “We’ve had stores that have been with us from day one and on pri vate label that we’re not going to make it hard for them. They’ve been loyal and I want to make sure they have received product. It’s nice to know that you’re loved or wanted for whatever reason, but we said ‘no’ more than I, unfortu nately, wanted to say. It was hard.”

Officially, this year’s event welcomed more than 16,000 pet professionals from 25 countries and all 50 states. Ac cording to Vic Mason, President of the WPA, “SuperZoo 2022 was a complete success. Attendees and exhibitors alike expressed their overwhelming satisfac tion at the display of innovation, buying opportunities and overall quality and diversity of exhibitors and retailers in attendance. Our 331,500 square foot show floor featured more than 1,000 exhibitors from every pet product cate gory and more than 900 products made their debut in SuperZoo’s sold-out New Product Showcase. These products and exhibitors were featured within seven curated show floor areas: Natu ral and Health, Specialty and Lifestyle, Farm and Feed, Aquatics, Reptiles and Small Animals, Groomers Marketplace, Emerging Brands and the New Product Showcase. This year, we welcomed 262 first-time exhibitors and 72 emerging brands.”Among industry trends, pet wellness and pet tech are grabbing the spotlight, with sustainability following close be hind, according to Mason.

The WPA offers some guidelines and tips to keep in mind in planning for next year.“It is helpful to have clear goals like connecting with key contacts or learn ing a new skill, but it is just as import ant remain open to all the experiences SuperZoo has to offer. Walking the show floor will result in serendipitous finds that can only happen here because of our commitment to bringing in new and emerging brands who are not featured elsewhere,” he said.

PG 10 / PET

SuperZooINSIGHT Takeaways

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show retailers that we have true value for their displays.”

SuperZooINSIGHT Takeaways

Moose Pet Wear anticipated expand ing its reach and network within the pet industry at the show. “We hope very much to write a lot of new business,” Foster said previously. “We do fairly well in the pet industry. It’s a part of our overall business, but I would like very much to increase our dealer network and to continue to grow with our exist ing retailers in terms of quantities and spectrum of products they’re carrying that we Havingmake.”theoption to attend in-per son tradeshows taken away from them gave suppliers in the collars category a newfound appreciation for seeing in dustry peers face-to-face. The ability to shake hands or even hug colleagues and friends in a vibrant and energetic atmo sphere is something people won’t ever again take for granted.

Timberwolf wanted retailers to see that the company made it through the last two years unscathed and continued to assist its pet specialty retailers with products that would drive foot traffic. “Our huge variety of designs guarantees there is a style for every store/retailer, season and holiday,” Ying said. “We will be highlighting our fourth quarter hol iday assortment with designs for Hal loween, Hanukkah and Christmas.”

“Seeing a product online and hear ing about or talking about a product are important,” Dungey said. “However, the third element of interacting with— that is, physically handling—a product makes a big difference in both connect ing with and understanding a product. Seeing a product in person makes a difference in knowing how to present a product to the consumer. For our lines, we found that virtual shows, although an interesting concept, didn’t work very well and that the in-person shows are the most desirable.”

As they prepared for this year’s Su perZoo, collars exhibitors were concerned with making a stellar first impression on retailers, and were rest less to rekindle existing alliances with partners they’ve been distanced from for the past few years. Nerves aside, these category leaders were primed to exhibit an impressive array of new products and packaging and collabo rate with retailers on how to drive store traffic and sales as consumers gradually return to a sense of normal.

“SuperZoo has always been a more independent retailer focused trade show for us,” said Kim Stout, President of Coastal Pet Products. “Whereas Glob al Pet Expo tends to be more of the big box, and that goes back to some of the history of the two shows. Last year was the first SuperZoo since Covid so it was a bit slower. We went into this year hop ing for it to be busier, and it way exceed ed expectations. The show had a lot of energy. Not just on the buying floor but with the networking events. I think the show was a nice way to offset the pan demic fatigue.”

“After the past two tumultuous years, our primary concern is just to stay the course,” Felix Ying, Timberwolf Pet Products President said in a pre-show interview. “We have the most extensive braided product line in the pet industry, so, at this time, we feel that our focus should be on the customers and doing whatever we can to maintain the best possible price and service structure.”

“We still see in the category a lot of variety both in materials aesthetical ly and in functionality,” she continued. “Lots of bells and whistles options. Not just collars but harnesses as well. We have harnesses that have special hard ware and are made with different ma terials. There is a lot of variety to the aesthetic design to the materials and theFromfunctionality.”theperspective of a World Pet Associaton board member, Stout said what worked well for the show was the opportunities for networking. Some were formal such as breakfast events, others were impromptu and the types of networking opportunities ranged from social to educational. “In general what worked well, is the WPA board organized networking events outside of the tradeshow events, and I thought what worked really well this year was the variety of networking events,” she said. “I saw people set up impromptu networking events. Some of the formal and informal networking opportunities helped to create a lot more awareness of other opportunities and other energy

“The economy is a concern to all of us,” said Auburn Leathercrafters Pres ident Anita Dungey before the show. “But first and foremost, we are looking forward to seeing our customers faceto-face, getting feedback on new prod ucts and services, and networking with both customers and peers.”

Up Country was excited to see all its retail partners in person at this year’s show, many for the first time in two years. “We love the energy, ideas and feedback we receive at SuperZoo,” Dig ital Marketing Manager, Joanna Hunt told Pet Insight in the months leading up to TheSuperZoo.tradeshows

PG 12 / PET

Moose Pet Wear has participated in have proven retail ers are willing, able and anxious to get back to conducting business in a way that resembles pre-Covid practices. “As a result of that it’s imperative that we put our best foot forward at SuperZoo so that they’re getting the best value for their investment,” Thomas Foster, CEO of Strapworks Family of Brands that in cludes Moose Pet Wear, said prior to the show. “But they’re also seeing what we have to offer their customers through them so basically we’re looking at this as almost a once-in-a-lifetime opportu nity that transpired due to some really horrible circumstances. The reality is, as we come out of this, as the retail mar ket reopens, especially with brick and mortar, that we’re hoping that we can

At the Auburn Leathercrafters booth, retailers had access to the company’s recent offerings. “New designs, new colors and new items at the same price points as current lines, which means that we’ll have new things for you and your customers to look at without up setting the apple cart,” Dungey said.

in the industry. The show has so many opportunities to network socially as well as network educationally. It makes the three days go quick. My advice for best practices, like anything, go into the event prescheduling what is important for you to attend. Leave time for your self to explore and spend time on those things that are new or that you want to learn more about.”

Collars

Within the dog toys category, lead ing manufacturers were able to showcase their latest products while getting an idea of the newest trends and innovations within the category. Expec tations were high going into the show this year, and according to some cate gory leaders, the show exceeded those expectations.Beforethe show, Adam Baker So daPup Founder and CEO, mentioned what was on the company’s mind going into SuperZoo this year.

Making pet toys for more than 20 years, Spunky Pup has grown to in clude toys in multiple categories: Glow in the Dark, Flashing, Tough, USA-Made, Eco-Friendly/Sustainable and Organic Cotton Toys, Interactive, Launching & Flying and Plush. Ward Myers, Spunky Pup President, emphasized the show was a huge success and focused in on some of the trends the company noticed while at “ShowSuperZoo.wasoneof the best; exceeded my expectations,” Myers said. “A lot of good customers showed up and sus tainable. Durable toys are trending big time. [Although], we are probably one of the most innovative when it comes to toys and treats—always something new and fun at Spunky Pup’s booth.”

Susan McCann, National Marketing Manager for Ethical Products said in preparation for the show, “We are look ing forward to this year’s show and connecting with our distributor and retailer partners. We have several new product lines and programs launching at the show and have partnered with our distributors to offer sales for the in dependent pet stores.”

“As we are all feeling more confident that we are moving out of the pandem ic, business is returning to pre-pandem ic feeling and by that we mean we are investing more in the innovation side of the business as opposed to supply chain and distribution issues,” Williams said. “We really hope retailers will take away that we are investing in innovation e.g., new Toppl, new treat formulations, new holiday products as well as investing in US manufacturing. We now operate two factories in Montana that are fully operational delivering products on time across the US and to our distributors around the world. We are looking for ward to a strong 4th quarter and fulfill ing all holiday orders. We are excited to be back at SuperZoo stronger than ever with new products and even more ca pacity.”Scott Ragan, Managing Partner and CEO of SmarterPaw, spoke about the company’s latest innovation it would be showcasing at SuperZoo.

Also, in preparation for the show, West Paw’s CEO Spencer Williams shared the company has been looking forward to continuing its trajectory of moving out of the pandemic and back into more innovation.

PG 14 / PET

“Our main goal is to see our current customer base and thank them for all the past business,” said Vice President of

“The Doggijuana line is expanding based on our successful 2021 launch with new styles added to our ever pop ular line of DoggijuanaToys with Juana nip,” Ragan “Doggijuanasaid.Toys with Juananip Col lection by SmarterPaw has launched three new styles for 2022: Doggijuana Get The Munchies Refillable Cheese burger Dog Toy, Doggijuana Get The Munchies Refillable Cookie Toy, and Doggijuana Get The Pawty Started Re fillable Hairy Ale Toy,” he continued. “Each Doggijuana toy comes with Jua nanip, 100 percent that has a naturally calming effect on dogs. It relaxes them to a place of peace and tranquility they all crave. Doggijuana perfected a really great delivery system for our Juananip with our refillable, fun toys made for pets. Stuff a pinch into the pouch for a healthy play session that will curb nat ural play instincts easing your dog into doggi-vana. Play longer.”

“The biggest thing on our minds is in flation and to what extent it will impact the pet industry in the coming months,” Baker said. “While some pet categories are very recession-proof (dogs need to eat regardless of the economy) other categories are more discretionary, like dog toys. We have seen in the past that the pet industry continues to prosper, even during tough economic times, nonetheless, things are uncertain so we wonder how aggressive to be with new product introductions at a time when consumers might be backing off a lit tle. These questions are magnified by rising raw materials prices, driving our product pricing higher at a time when we would love to offer price relief. But many of our products are made from oil-based materials (nylon, TPE, poly propylene etc.) and the war in Ukraine is impacting global oil prices. Times are a bit

Category leader Mammoth Pet Prod ucts outlined what the company’s goals were for SuperZoo in terms of product offerings and new developments.

Sales Mark Pasco. “We are also showing a number of exciting new rope toys that are available for immediate delivery. Lastly, with all of the difficulties caused by Covid-19, we want our customer base to know that we are here to help and are willing to share what we have learned these last two years making us a much stronger company overall.”

SuperZooINSIGHT Takeaways

Dog Toys

“We are very excited to introduce an innovative new line of products under the Cosmo license,” she continued. “Eth ical has partnered with Hearst publi cations and Cosmopolitan magazine to create an upscale line of pet products that will appeal to a demographic that has not been historically sufficiently served by our industry. We are also de buting a new line of plush toys made from recycled materials and are cer tified to be compliant with the Global Recycle Standard. Each dog toy is made with seven to 10 plastic bottles and our cat toys are made from about five plas tic bottles. We are very cognizant of our carbon footprint and are taking steps to minimize it.”

“Wetricky.”havelots of new products launch ing this summer which we plan to intro duce at SuperZoo,” Baker continued. “Warren Buffett has said that the time to invest is when others are scared and the time to hold is when others are bull ish. Our current plan is to invest heavi ly in new product development during a time when others might play it safe. Hopefully, this will enable us to gain consumer mind share as well as market share by being a source of excitement during a difficult time.”

Gilcrest found validation in Skout’s Honor’s continued mission to bring re sponsible innovation to help pets have better lives. “Skout’s Honor is still lead ing the grooming category with our patent-pending probiotic technology, which continues to offer a natural and preventative solution that achieves life-changing results for pets who suffer from all kinds of skin issues,” she said. “We also continue to be a leader in the development of socially and environ mentally responsible products, which is a trend that is now becoming a standard for most brands.”

“We had some awesome new custom ers come over,” Wheelwright with Fido biotics said. “Although I felt it was not as busy as prior to Covid, I felt the quality of serious buyers were there writing or ders, etc. I am looking forward to see ing how the hard work and connections willRichardfruition.”with NOW Pets said the com pany is looking to get into more retail locations. “We hope to expand our dis tribution to larger pet chains that would be new outlets for our products,” he said.Skout’s Honor is going to build on its momentum and the hard-to-forget impression it made on its visitors, said Gilcrest. “Skout’s Honor is set apart as a pet brand that follows through on its promises with superior, innovative and life-changing products,” she said.

SuperZooINSIGHT Takeaways

PG 16 / PET

“It’s always hard,” said Wheelwright. “You do your best to meet with as many people as possible but lots of people like to come over at their leisure so hopeful ly, they come over when you have some one that can chat with them. Most buy ers are really great about coming back around if you are busy.”

In assessing how well Skout’s Hon or achieved those goals, “We exceeded our expectations for SuperZoo this year through our ability to closely connect with customers and build upon our re tail relationships,” Gilcrest said. “The show is always an excellent platform for

Coming off the high of the event, manufacturers are ready to move ahead and close out the year on a high note. “Collaborating with other companies and customers as well as a new prod uct launch has helped us to end 2022 strong,” Rose said.

Health and wellness category lead ers make their presence known at SuperZoo each year because ongoing education is a vital part of growing this segment. Though some had lower ex pectations for this year, several manu facturers report they were pleasantly surprised by the caliber of interactions and quality of connections they made with booth visitors this year. On the whole, the health and wellness segment is growing, even as consumers are find ing their money isn’t stretching as far as it once “Givendid.last year’s in-person Super Zoo event, our expectations were pretty low,” said Rebecca Rose, President and Founder of InClover. “In 2021 we saw a lot of last-minute cancellations making it difficult to navigate the show floor. This year the show had a pre-pandem ic feel as far as size and the energy was fantastic. 2022 was one of our best ex periences at SuperZoo.”

SuperZoo also afforded manufac turers a chance to scope out the larger health and wellness landscape which, in many cases, reinforced for them that they are providing something unique and valuable for pets and pet parents.

Health and Wellness

Rose with InClover advocates follow ing up if there wasn’t an opportunity to connect. “It is great to talk to people who saw our product in the New Prod uct Showcase or as they were walking the aisle,” she said. “We balance that with scheduling appointments with customers and prospective buyers we want to spend a bit more time with. If

From a bigger picture, the catego ry is growing, concluded Wheelwright with Fidobiotics. “More and more com panies are getting into the health and wellness category, especially dog food companies,” she said. “After nine years in business, people are more aware of the microbiome and digestion and want to talk about it. They are more educated thanNonetheless,ever.”

Skout’s Honor approached the show with lofty goals as well. “Our goals are to expand our brand billboard with retailers who currently carry Skout’s Honor by introducing them to our new er product categories that they may not even know about yet,” Jenny Gilcrest, VP of Marketing, said before the show.

For NOW Pets, helping retailers con nect the pet division to the larger NOW Vitamins company was a big priority. “Many retailers were surprised with NOW Pets that it is the same company as NOW Vitamins,” Richard said. “Our pet products use the same ingredients as our human supplements and our QC process is exhaustive for all products. Customers were surprised to hear that NOW tests for heavy metals, micro, identity and potencies, as well as many details like pesticides, steroids and im purities.”Wheelwright with Fidobiotics em phasized, “Our focus is on whole body health, as everything is connected. The gut brain axis is real and is extremely important.”ForInClover, Rose said, “Consumers are looking for the right supplement to give their pet. Even with inflationary pressures, pet wellness is not an area they are willing to neglect.”

us to demonstrate our ability to change what people expect from a pet brand, and more specifically, the pet products in the specific categories we’re in.”

Dan Richard, NOW Foods VP Glob al Sales reflected, “SuperZoo exceeded our expectations by a lot,” he said. “The show was vastly better attended than the prior year when Covid really hurt attendance. We were very pleased with our key account visits, and we signed up already for the show in 2023.”

getting the opportunity to connect with visitors proved chal lenging at times, given the increased attendance this year.

you did not get a chance to visit a booth, reach out after the show. September is a great time to set up trainings before the holiday shopping season.”

Mika Wheelwright, Founder of Fido biotics, is familiar with that feeling. “My expectations were low as I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “Last Super Zoo was really small. This year, I felt that the show was back to its normal large size of exhibitors. However, I did seem to be not as jam packed with buy ers as it was pre-Covid.”

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SuperZooINSIGHT Takeaways

The brand also took advantage of the face time at SuperZoo to emphasize their reliability as a partner.

Litter

Pet Products’ website now features a teaser to innovation coming soon that debuted at SuperZoo: the SmartCat brand Corn + Wheat Litter.

Hybrid features a small percentage of bentonite to the standard wood litter to help cats used to clay get acquainted with a new texture, all with the same odor control Next Gen con sumers have come to expect.

“Our message and point of emphasis were demonstrated by our capability of expanding our product lines and pro grams for long-term growth with our potential and current customers,” said Nancy Schmid, Director of Business De velopment and Key Account Manager for Pioneer Pet Products.

Next Gen also had innovation to share. “This year we were lucky enough to have something to show in the New Product showcase. Quite a few people came by our booth because they were intrigued by our set up in the showcase and our new Timber Fresh Hybrid cat litter

people face to face. We have missed you all.”Pioneer Pet took the extra step to send this new litter to prospective part ners who also might not have attended the“Theshow.recent shipment of the Corn + Wheat sales kits to our customers and their inside and outside sales staff was a great way to help introduce our new litter to people that could not attend the show,” Pioneer Pet Products Account Manager Brenda Brewster said. “We can follow up with those people to as sure they are fully educated and prop erly motivated to introduce our new cat litter. Pioneer Pet is a leader when it comes to alternative/natural substrates that also provide superior performance. Our technology is being noticed and we will continue to look at sustainable processes and packaging and new sub strates to offer pet parents.”

Timberformula.”Fresh

“In addition to discussing future growth opportunities and plans with each other in a more controllable booth space, I believe we were able to ful ly demonstrate and discuss our new products with prospective and current customers, e.g., Corn + Wheat for future growth opportunities,” said John Renick with Pioneer Pet Products. “Particularly with the introduction of Corn + Wheat, it was important to attend SuperZoo to show a dedication to the introduction of our new litter. It was also nice to see

Functionality remains an important selling point for litter.

“Our hope is that retailers will leave our booth with new selling tools and will feel confident about how best to reach their consumers with our full line of premium pet care products,” said Boxiecat Marketing Manager Kelley

“As a leading natural litter brand, we aspire to create a positive impact by paving the way towards more and more sustainable litter that’s accessible to all pet parents,” said Naturally Fresh’s Director of Marketing and Sales Helen Cantrell. “We teamed up with the Pet Sustainability Coalition in a co-branded effort to share the results of our Life Cy cle Analysis Study. If retailers missed us at the show, they can always go to our sustainability landing page to get infor mation on the study. This information holds such weight in supporting what we stand for as a brand and we think it’s important to make the data accessible and prominent digitally and in person for the trade and consumers.”

Litter might not seem to be the most inspiring of categories at a pet indus try showcase like SuperZoo, but leading manufacturers of an increasingly in novative segment driven by a number of factors including sustainability and practicality—clay is heavy—would beg to differ. Cat owners want to give their beloved felines a clean and comfortable medium on which to do their business, so demand for litter is a foregone con clusion. What manufacturers have done to influence and direct that demand, however, has been inspiring and re mains very evident at this year’s show.

Freight remains an ongoing hot topic in litter. “One topic that kept coming up at SuperZoo was supply chain issues,” said Janice Yamamoto with Next Gen In ternational Corp. “Litter seems to have been hit pretty hard. Now that freight costs have started to normalize, main taining our inventory is Next Gen’s No. 1 priority.”Infact,Yamamoto said it was a pri ority at the show to emphasize, “Our supply chain gaps are closing, and we have litter in stock. Please check out our website.”Pioneer

Bond earlier this summer. “For exam ple, our Air litter line meets the inter ests and needs of both the lightweight and eco-friendly shopper without com promising on performance. Our Boxie Pro series of products are formulated with a special blend of probiotics that focus on the health and hygiene of the entire home unit, not just the litter box. Our unique probiotic line of products include our BoxiePro Deep Clean clay litter, BoxiePro Air lightweight barley litter, BoxiePro Litter Extender and Boxie Pro Stain & Odor Stopper. These products have quickly become our top sellers among our retailers and are cus tomer favorites due to the innovative use of our proprietary boosted blend of probiotics that deep clean litter on a mi croscopic level and prevent the spread of unseen waste to kitchen counters, beds and other areas of the home.”

Practically, Cantrell emphasized, “With Naturally Fresh you can have both sustainability and odor control, as evidenced by our litter made from upcycled walnut shells. The quality of our litter doesn’t suffer for the sake of sustainability. Using Naturally Fresh, as opposed to clay litter, is one small deci sion retailers can make to show priority to their consumers’ health—both for humans and their pets.”

PG 18 / PET

“Our focus is on the value of sustain able products that are made in Ameri ca,” said Amy Cohen, Business Devel opment Manager for American Wood Fibers (AWF). “AWF manufacturers branded and private label bedding and litter. For example, pine pellets is an inexpensive sustainable alternative to clay litter. Our paper pellets are light weight which drives freight efficiency.”

Hygiene is a top consumer priority, but as pet owners continue to come around to their impact on the greater environment, sustainability is also an imperative call-out for a brand.

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Retains 99.5% of it’s clump vs 30.5% from the leading plant-based brand* *based on 3rd party study

Eco™ from start to finish Eco™ starts its life cycle locally — from non-gmo farms close to our Midwest facility. Our farms practice sustainable farming to promote climate and soil health — a major 3rd party conservation study shows Eco™ reduces CO2 farming emissions by 69%. Biodegradable litter and recyclable packaging complete a life cycle that is more gentle on the planet.

The line likely wouldn’t be back on shelves until October, Holly said ear lier this summer. Chelsea Sher, VP of Sales and Marketing with Evanger’s and co-Founder of Against The Grain explained, “It stands for high biologi cal, because it is a very meat-dense dry food, but it’s not extruded dry like kib ble. And it’s not quite canned food so it’s shelf stable. So it’s a best of all worlds.”

Northwest Naturals (NWN) ap proached this year’s show looking to grow its business through brand aware ness and building up relationships, plus a new product unveiling. “We want to continue to train and educate on raw food, what makes NWN unique and share everything we have to offer our retailers,” said National Sales Manag er Amy Snell before the show. “We are looking to gain both domestic and inter national leads as well. We want retail ers to find something new that is unique and can be utilized in their stores to gain returning customers and increased sales.”Onthe product end, “For cats we have new Toppers, with Salmon being a fe line favorite,” Snell said. “This will gen

erate add-on sales at store level.”

Solution-driven alternative proteins also proved appealing.

Premium pet food leaders took advan tage of the SuperZoo gathering to share their latest product innovations, expansions and new looks, dedicating a good portion of time to demonstrating what sets them apart on the pet store shelf. Whether it’s smaller-scale and lo cally focused sourcing and production, sustainability callouts or their stringent principles toward supporting indepen dent pet retailers, premium foods mak ers want their current and prospective partners to know they are in their cor ner in delivering on both product qual ity and customer service particularly as supply chain bottlenecks continue to vex the global economy.

The mission of Annamaet Petfoods is to provide optimum nutrition to maxi mize the health and well-being of dogs and cats worldwide while maintaining a responsibility to the environment and our natural resources, said Downey.

For Koss, SuperZoo also afforded the opportunity to demonstrate where Pri mal Pet Food Group might be headed in the future. “In 2021, we brought togeth er Himalayan Pet Supply with Primal Pet Foods under the Primal Pet Group portfolio—and this will be the first time Primal Pet Group will have a dedicated booth at SuperZoo,” he said. “Over the last year, I’ve quickly realized how the missions of what I created at Primal, and Suman Shrestha built with Hima layan, are extremely similar—we want to source the highest-quality ingredi ents and make the best raw and gently cooked food and treats for pets. Both Suman and I have always been focused on building trust—with our people, our partners, and our products. It has been fun to bring these brands together to strengthen our missions and share our full range of solutions for dogs and cats. I am excited to continue to come togeth er as one team to build on that founda tion of these great brands.”

SuperZooINSIGHT Takeaways

“Retailers will see firsthand that we’re busy building a complete novel protein library for them,” she said. “We love our sustainability but we’re getting a lot of traction with retailers due to the fact we can help with allergy and di gestion issues. There are only so many novel proteins for pet parents to choose from and we’re one of them. It’s given Jiminy’s another niche—the sustain able novel Environmentalprotein.”stewardship has al ways been a pillar of Annamaet Pet foods’ foundation, said President and CEO Robert Downey, and SuperZoo provided the scope for the company to share the many unique ways the compa ny is bringing nutrition to pets without further harming our delicate ecosystem.

“I have always believed that business is all about relationships. Super Zoo al lows for face-to-face communication, an important part of human development that has been going on for over hun dreds of thousands of years. This is an ideal set up for something that is rela tionship-driven as business,” he said.

Premium Foods

Primal Pet Foods had several prod ucts to showcase. “Our goal has always been to make the best food and treats for dogs and cats, and innovation is an important part of this,” said Matt Koss, Founder and Chief Product Officer, ear lier this summer. “Our team has been

incredibly busy, and that’s simply be cause we’re passionate about develop ing new products that will help improve the overall health and happiness of pets. We recently introduced Cupboard Cuts, a line of freeze-dried raw toppers, and reimagined our Primal Treats lineup to offer a wider variety of textures and siz es to every dog and cat. Our next step is to bring some great solutions to the frozen and freeze-dried categories that are sure to appeal to many pet parents.”

“I’m happy that we’ll have our new wet food entrees on hand—Cravin’ Cricket and Good Grub,” Jiminy’s Found er Anne Carlson said before the show. “These are very exciting additions as they can work either as a stand-alone meal or an incredible topper. We love the idea of a rotational diet and having a wet food option is essential to reach every dog with their preferred type of meal.”Carlson said though the company has been participating in SuperZoo for at least the last five years, there’s always more to share.

PG 20 / PET

r Cont'd on Pg. 22

“FirstMate attended SuperZoo with a series of new products launching across Canada, the United States, Asia, and Europe,” said Matt Wilson with First Mate Pet Foods. “Each product has been created to meet our existing and new retailer needs. During SuperZoo, our team focused on showcasing products that meet retailer needs which includ ed food sensitivities and quality options for the growing category of price-con sciousEvanger’sconsumers.”Dog& Cat Food dedicated resources toward showcasing sister brand Against The Grain Pet Food’s new LicKitty product for cats, described as mousse with catnip. Along with letting partners know it was bringing back its High-Bio line under premium foods which had production halted when the company couldn’t keep up with produc tion, said President Holly Sher.

“When we say ‘Backed by Real Sci ence,’ we mean it. Annamaet has two nutritionists on staff with more than

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teaching and educating, and it gets you going. It gets you pumped.”

It’s the message Wilson said he hopes visitors to FirstMate walked away with.

Adjacent to marine sustainability is using natural resources that also help to balance out a harmonious ecosystem, and Annamaet does this by using an in vasive species of fish in its product line, said Downey.

100 publications in peer reviewed vet erinary or nutrition journals. One is a board-certified veterinary nutritionist and the other is our CEO and Found er. Having two nutritionists provides better checks and balances on creating great formulas,” said Downey.

“Nearly 50 percent of all harvested food in the US is thrown out. If you can the food, it won’t be thrown out. You’re reducing waste. People just don’t know.”

To enlighten visitors on Evanger’s booth, the Shers utilized a spinning wheel preloaded with various environ mental impact questions in order to spark conversations and dole out prizes and samples.

Holly elaborated, “When you show people this is what a can sells for, this is what you make on a can, or on the dry. You could just see the eyes opening up. Really? I didn’t realize I was making that much money. Or I didn’t know I could make that much money. No one really ever talked about price as much as they did at the show. These weren’t the same questions as last year.”

“Silver carp are ‘filter feeders,’ mean ing they feed on plankton and algae and are high in omega-3 fatty acids. They are clean fish. The meat is rich in pro tein and low in fat. Silver carp are one of the most important fresh water fish in the human diet for parts of Europe and Asia. They are an invasive species in the Great Lakes Region of the United States. Utilizing silver carp is a great way to preserve our natural resources while providing a superior, high quality novel protein source for our pets.”

“This patented process, called BioFlex, provides materials that are spe cifically engineered to biodegrade in landfills and during this process create green, renewable, and sustainable en ergy,” Downey said. “Packaging which is not manufactured with BioFlex could take up to 800 years to breakdown with no benefit to the environment.”

PG 22 / PET INSIGHT

They’re also looking for reliability.

She summed up her booth interac tions: “The No. 1 question is ‘do you have product?’ Then, what does a can like this sell for? And then profitability. The store can make money, more mon ey than they thought, and they like that. And then the third thing is problem/ solution. They love the EVX Restrict ed Diet because it was problem/solu tion-based. They like that and they’re looking for something different.”

r From Pg. 20

SuperZoo Takeaways: Premium Foods

The company also has a sustainability story in its use of degradable packaging.

Chelsea Sher reflected that this year’s conversations also quickly steered to ward how retailers would further ben efit from canned foods.

“Stores are paying a lot more atten tion to customer price but also their profit margin,” she said.

“I don’t think people realize canned food has been around for 200 years, and there’s a reason for it,” said Holly Sher. “It is 100 percent recyclable. If ev erybody would just recycle their cans, we would save $3 billion of energy each year on recycling cans.”

“I always enjoy doing the show be cause it really opens your eyes to what’s really going on in the stores,” said Holly Sher. “We’re stuck in an office. We don’t really get out there. Going to a show, you learn a lot. There’s some wonderful pet stores out there and some are small, some are larger and it’s nice to see what they’re doing and making money and

The multiple advantages of carrying canned goods goes beyond environ mental.“Did you know cans are cheaper to ship? They’re lightweight and their cube efficiency allows for more product to be shipped using less fuel,” said Holly.

“Our team has kept focused on the importance of being a manufacturer versus outsourcing quality,” said Wilson with FirstMate Pet Foods. “As a manu facturer with a dry facility and cannery, we not only have increased control over the quality of our diets, but we are also able to better meet fill-rate demands.”

he“Insaid.fact, many scientists are con cerned that if we don’t do something our oceans will be fished out by 2050. Also, what many people don’t realize is that fish don’t produce omega-3 fatty acids; they get it from the algae they eat. So why not go direct to the source? Al gae is more stable than fish oils and cer tainly more sustainable. At Annamaet, we are proud to use algae to increase omega-3 fatty acids in our pets’ diets.”

Several points of emphasis for An namaet Petfoods during the event re volved around its leadership in sustain ability.“Green business practices and sup port of a more sustainable future have been woven into the fabric of Annamaet Petfoods since we start over 35 years ago,” Downey said. “Annamaet is a mem ber of the Pet Sustainability Coalition whose mission is to accelerate environ mental and social sustainability in the pet industry through education, imple mentation tools, and collaboration. We are MSC certified, the Marine Steward ship Council (MSC) is the gold standard for marine sustainability. This means that each product that carries the blue MSC eco-logo assures the consum er that all the fish in that product was sustainably caught and we can literally trace the fish from boat to bag. Also, a portion of the sale from each MSC-cer tified bag goes to helping protect the productivity and health of our oceans.”

“As a family-owned manufacturer that prioritizes nutrition over fads, and long-term partnerships over quick success, FirstMate will add value to your store shelves and be the team that works alongside you and your compa ny to ensure indie retailers and pets remain healthy and thrive for years to come,” he said.

While many companies serving pets and humans alike source omega-3 fatty acids from salmon oil, it’s imperative not to deplete a single natural resource in our endeavor to live healthier lives,

And in an era when food costs have continued to rise, canned foods lead to less waste, she said.

Canned pet foods also have a green story too, according to the Shers with Evanger’s, who devoted time to sharing why this packaging is infinitely recycla ble and has small business advantages for retailers too.

“We focused on creating a memorable experience in our booth, and through our ‘I Hate Skout’s Honor’ Campaign and interactive ‘Super Sour Challenge’ activity, I believe we were able to have

— Jenny Gilcrest, Skout’s Honor

“SuperZoo 2022 lived up to its rep utation of attracting some of the most influential and savvy buyers in the in dustry,” said Debra Decker, Director of Marketing with Pet King Brands. “We strategically chose this event to unveil several new products because historically, the attendees are very ed ucated on pet health topics and find ing products that solve problems. Pet King Brands’ ZYMOX Dermatology and Oratene Brushless Oral Care have prov en to be category leaders over the past decade and are recognized for building incremental sales because of the prod ucts’ strong following and effectiveness in helping dogs and cats resolve ear infections, manage skin allergies, and achieve healthy mouths. The response we received with our new product an nouncements far exceeded our expecta tions and reaffirmed our research. We are very pleased we selected this event to launch new remedy products focused on cats and kittens and horses and live stock and to share the good news about new products for reptiles, birds, and small mammals coming in 2023.”

SuperZooINSIGHT Takeaways

not only its products but also educate those that visited its booth.

PG 24 / PET

“Our team knocked it out of the park this year in terms of the creative concept, marketing and sales strategy, logistics and overall execution of our SuperZoo 2022 vision. Every Skout’s Honor team member who attended had a specific purpose for being there, a set of personal goals and objectives and a plan that set them on a course to succeed.”

follows through on its promises with superior, innovative and life-changing products.”Withnew launches and products to showcase, Pet King Brands had a suc cessful SuperZoo and extremely posi tive feedback on its products.

The grooming category has come a long way from shampoo and condi tioner products. Leaders in the catego ry have continued to innovate and add new products to their already vast SKUs. SuperZoo gave these leaders the chance to showcase these new products while educat ing those who visited their“Webooths.exceeded our expectations for Super Zoo this year through our ability to closely connect with custom ers and build upon our retail relationships,” said Jenny Gilcrest, VP of Marketing at Skout’s Honor. “The show is always an excellent platform for us to demonstrate our abil ity to change what people expect from a pet brand, and more specifically, the pet products in the specific categories we’re

Gilcrest acknowledged what worked well in terms of optimizing time and show

“A key takeaway we hope retailers were left with is our mission to help pets live healthy, happy lives and the power of the patented LP3 Enzyme Sys tem in all ZYMOX and Oratene products to resolve ear, skin, and mouth condi tions without the use of antibiotics or harsh ingredients,” she added. “We have soared to ‘top dog’ position, as a lead er in the pet health industry over the last 25 years because this mission and our powerful ingredients. Our goal is to assist more animals - more dogs, more cats, more horses as well as chickens, goats, cattle, other livestock, birds, liz ards, snakes, and small mammals such as ferrets, guinea pigs and other exot ics.”Joe Zuccarello, President of Paragon School of Pet Grooming, noticed sev eral trends while at SuperZoo and the increase in demand for high-quality grooming“Groomingservices.services are more import ant to retailers than ever,” said Zuccarel lo. “In a world of dot com fast ordering and fast delivery, pet owners still need to get their dogs’ hygiene needs met and this cannot be done online. Therefore,

some fun connecting with customers and industry partners—but also make a lasting impact that will benefit us for months to come,” Gilcrest said. “Skout’s Honor is set apart as a pet brand that

Grooming

Pet King Brands was able to showcase

r Cont'd on Pg. 26

“Skout’sin.”

“Ourorganization.teamknocked it out of the park this year in terms of the creative con cept, marketing and sales strategy, logistics and overall execution of our SuperZoo 2022 vision. Every Skout’s Honor team member who attended had a specific purpose for being there, a set of personal goals and objectives and a plan that set them on a course to suc ceed,” she said.

“Pet King Brands has long recognized the role groomers serve as our partners in pet health,” said Decker. “We were re ally excited to demon strate that as a spon sor of the SuperZoo Groom Contest Sport ing breed’s event and we plan to sponsor again. Groomers see a spectrum of ear, skin, and mouth conditions every day in their jobs and are relied upon to share advice and rec ommendations and ZYMOX continues to be on the list of their preferred products for their clients as well as for their own pets. The testi monials and heartfelt gratitude for the products’ ability to help dogs find com fort and relief was amazing.”

Honor is still leading the grooming category with our pat ent-pending probiotic technology, which continues to offer a natural and preventative solution that achieves life-changing results for pets who suf fer from all kinds of skin issues,” Gil crest continued. “We also continue to be a leader in the development of so cially and environmentally responsible products, which is a trend that is now becoming a standard for most brands.”

Small Changes = “Greener”ResultsBIG is better for everyone New Improved& Same Great Formula New Sustainable Packaging ® Ear Cleansing System • Double-sided medical-grade tips • Allows for cleaning in tight crevices • Sturdy handle won’t break or splinter • USDA Certified Organic Ear Serum • Made in the USA Flea & Tick Canine Spray & Refill • DEET Free • Safe and effective with no harsh chemicals • Combats fleas and ticks on contact • Use on dogs and bedding • Made in the USA SAFE FOR CATS TOO! To Order Call 844-698-4367 PureAndNaturalPet.com

Two of our award-winning, popular, natural products have been reimagined. Improved sustainability is important and we’ve retooled packaging for a more eco-friendly version. All with the same great natural ingredients, for happy and healthy pets.

Our Ear Cleansing Kit now features a new and improved plant-based packaging with a compostable ALOX coating, a better solution for our planet.

Our popular Flea & Tick Canine Spray also features updated packaging. Our unique bottle design offers a quiet, consistent, gentle spray stream that makes it quick and easy to apply. The new bottle combines sustainability and high performance. It is free of the pressurized gases of traditional sprays. We will also offer refill cartridges to reduce waste and boost customer loyalty.

Organic toothpastes: peppermint and sweet potato and cinnamon. The cate gories keep expanding, but we are very cautious and careful about using real scents and fragrances from the right source. We don’t use a lot of synthetic products.”MauroSpina, Owner and CEO of Spi na Organics, high lighted the company’s success at the show and the new products that the company will be“Dealinglaunching. with Covid, we thought it was going to be really slow, but at one stage, we had at least 50 people on our booth. It was incredible,” he said. “Expectations were through the roof, and the leads were amazing, which we need to follow. So, on the whole I would say 100 per cent, it was “Personally,amazing.”mycompany has always been ahead of trends,” Spina continued. “We are launching our new products, which actually includes a spa prod uct, aromatherapy salts, so when you bathe a dog, you get all this aromather apy coming up, and those are following through a mud facial, a daily face wash, a facial for a dog, and a lot of my staff was going around and they didn’t see anything of the sort. This, for us, is com ing out at Christmas and it is already soldSpinaout.”had advice for manufacturers and suppliers in the category—the fo cus on labels is important especially when it comes to educating consumers and pet owners who read labels.

“We did something very different for the first time—we had some issues with placement, so we were given the option at the last minute to have a conference room, so we opted for the conference room, and it wound up being absolutely terrific,” President Beth Sommers said.

“We did by appointment only, al though a lot of big people found us, which was great,” she continued. “It was very controlled and very successful. We were able to close some deals because of the privacy factor, and people loved it. People couldn’t believe how fabulous it was. My hats off to WPA, and James at

PG 26 / PET INSIGHT

WPA because he did a great job at get ting us situated.”

— Andrew Kim, Healthy Spot

“We are always looking for solu tion-based products, whether it is shed control or itch relief, or coat color or detangling,” Sommers continued. “We are always trying to address a specific issue. One thing we are working hard on over the last year and a half is working with the USDA to get the product work ing again because what has happened is they have made some changes on what is allowed and what is not allowed. So, we were out of product for over a year on two of our products. Now we are finally back in production, and everything has worked out. We will be introducing in October our tried-and-true items again that are USDA Certified Organic in terms of shampoos. One of the other things that we have noticed is that health and wellness has become an enormous part of the grooming category. So, you think of grooming as shampooing and condi tioning and detangling, but it’s actually groomers are looking at their custom ers now and it’s a lot more with oral and skin care, which is much more human oriented. It’s much more successful for us. We have an ear cleansing kit with a special serum and an ear wash and eye wipes. We have a oral line that has taken off with our bamboo toothbrushes, and we have two different USDA Certified

“If a retailer doesn’t have services, then that customer is likely going somewhere else for services. Also, we think that when it comes to services, just like with products, if people want to go to a discount retailer with discount products, they probably are looking for discount-type services. For consumers who are looking for a curated selection of higher quality products, they’re probably looking for higher quality services. In a broad way of saying it, if you don’t have services, that makes things challenging because other people are meeting that demand for the customer.”

grooming services is a key component to launch and grow within pet supplies establishments. However, grooming services providers such as groomers and groom techs are in high demand and there is an unprecedented deficit of these talented indi viduals. Paragon knows this and has made it our mission to help com panies ‘grow their own grooming businesses by growing their own grooming profession als’. Paragon’s proven training methodology coupled with the use of technology and support has resulted in hun dreds of graduates each month.”“The power of the pet industry lies in rela tionships,” Zuccarello said in reference to the success of the show. “Seeing in dustry colleagues and meeting contacts made through those relationships will have long lasting results for Paragon. Uncovering new ideas for our clients to have incremental and profitable gains in their service offerings will drive in creases for both Paragon and our cli ents.”When giving advice to retailers, Zuc carello emphasized, “You are not on an island. Grooming doesn’t have to be ‘more migraine than the money’. Par agon can help you in all areas of your grooming services staffing and opera tional needs. Grooming services drives foot traffic, customer loyalty, frequency, and increased basket value. Paragon will walk side by side with you to help develop productive grooming staff and lessAlthoughheadaches.”things didn’t go exactly as planned, Pure and Natural Pet was able to make the most of the show and actu ally come out on top in the end.

SuperZoo Takeaways: Grooming

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“I think they need to focus more on labeling. I find the consumer or buyers are not understanding the labeling on the back. The ingredients are so confus ing—we make ingredients very simple. They have to really make sure that ev ery single ingredient is listed, and as an owner, it’s really hard to see that some of the ingredients are left out. When we list our ingredients, which I would ad vise a lot of companies to do, if they are going to be using extracts, they need to say what the extract is.”

Consumer demands for live foods have changed a great deal over the years, Smith said.

“We’re unique in that we have a huge, ever-growing selec tion of live feeders available at Joshs Frogs.com,” Brinks said. “We offer them singly, or as feeder bundles targeted to wards specific types of animals. We also offer a subscription service, so customers can sign up once and get regular shipments of feeders delivered right to their door. We also provide a live arrival guarantee, in anyDemandweather.”for live foods at retail is strong and consistent which bodes well for live foods suppliers. Earlier this summer, live foods suppliers prepared to attend SuperZoo where they could further expand their reach in the indus try and strengthen their ties with retail ers to continue fostering this category and promote responsible reptile pet ownership.“SuperZoo 2021 was surprisingly very busy,” said Richard Koliner, VP Sales and Marketing, Komodo before the show. “We can’t help but wonder was the show so busy because it was the first of its kind since the pandemic and is the traffic going to remain as strong?”

SuperZooINSIGHT Takeaways

“Supply is the biggest issue,” McCor mick said. “Being able to get as much as possible from one supplier helps.

“The location is dynamic,” Dieter said. “Vegas is a world class city. It’s closer

PG 28 / PET

But we’re keeping multiple backups for shortages. Timely shipping and com munication is a huge plus for us, and be ing able to speak to someone when UPS or FedEx loses a package or cooks them in their truck.”

“As a reptile store, we need to carry a wide variety of foods including live insects like Dubia roaches, crickets, various larvaes and more.” Smith said. “Each animal has different needs, so we want to be able to cater to all of them and their specific dietary needs.”

r Cont'd on Pg. 30

Phil McCormick of Pinellas County Reptiles based in Largo, FL emphasizes retailers must strike a delicate balance of providing a variety of live foods while being realistic that retailers are limited in what they can offer.

“I think it is important to carry a vari ety, but near impossible to carry every thing,” McCormick said. “Quite honestly it really isn’t necessary to carry every thing. There are always healthy alterna tives.”“Variety is the spice of life and of fering a wide variety of live feeders to pets is a great way to enrich their lives and provide better nutrition,” said Zack Brinks VP of Live Operations for Josh’s Frogs in Owosso, MI. “At Josh’s Frogs, we

As consumers have become informed about reptile pet ownership and re sponsible husbandry, “There have been increases in demand on more exotic and uncommon feeders, such as butter worms, silkworms, and black soldier fly larvae, as well as ‘tank janitors’—those bugs, such as springtails and isopods, that help keep bioactive enclosures clean,” Brinks said. “Consumers want to feed their pets a more diversified, var iedHavingdiet. reliable live foods suppliers and knowing when retailers like Pinel las County Reptiles can expect to have live foods to stock has been top of mind.

“Zoo Med is expanding our ability to supply our partners all while keeping a keen eye on innovation,” David Dieter, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing, Zoo Med Laboratories said in prepara tion of this year’s show. “There is cer tainly a focus to better understand how the consumer will be handling all of the pressure inflation puts on their pur chasing decisions/behavior.”

— RichardKomodoKoliner,

The reptile space is clicking with a consumer base that is exploring pet options beyond traditional cats and dogs and for something more indepen dent and less high maintenance without compromising on the cool and unusu al factor. Reptile mer chandising suppliers planned to showcase their latest solutions to make pet ownership simpler and place extra emphasis on educating consumers on respon sible and safe owner ship of a reptile pet. The learning curve can be steep and trusted high quality products are not for the value-minded shopper; however with the right approach and tone, not to mention willingness on the part of the pet owner to learn, owning a reptile pet can be as rewarding and a one-of-a-kind experi ence as people expect.

Tyler Smith who manages Jungle Bob’s Reptile World in Selden, NY says it’s very important to offer a wide vari ety of live food options for consumers.

“When we opened our store in 2008,

Considering the increased awareness and attention on owning reptile ani mals and the spotlight on the cool factor of having a reptile pet, “We are seeing more and more entry level customers,” McCormick said. “So, we are still edu cating. I wouldn’t say there has been much change.”

we were doing primarily crickets, meal worms, and wax worms,” he said. “In the 14-15 years since we have expanded greatly into other types of feeders in cluding Dubia roaches and black soldier fly larvae.”

“We love doing tradeshows, it is how Multipet was built and how we are building Komodo. There are some aspects of virtual meetings that make our lives convenient; however there is nothing like show business. You can’t beat the face-to-face meetings. It’s a great opportunity to present our full line, get feedback from you retailers and learn their needs. In addition to selling at the shows we really get to know our customers and find out what the retailers want to see from our line.”

take pride in offering the most diverse live insect menu online.”

Reptile Merchandising

“Kits that focus on species or catego ries that are seeing expansion,” Dieter explained. “A lot of the relationships we have are pretty well-vetted and long standing and we’ve had the promise and conversations around Zoo Med’s expanded abilities going in the future. We’re excited to get back to being able to drive the business and be the catego ry leader and show some new innova tion and our ability to meet the needs of the growing reptile category. SuperZoo is the event in the pet industry that you want your brand to be propped up nice ly at. We’re going to do our best to have a dynamic booth and have a dynamic setup. Where the reptile category has been, nobody has ever been before. Hav ing good retail partners trust what we are thinking through and think through it with them to grow the category, not just for our own sake, not for Zoo Med’s sake, but as the reptile industry grows

Prior to the show, Zoo Med placed emphasis on species-specific and cat egory-specific kits in areas that are ex panding and/or designed to introduce pet owners to reptile ownership.

pectations of reptile and aquatic pet ownership eventually shifted away from the category. Today, suppliers are giving consumers an accurate and fair assessment of what reptile and aquatic pet ownership will be like. Realistic ex pectations and being informed on how to best care for these pets will increase retention.“Theytried to make it inexpensive and easy, however, doing aquatics right is not inexpensive or easy,” he said. “When you provide the customer with the right products to take care of their pets, the retention is better. That’s where I think as the reptile category, I want us as a manufacturer base to be honest and open with the consumer around ‘Hey, for quality dog food you need to spend around $75. For a qual ity lightbulb, you need to spend around XYZ dollars.’ That’s where my head is on that; not only responsible pet owner ship, but also responsible retailers and responsible manufacturing of pet prod ucts. Responsibility around pet care doesn’t end up with the consumer. It’s in the hands and hearts of the retailer and the minds and follow through of the manufacturers.”“Welovedoing tradeshows, it is how Multipet was built and how we are building Komodo,” Koliner said. “There

to us which is a huge benefit but also it seems like retailers are more prone to travel at this time of the year. That first quarter is still a weird time for people. And that August time frame seems to be a nice time to do some business, plan for 2023 or whatever the next year looks like. We’ve been able to ex pand our capacity. We had this in our plans well before the pan demic. We’re excited to facilitate more of what is needed.”Komodo looked for ward to seeing the West Coast retailers and growing that market.

SuperZoo Takeaways: Reptile Merchandising Pg. 28

and it’s healthier, we’ll be a beneficiary. As they say, ‘A rising tide lifts all boats.’”

PG 30 / PET INSIGHT

the in-person capacity is just better,” he continued. “I’ve been in some live meet ings over the last six months and they’re so much more dynamic. Just from a thought level, you never know what you’re going to connect on when you are meeting in person. I think that is largely still a focus of all of these trade shows and live events. I’m hoping Su perZoo carries a little bit more gravitas due to the fact that it’s in a world class city and you can have the best steak of your life while you do your job. Zoo Med is a brand that likes to educate in per son, so we’ll be standing up. We sponsor and send our sales ambassadors around the country to some 75 reptile shows per year and even on smaller scales. We don’t have the billions of dollars to ed ucate the public, so we have to do it in person and one conversation at a time. I take that responsibility I’ve dedicated my entire adult life to trying to frame this up for Zoo Med in a proper fashion. In-person events for us is where it’s at.”

“SuperZoo is the pet industry’s pre eminent event to bring all the right people together,” Dieter said. “Las Vegas provides an ideal location for this event as it is a world class city for food and entertainment, we are so happy to have this event on our calendar each year.”

“We will be showing our full offering of cur rent products as well as launching some new categories,” Koliner said before the show. “We have several new launches including reptile substrates, natural hiding caves, and some other fun projects we are working on.”

Back in the early 70s, aquatics was enjoying its heyday, Dieter said. Unfor tunately, pet owners were led to believe that properly taking care of reptile and aquatic pets was simple and inexpen sive. People who had inaccurate ex

r From

“The location is dynamic. Vegas is a world class city. It’s closer to us which is a huge benefit but also it seems like retailers are more prone to travel at this time of the year. That first quarter is still a weird time for people. And that August time frame seems to be a nice time to do some business, plan for 2023 or whatever the next year looks like. We’ve been able to expand our capacity. We had this in our plans well before the pandemic. We’re excited to facilitate more of what is needed.”

are some aspects of virtual meetings that make our lives convenient; howev er there is nothing like show business. You can’t beat the face-to-face meetings. It’s a great opportunity to present our full line, get feedback from you retail ers and learn their needs. In addition to selling at the shows we really get to know our customers and find out what the retailers want to see from our line.”

“There is no sub stitute for It’sthatthoselookingthehowallittlesaid.relationships,”in-personDieter“Thereisveryvalueinvirtushows.Idon’tseeattendeescangetimpactabrandistomakeviaonlineevents.”“Thisisaswordcutsbothways.veryimportant

— David Deiter, Zoo Med Laboratories

How can we move towards seeing more women in leadership roles?

Years later, Sterling’s pet cat had crystals in his urine, however her cat wouldn’t eat the prescription diet food intended to alleviate his symptoms. Sterling happened to go into her local Pet Supplies Plus store where she spot ted a demo for Nutro Max cat food. After speaking with the Nutro rep, who as sured Sterling the food would help with crystals, she bought a bag. “A month later my cat was doing fantastic, so I

Darlene Frudakis, President of Strategic Trade Development,BusinessPet-Ag

PG 32 / PET INSIGHT

It’s often said amongst pet industry stakeholders that people who join the pet industry rarely, if ever, leave. The reasons for joining the pet industry are varied and individual, however the de cision to remain in this realm follows a common thread: people truly enjoy and are passionate about the work they bring to the industry. Female leaders were drawn into the pet industry for the high levels of energy and passion peo ple working in pet have for improving and enriching the quality of pets’ lives. While some of their career paths might have been a straight line from school to the work force, for others, their paths coursed through other industries and categories before landing in the pet in dustry. Many of the lessons and skills gained from previous industries they worked in have transferred to the pet industry and helped these women to succeed. They have achieved a balance of having discipline and forming ob jectives while also recognizing when to let go just enough to see where op portunities guide and steer their career path. Characteristics, namely humili ty and passion, are a common thread amongst this group of women. They agree that having mentors and a net work of colleagues advocating for them and offering constructive criticism has helped build up their strengths and has challenged them to continually work on continually growing.

Simple—the pets and their people. It’s a passionate and unique industry that is always changing and evolving, with our pets’ lives and overall wellness as a leading priority. The passion this industry has to better the lives of our pets & balance success is rewarding and refreshing.

I am a team builder. I have a great team, and I value their opinions. I am also creative. If I can come up with ideas and have a team around me who can execute my ideas, we all do better. You can’t all be creative because noth ing gets done, and you can’t all be exec utors because nothing ever changes. If you have a good balance of those two things, you can do all kinds of things.

Wendy Bartz-Soppa, Director of IndependentPurchasing,PetPartners

What are some of your top traits?

There is a perception that the pet industry is more welcoming to women than other industries. Would you agree?

Kate Sterling, Director of Sales, Pet for FoodScience always loved animals and aspired to become a veterinarian. Her plans were dashed after taking a sum mer job at a vet clinic in Illinois. “I could not handle the sadness of people com ing in and saying goodbye to their pets, so that took being a veterinarian off the table,” Sterling said.

What makes the pet industry dynamic and vibrant?

Teresa Miller, Owner, Treats Unleashed

Leading Women in Pet

I have witnessed the industry evolve dramatically in a very positive way for women over the past 40 years. The majority of the pet products are also purchased by women. The chances of surviving and thriving today are much for favorable for women.

Robin FounderKershner,andCEO,Huxley&Kent

r Cont'd on Pg. 34

There is still a male skewed corpo rate mentality at the larger companies in pet, especially with so many VC’s entering the market. Organizations that do not have women in the C-Suite need to bring them up from levels below with good training, mentoring, and opportunities to take on these roles.

Deb Wilson, co-CEO for All the Best Pet Care, started her career in the pet industry in 1987 when she joined An imal Supply Co. Wilson was the first employee when Animal Supply Co. was a new startup distribution company. “I was hired as their sales rep for the state

of Washington,” she said. “Previously, I had worked at a retail feed & farm store as a store manager.”

“I arrived in the pet industry when my yellow lab Bailey was diagnosed with a rare joint cancer,” said Kelley Marian, Owner and Founder of Green Juju. “I turned to nutrition to help her fight the cancer and become strong enough for a life-saving surgery. I worked with a ca nine nutrition specialist to find ingredi ents that would boost Bailey’s immune system, provide anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits, and detoxify her body. She became healthy enough for surgery and lived 3.5 more years as a happy, exuberant pup. At the time, I also had a dog walking business, and several

PG 34 / PET INSIGHT

an incredible five years launching a business and seeing it grow.”

Kim Stout first came to Coastal Pet Products, where she serves as Presi dent, as an after school and summer job. After an underwhelming career in education, it was an easy decision to transition back to the pet industry. “I grew up working at Coastal Pet,” Stout said. “Then, in 1999, my sister and I were discussing a sales position in the mid-Atlantic region. I had been teaching at a public school near Washington D.C. and was dissatisfied with the system. I started with Coastal in 2000, cover ing independent retailers across seven states and then moved back to Ohio in 2010 to focus on marketing and product development. I love working with teams and seeing others achieve their goals. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Prior to joining the pet industry, Alex Waite, Shameless Pets’ co-Founder began her career in food science and product development in the human food industry. Her skills and expertise in this field seamlessly transferred to manufacturing pet treats made with a minimum of 30 percent upcycled ingre dients. “When I started thinking about what was next for my career, I saw an opportunity to bring my knowledge of using nutritious and unique ingredients to the pet space, all while being able to incorporate my most favorite thing in the whole wide world—my dog, Mad ison,” Waite said. “This led me to cofound Shameless Pets in 2017 with my co-Founder, James Bello, and it’s been

Shannan Morlas, VP of Sales at Sk out’s Honor instantly clicked with her customers after taking a position as an office manager at a supply warehouse in San Diego back in 1994. “I completely fell in love with our customers, just hav ing the opportunity to help customers find products that support their furry family was my passion and where I felt I had found my calling,” Morlas said. “I continued to grow with them and move into a district manager role and then began opening new locations for them. I knew I had found my people. That was where I wanted to be in my career.”

Right out of college, Darlene Frudakis, President of Strategic Trade Business Development for Pet-Ag, started her own business and worked in the highend retail fashion industry 40 years ago. Upon joining the pet industry, Frudakis reasoned, “I recognized the need for quality, made in the USA pet chews and treats. I started from scratch and built out a manufacturing facility and distri bution with the help of my father and uncle.” She subsequently sold her com pany to Pet-Ag. “The new owners were looking to expand distribution for the product line they acquired from Bor don,” she said. “In 1995 I became Pres ident and COO of Pet-Ag, then a wholly owned subsidiary of Milk Specialties. I led the acquisition of the Pink Parrot bird toy line and expanded the business to include innovative life-stage health and wellness supplements, a full line of market leading baby animal products and senior pet health care products. In 1999, I acquired the Pet-Ag business from Milk Specialties with my partners, and we further built the business then sold it to PBI-Gordon, an ESOP as Presi dent of Strategic Trade Business Devel opment. With PBI’s backing we were able to expand our manufacturing and distribution capabilities. I have been an employee-owner ever since then.”

Leading Women in Pet

went online and looked up this compa ny called Nutro,” she said. “I saw they were looking for people and that’s how I started my career in the pet industry. It was a product that worked. I had been in sales for a long time, and at that point in time I decided I was going to look for something else. I really liked this com pany and what they stood for, and then I went to work for them.”

What started as a whim has devel oped into a decade-long career where Kate Stewart, VP of Trade Show Man agement for the American Pet Products Association (APPA) knows she is meant to be. Her career path led her from col lege graduation to seizing an opportu nity to work for the APPA. “Shortly after graduating college in 2011, I secured an interview with the APPA and Global Pet Expo team by chance,” said Stewart. “Fast forward to today, and I am now approaching my 11-year anniversary! I absolutely love this industry and am confident this is where I was meant to be and where I will continue to grow my career.”

Mary Helen Horn, President & Exec utive Director of Ziwi shared similar aspirations of becoming a veterinari an when she grew up. “A little bit by a fluke and a whole lot of luck,” Horn said of how she entered the pet industry. “I grew up passionate about pets. I always had dogs, cats and other pets. In the early years, like many children growing up, I thought I was going to be a veter inarian. That changed along the road. I was really looking to go into business and get into a sales job. Really early out of college I was contacted by a company and lo and behold they ended up being a pet food manufacturer that sold premi um pet food. I just knew right away that job was for me. It was a big territory, 11 states, and I was going to be traveling. I was so excited about the fact that I nev er dreamed I would be in business and drive sales, but also sell a product that I was excited about and could help the lives of pets through nutrition.”

r Cont'd on Pg. 36 r From Pg. 32

As of Nov. 1, Frudakis plans to leave Pet-Ag. “They are a great company filled with dedicated employee’s that think like owners,” she said. “My goal for 2023 is to help young and old entrepreneurs to enter and succeed in the industry.”

A New Subscription Based Approach to in-store Pet Health & Wellness Schedule a Demo terri@healerspetcare.comToday: www.healerspetcare.com800-924-7036 Your one stop shop for pet health and wellness solutions “Consumers are demanding more sustainable solutions while being more focused on their pet’s health and wellness than ever before - our Smart Bottle subscription service brings solutions across the board. ” Terri Entler, Founder See us at SuperZoo Booth #4366 How the Healers Solution Works 1. Smart Bottle 2. Mobile App for Customer 3. Store Interface Healers’ Smart Bottle technology is a stainless steel, reusable bottle with a programmable smart cap, and app for dosage and refill reminders. Multiple notifications can remind pet parents with the tone emitting light-up cap, text, and email, so doses are never forgotten again.

r From Pg. 34

It all started with a fruitless search for the perfect collar for Robin Kersh ner’s Dalmation that led her to begin manufacturing leather bound dog col lars made from cow hides. At the time, Kershner was already leading Fox & Hounds Ltd, which she founded in 1996.

Jessica Morris, SVP Marketing PhillipsMerchandising,andPetFood&Supplies

How can we move towards seeing more women in leadership roles?

I started with manufacturing leath er bound dog collars made from cow hides.”“This was at the same time that high end pet boutiques started to make their way into our industry, so the demand was there so I decided to step in and de sign fun pet products that would make for great merchandising in a boutique pet store,” said added.

What are you most proud of in what you’ve achieved in the industry?

“I was looking for a fabulous collar for my Dalmatian and could not find any thing,” Kershner said. “Some research showed me that high end pet products were basically unavailable back then.

This industry is full of go-getters and plenty of individuals with off the chart capabilities, so the ability to work side by side with strong leaders is what brings balance to every compa ny regardless of gender. However, the companies who embrace and foster the innate talent, ambitions and drive of women in this industry will benefit from having that woman edge.

Leading Women in Pet

PG 36 / PET INSIGHT

of my clients volunteered their dogs as taste testers. I called the organic veg etable blend Green Juju, named after my nieces’ and nephews’ nickname for juice, and I was getting amazing feed back from my clients. That experience showed me that every dog could bene fit from real, whole food. So I set out to make it easy and convenient for every pet parent to add fresh whole foods to their pup’s diet.”

Kate Sterling, Director of Sales, Pet, FoodScience

Shannan Morlas, VP of Sales, Skout’s Honor

Jessica Morris has spent her entire pet industry experience with Phillips Pet Food & Supplies where she is the current SVP of Marketing and Merchan dising. Her career began in the custom er service department while she was attending college. “As I was growing in my education, Phillips was growing as a company because they started doing acquisitions of other distributors and started expanding what they offered r Cont'd on Pg. 38

Seeing the industry evolve and the general public’s perception of owning a pet from being property to transition ing into being a family member. It’s see ing how people love to talk about their pets. Everyone is in a good mood when they talk about their pets. When I’ve given someone a product that makes their pet happier and enriches their life, that’s what’s rewarding to me.

What makes working in pet rewarding?

I’m happy to be apart of the Phil lips executive team and be somebody that also others can look to because I worked my way up, put the time in, got exposure and have a good view of the company. Being able to show others the path and what it takes is great. It takes time and it takes passion.

Kelley Marian, Founder and Owner, Green Juju

I had a lot of barriers to break through in the beginning! Back in 2013, people laughed in my face when I suggested they feed vegetables to their dogs. But I did my research, I talked to holistic vets, canine herbalists, canine nutrition specialists, and I saw first hand the results in my own dog. I was sure that this was the way, so I kept pushing.

What are you most proud of in what you’ve achieved in the industry?

A local pet retailer heard about Green Juju and convinced Marian to sell her Green Juju line in the retailer’s store. The products kept selling out. “More stores started calling, and a business was born,” Marian said. “Today we have nationwide distribution, 14 products frozen greens blends, bone broths, freeze dried whole food bites, raw goat’s milk and fermented vegetables and more than 1,200 retail accounts.”

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who have guided me along the way and helped get me to where I am today. It not only feels really great to have their guidance and support, but it is also a testament to the industry welcoming women with open arms and embracing their thoughts, ideas and innovations.”

“I would say that is truer today than it was in the early part of my career,” Wil son said. “Today there is an impressive number of women that are in high level, critical decision-making positions with in a number of pet industry companies.”

Throughout the early stages of her career, breaking gender barriers was tough for Frudakis. But the industry has evolved during the last four decades to welcome and trust the capabilities of both genders. In fact, Frudakis pointed out that most pet product purchases are made by women, and it makes sense to have other women making buying deci sions for their peers. “I was one of only a very few women in the industry when I first started my own business,” Fruda kis said. “At this time it was not partic ularly welcoming to women. Breaking through that barrier was challenging yet rewarding. I never gave up despite the difficulties I encountered. I main tained a very positive, ‘where there is a will there is a way,’ attitude. It was survival of the fittest and I was a sur vivor. Eventually, after extra effort and tenacity, both men and women alike were welcoming and helpful. Our cus tomers as well as industry affiliations helped guide me as I navigated my way through manufacturing, and the world wide distribution of pet products. I have witnessed the industry evolve dramati cally in a very positive way for women during the past 40 years. The majority of the pet products are also purchased by women. The chances of surviving and thriving today are much for favor able for Morlaswomen.”hasobserved this shopping

“Having been part of this industry for almost my entire career I cannot speak to other industries as much, however, I have witnessed a transition over time and see so many successful women that have joined the industry, including Chuck & Don’s being a primarily wom en based organization to our current CFO and CMO here at IPP, being wom en in leadership roles. What remains constant is that passion for animals, no matter who that person is,” said Wendy Bartz-Soppa, Director of Purchasing for Independent Pet Partners (IPP).

in terms of their service; we both were growing along together,” Morris said. “As I graduated from undergrad, the company had grown and they were able to offer me a marketing manager posi tion which is what my undergrad was in, which was great because I already understood the company, and I under stood the industry; I knew our systems and I was able to transition into that role, and that was great for them be cause I brought the skill set of being freshly out of school and having bright eyes and new experience coming for the company as they were growing and looking to increase their capabilities. I went on to complete my MBA and the company continued to grow and it af forded me the ability to evolve in what I was able to do here. Because I was in customer service early on, I built so many relationships with independent retailers because that too is at the core of who Phillips services is to those in dependent pet stores. I’ve formed some pretty incredible relationships early on just by talking to them year after year and building that relationship. It just al lowed me to get a holistic view of the in dustry and as the industry was evolving and Phillips was evolving, I was growing up in it as well. It all kind of harmoni ously worked well together for me.”

“My experience is that the pet indus try is more welcoming to women,” Stout said. “We have had strong women lead ers for decades, including Peach Reid (Sun Pet), Maureen Costello (United Pa cific pet), Patti Strand (NAIA), Alice Til let (Petmate), Sandy Moore (Seagrest) and Jill Nazimek (Katie’s Pet Products) just to name a few of the women I know and have worked with. My personal experience has aligned with this, hav ing numerous male and female leaders offering their support and knowledge throughout the past 20 years.”

r From Pg. 36 r Cont'd on Pg. 40

“In the industries that I’ve worked in, there have been a lot of females in the industry, but there’s always been a lot more males in leadership positions than females,” said Shari White, SVP, Merchandising—Consumables, Petco Health and Wellness Company. “It’s al

Leading Women in Pet

There are those who perceive pet as a welcoming industry to women in com parison to other industries. While this sentiment holds true for some women working in pet, others have had a stark ly dissimilar experience. For the latter, their careers in pet involved having to prove their worth and commitment to their careers. For those who joined the pet industry when it was male-dominat ed and people didn’t trust these women could hold their own, being persistent and strong mentally played a significant role in paving the way and carving out a space, molding a setting for women who have recently joined the pet industry.

PG 38 / PET INSIGHT

ways been that way regardless of where I’ve been. I’m seeing that change now. It’s changing and maybe I’m seeing it more because I’m closer to those levels, but I do think it’s changing more than it used to. Women regardless of what in dustry we’re in, need to be supported. Community for women is really import ant. Having that community of people who support you, who remind you that you deserve to be there and make you feel comfortable and at home is more important for women than for anyone else.”“All industries right now are real ly evolving to become more inclusive whether it’s women or people of color or different ethnicities,” Sterling said. “Everyone has become more welcom ing to that. My personal experience in the pet industry is that I’ve never had a problem. I have kind of a strong person ality, so I will make sure that my voice is heard. I’m also 6’2 and blonde. I’m not a quiet person. I played basketball in col lege. I can be loud, and I can stomp my feet to get my point across if I have to. I’ve never really run into issues where I haven’t felt welcome in this industry.”

“I have seen firsthand a shift in the pet space during my time with the APPA,” Stewart said. “Through my lens, wom en in the pet care space are on the rise. In fact, APPA has a staff of 18 – 14 of whom are women! My daily communi cations are primarily with women, and I can name several women in leadership positions in the pet care community

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Kim Stout, President, Coastal Pet Products

I’m encouraged the industry is rec ognizing not only the need for diversity, but also the benefits diversity at the leadership level can bring to the busi ness. I’ve seen these initiatives have the most success when they go beyond checking a box and are truly rooted in the opportunity for diversity to bring value to a company and I’m hopeful the industry sees this as well.

There has been so much growth over the past decade, from new product de buts to trends that have already or are in the process of shaping our industry’s future. I am truly amazed when I walk the Global Pet Expo floor, particularly with respect to the emerging brands that are passionate about their ideas and products. There is a palpable excitement in the air, and it is magical to experience.

How can we move towards seeing more women in leadership roles?

How can we move towards seeing more women in leadership roles?

What makes the industry dynamic?

With more women making the pur chasing decisions for pets it makes sense to Horn to have women as de cision makers for this demographic. “There has been a shift over the last 20 years where it is much more equal ly represented between women and men and in some cases, there are more women than men,” Horn said. “ That has somewhat happened organically and naturally, I would say one, women are the top buyer of pet food. It makes sense that they are the ones more likely than not making the buying decisions, shop ping and doing the research. There’s more of them living in that connection. It’s really changed over the years. Early on, it was almost every corporate office you went into, or most of the brands, were led by male leadership teams.”

Deb Wilson, Co-CEO, All the Best Pet Care

What advice do you wish someone would have imparted to you when you started out?

trend as well. “For me, and being sur rounded by strong women in the pet in dustry, I really boil it down to the reality is that 60 percent of our pet product buyers are female,” Morlas said. “Having female influence throughout an organi zation is essential to better align with your customers’ values to effectively communicate and offer them products that fit their needs. Women are shin ing in the pet industry, and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of that be cause we understand our customer. We understand what they want, and we are able to deliver it.”

The timing in general of the women’s movement during the 90’s had a lot to do with where we are today. I wish that I had perhaps had more support from the male role models early in my career to help me with the confidence needed to stand up for myself more.

r From Pg. 38

While there is more discussion at pet-insight.com, we’d like to congratulate this year’s leaders and look forward to the next generation of leading women in pet.

Leading Women in Pet

PG 40 / PET INSIGHT

Kershner transitioned from banking to the pet industry and by comparison, opportunities are more evenly distrib uted amongst male and female col leagues. “As far as business owners in pet, women are well-represented and probably more so than most other in dustries,” she said. “I have never expe rienced sexism in the pet industry, and I have been given the same opportunities as a man. I came from the banking in dustry, and I can attest that in the 90s, that was ‘a man’s world’ so coming into pet was a welcome change.”

Kate Stewart, VP Trade Show Management, APPA

We can see more women in leadership roles by being good mentors to those we already know and support in the industry. One can be intention al by offering encouragement and knowledge to those around them. We go farther together.

Alex Waite, Co-Founder, Shameless Pets

Champion Petfoods celebrates women in leadership making a difference.

Senior Vice President of Merchandising, Petco SHARI WHITE Congratulations

championpetfoods.com

We’re proud to recognize your amazing work as a visionary leader in your industry!

I grew up very passionate about ani mals. I wanted all the pets as a kid. We had a family dog that I begged for for a long time; I had fish, I had birds, I had hamsters, I had gerbils, all the things. Just because of that I grew up wanting to be a veterinarian. That was a really big part of who I was as a person. When I got to college it was pretty clear to me, fairly quickly, pre-med was not the path that I was going to take. No, I’m not going to be a veterinarian. I felt much more comfortable in business classes and economics and statistics. I pivoted away from the dream of becoming a veterinarian. I’ve always been really in terested in human behavior and animal behavior and that’s what led me into my first job out of college, which was mar ket research.

IN CONVERSATION

I worked in different cate gories at Target. I had a passion for all of them, but when the opportunity came up at Petco, it was a culmination of I can work for a company where I can do what I love as a merchant, but I can do it in the pet industry which I have had such a passion for ever since I was a kid about doing what’s best for pets. It be came ‘Is this a real thing? I actually get to do this?’ That’s what led me to join Petco and it’s been a really phenomenal five years.

r Cont'd on Pg. 44

It was around that same time that Target reached out to me out of the blue and asked if I was interested in being a buyer, which I had not considered at all. The opportunity at Target was interest ing A) because I respected them a ton as a marketer just based on what a strong marketing organization they were and the amazing brand they had built. B) I was intrigued that I could build a career in one place and have a lot of opportuni ty to learn and grow and develop within a company that was all based in Min neapolis. And I also was excited about the idea of learning more about retail. At the end of the day, there was a lot of parallels between how the marketer at a CPG company is the hub and the mer chant at a retailer is the hub. There’s a lot of parallels in terms of the work that gets done. It felt like a really natural shift for me, and when I moved to Tar get, that is when I fell in love with retail and realized I truly am a merchant. That is what I am through and through. For me that’s when I realized that retail is a true passion for me. It’s very dynamic. I love the pace. I love the scope of think ing about categories. That’s what led me to Overretail.time

be driving the bus. That’s why I decided to go to business school for marketing, and I was at Kellogg for two years full time. I interned for Unilever in between my two years; I had an amazing expe rience there and decided to go back there full time after business school. As a marketer, I was thinking about my brand, my brand, my brand, but I wasn’t thinking about that impactful moment of the shopping moment. I became curi ous about retail, and I ended up doing a shopper marketing role at Unilever and started to explore that space.

I’ve always been passionate about my work. It’s just the kind of person I am. I’ve cared a lot about the businesses I’ve run in the past. I’ve been in the hair care category, bedding, school supplies, greeting cards, you name it. I’ve always been passionate about them, but what I found about the pet industry is that the emotional connection that I have to this industry is very different than how I’ve ever felt about categories I’ve worked in before. Ultimately for me, that comes back to being a lifelong animal lover, being a pet rescue supporter, being a mom of several rescued pets through out my lifetime. It means a lot to me to be working for a company that shares my values around animal welfare, that authentically cares about doing what’s best for pets, and so for me, what makes this industry even more fulfilling than industries I’ve worked in in the past is that. It’s that emotional connection that I feel that a lot of people who work in this industry feel. It’s just a little bit dif ferent because the way we love our pets is so meaningful to us, that it just gives the work that extra meaning for me that I haven’t experienced that kind of con nection although I’ve been passionate about the work before, I haven’t expe rienced that kind of connection to it in the past. That’s what gives it that extra bit of meaning which is really awesome.

What aspect of your work ethic has helped you to become successful?

What fuels my success is a very high level of accountability and a willingness to acknowledge I have areas of oppor tunities and I absolutely make mistakes and I don’t know everything. That will ingness to show vulnerability, to show humanity, has fueled my ability to learn and develop and therefore, advance throughout my career. A lot of people work hard and that’s really important. I work hard. But there’s that extra level of acknowledging we’re all a work in pro cess and we all have things that we’ve

PG 42 / PET INSIGHT

Tell us how your career path led you to the pet industry?

Shari White, SVP Merchandising— Consumables, Petco, The Health + Wellness Co.

You’ve mentioned in the past that one of the more fulfilling aspects of working in the pet industry, and at Petco in particular, is the strong support of the human-animal bond. What else about the pet industry that makes working in it fulfilling?

My first role was at information re sources onsite at Frito-Lay, and for me that was a fun way to get into the busi ness world in a space where I could still be learning about consumers, con sumer behavior and how people make decisions. That was a really nice way for me to tie in what I’m passionate about with a business career. That job led me into learning about CPG market ing. Working for some of the marketers at Frito-Lay was phenomenal because they were very talented people. I came to love the consumer product world, and that is why I decided to go back to business school so that I could piv ot into brand management. I loved the research side but to be honest it wasn’t entirely fulfilling for me because I knew I was making recommendations, I was influencing decisions, but ultimately, I wasn’t the decision maker. I wanted to

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Interview: Shari White, Petco, The Health + Wellness Co.

last year and a half or so. That’s amaz ing to see. In spite of the fact we took all of these brands out of the assortment, we have been able to together with all of these other activities to really turn around and drive this business to be healthy and successful.

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That was a big moment and when we made that announcement in late 2018, it was a big bold move. And the real ity is I was doing it in an environment where my business was struggling. The consumables business at Petco wasn’t healthy in 2018. When we made that decision, that was one step in the jour ney of what we think is going to be a big turnaround of this business. But it wasn’t the whole journey. Since then, we’ve made a lot of changes to our pric ing strategy, to our loyalty strategies, to our assortment, to the way we mer chandise, to the way we develop an om nichannel experience for our consum ers. The way we use data to inform and fuel how all of that works together. It’s been a lot of work to just really change the way we go to market and show up for consumers in this category. While that move in 2018 was exciting, public and motivating, what’s been even more satisfying for me is seeing the impact of all of the changes and then the many others I’ve talked about and how those have impacted our business and turned around our sales and turned around our customer growth. To me that is tru ly the big accomplishment. It’s been a full turnaround of the business. We’ve been gaining share in the market for the

not done quite as well as we wish we would have. I’ve had to say, ‘That wasn’t my finest moment, and I’m sorry about that. I was frustrated, I was stressed out in the moment,’ and I’m willing to ac knowledge that because none of us are perfect. That has helped me advance be cause I learn faster because of that.

How have your experiences in formed your industry leadership— several of your stops have been at more forward-thinking retailers.

I’ve been incredibly lucky to learn from some of the most talented people in some very talented organizations like Unilever and Target. I probably learned more about leading teams at Target than anywhere else in my career. They really invest in training and forming really great leaders. For them, what I learned at Target, it’s very much about the business results, of course, but it’s not just about the what that you do, it’s equally as much about how you do it, how you lead your team, how you get the results. It’s not good enough to get the results if the way you’re getting the results is de-motivating for people and crushing your team. That’s not OK. I really benefited from role models and training in top tier organizations that have helped me understand there is equal importance on both. That’s huge ly motivating for me as well. It’s one of the things that I said earlier; I’m fulfilled by leading teams and coaching and de veloping people and seeing them suc ceed. When you work for organizations that don’t just say that, but they really practice it and they invest behind it, it really makes the difference. It’s moti vating and that has shaped me a lot as a leader in terms of how I coach my own leaders on my team to become leaders themselves. That had a major influence on how I grew up as a leader. The real ly cool thing about having come from a combination of backgrounds, both the brand management side as well as the retail side, is that I understand and value and appreciate the importance of both. The importance of building a cat egory, growing the business in total but also respecting brands and the equity of those brands and how important those brands are to consumers. I have a unique

PG 44 / PET INSIGHT

We’re not just selling products. We’re educating consumers on how to be bet ter pet parents and how to do better for their pets. It’s awesome to see the impact on the consumer, the impact on pets and then of course the impact on the business. Every pet parent thinks they’re doing right. They really want to do right and so it’s an important part of how we train our PCC partners, is that pet parents really earnestly want to do the best thing for their pets and so it’s never about judging their decisions, and just more about providing education. We have partners in our stores that are not just passionate but trained and ed ucated and really earnestly engaged in helping pet parents figure out what is right for their pet because the reality is it’s not a one size fits all solution for all pets. Every pet is different like every person is different. Our partners like Petco to invest in talking to pet parents about their pets and really taking the time to help them figure out what does your pet need and how can we make life better for you and your pet together, and that is very unique to pet specialty. How would you describe the current state of the pet industry?

In a lot of ways I would say it’s been accelerating in terms of the way con sumers feel so passionate about the role pets play in their lives. It’s been that way for quite some time. Before I joined Petco, pet parents were passion ate about their pets and the roles they play in their lives. It’s been accelerating and then you take Covid and the expe rience that so many people had being isolated from the world, pets played an even bigger role in the mental health of so many humans during that time pe riod for companionship, for emotional support, for connection, for warmth and affection. That moment in time even further accelerated how pet par ents see pets as a critical part of their family and a critical part of their mental

perspective as a merchant having come from that brand building background that allows me to think about and bal ance both—the building of brands and the building of categories. That’s one of the things that’s different for me than maybe some of my peers, having come from that background. It helps to have had a seat at the table in those different roles. You can really emphasize and un derstand what matters to those people. So now as a merchant when I’m work ing with manufacturers, I have a good understanding of what matters to them and what metrics they’re measured on and how they’re looking to grow and how we can mutually work together to drive a successful business.

In our past conversations, you’ve mentioned one of your proudest achievements thus far was guiding Petco toward eliminating artificial ingredients from the products you carry. Has there been something new to supersede that since?

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Interview: Shari White, Petco, The Health + Wellness Co.

health. That’s the biggest difference in the last few years is it’s just accelerating how we think about our pets and the roles they play in our lives. What is the role of pet specialty re tailers in the pet industry? Why is it important to facilitate a communi ty of pet owners to promote educa tion and the pet/pet parent bond?

What’s really unique about pet spe cialty is the education that we bring to pet owners that most retail does not and cannot. This is what we do all day long, 24 hours a day seven days a week, is live and breathe what’s best for pets. You can come to a Petco and un derstand and learn about what’s best for your pet in a way that you can’t in most other retail environments. Why is that important? Pet parenting is hard. Pets are hard. They’re stressful, they’re scary, they can’t talk to you about what’s wrong with them, there’s training chal lenges, there’s potty challenges, there’s health challenges. It’s stressful and it’s hard and what we don’t want to see is pet parents give up and surrender pets. The role of pet specialty is crucial in helping pet parents solve very real chal lenges with their pets with the ultimate goal of making sure those pets stay in loving homes and have good lives. We are able to provide a service there that is unique to a lot of retailers that hold themselves to their pet products. We re ally are solution focused and education focused and that helps pet parents ad dress challenges that they wouldn’t oth erwise be able to address whether it’s a training challenge, a behavioral issue, a health problem; we’re equipped with what they need.

r From Pg. 44

help you figure out what that is. Trust that we have the products and services that will fulfill those needs. That is the most important thing we want pet par ents to know. Trust that we’re not sell ing you anything. We don’t sell anything in our stores that we don’t genuinely believe is good for pets. That’s why we removed artificial ingredients from our shelves. Trust that when you come to a Petco, we have your and your pets’ best interests in mind, and we are going to do everything we can to help you get what you need to improve the wellbeing of your pet and strengthen that connec tion and give you more years with your pet. That’s the goal.

PG 46 / PET INSIGHT

they take that passion, they take their skills and they put it to work in a way that is always striving to make the com pany better. And so it is truly a unique place in that regard.

The most important thing we want shoppers to leave a Petco care center feeling is trust. Trust that Petco truly cares about what’s best for you and your pets. Trust that we have the expertise to

For me it’s a simple answer: it’s the people and the purpose. That’s why Petco is successful. Our team is amazing both in the support centers and out in the field in our 1,500 pet care centers. The people at Petco are so talented and so driven and so passionate about what they do, it really fuels the company. It’s all tied to a purpose. The partners at Petco genuinely care about the mission and the purpose of the organization and because of that they take that energy,

The company has really been aggressive in searching out new formats and partnerships—how are things progressing with Reddy SoHo and the Lowe’s partnership?

Really well. Reddy SoHo has exceed ed expectations. We love that store. I would say it’s a great representation of the Reddy brand. To be in SoHo around consumers who are out with their dogs all the time and experiencing life with their dogs, that’s what the Reddy brand is all about. It’s about how do we give you what you need to be out experienc ing life with your pet on that journey. SoHo is a place where pet parents have really bought into that and really want to be able do that. The brand connects with that environment but also the partners in that store have connect ed with the community in SoHo. I was there earlier this week, and we visited the Reddy store—I was only in the store for half an hour and while I was there, there were three pets that came in that are “regulars in the store.” They came in for their little puppaccino and treats. The store has really become a part of the local community which is exactly what we had hoped would be the case. It’s been really phenomenal to see, and we are hopeful there will be more Red dy locations in the future because we think that brand really does resonate with so many consumers and we’re re ally excited about the future for Reddy.

On the Lowe’s front, we’re really hap py with the results we’ve seen so far. The research we’ve done suggests there’s a lot of mutual benefits for Lowe’s and Petco in that model. We’re continuing to explore what that could look like in the future.

I would say they are engaged pet parents. Pet parents who have a prob lem and need help solving it or are just trying to figure out how to do more, do better for their pets. We have a consum er segmentation that we use to guide how we assort products, how we go to market, how we communicate. Our core target we call the adoring nurturer, and that consumer is the one that really does want to do the best for their pet. They really believe in the importance of products and services that help am plify the health of their pet and they do research to understand what the best products and services to use are. And so we really want to make sure we are speaking to that consumer who is look ing for the best. That said, it’s important to acknowledge that doesn’t necessarily mean they have to spend a lot of money. We understand that a lot of pet parents are—especially in today’s world in the inflationary environment—looking for ways to save money. It’s important to us at Petco that we make pet parent hood and pet health and wellness easy and affordable and achievable for all pet parents. We make sure our stores represent all the needs of pets at every budget. The guests that shop at Petco ultimately share a desire to do what’s best for their pets. They’re looking for answers for solutions for education and support. But they need to be able to do that regardless of what the budget looks like. We want to make sure that we are speaking to the needs of all of those pet parents.

What is the impression that Pet co wants its staff to leave on pet owners during and after they visit a Petco store?

How would you characterize the pet owners who shop at Petco?

What do you attribute to Petco’s continued success?

Retailers, join us at PLMA’s 2022 Private Label Trade Show to see how store brand suppliers are responding with innovation in every food and non-food category, including pet care.

Pet owners are not content to just throw their dog a bone. They want their animal to enjoy premium health and wellness products that rival those made for humans. Many provide the best care for their pet without breaking the bank by reaching for store brands. Over the last 52 weeks, store brand pet care sales grew 7.3% in dollar sales to $4.2 billion, making it one of the leading trends at PLMA’s 2022 Private Label Trade Show.

The two-day show is spread out in separate halls so that exhibitors can be found more easily. Health and beauty, household goods, kitchenware and general merchandise are located in the South Hall. Food, snacks, beverages, refrigerated and frozen products are in the North, South and Sky Halls.

PLMA’s 2022 PRIVATE LABEL TRADE SHOW November 13 - 15 • Chicago Presented by the Private Label Manufacturers Association For more information, contact PLMA by phone at +1 212 972 3131 or e-mail info@plma.com or visit www.plma.com.

EDUCATION: AUGUST 15-16, 2023 MANDALAY BAY | LAS VEGAS, AUGUSTWWW.SUPERZOO.ORGNV16-18,2023 Me: Need AugustSaveSuperZoo:SuperZoo!moretheDate.16-18. MARK YOUR CALENDAR NOW WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY We hope you had an exciting and productive time at SuperZoo catching up with your fellow pet professionals, making connections with suppliers, sampling a host of new products and discovering strategies to drive success for your business. We don’t know about you, but we’re already hyped to see what next year’s SuperZoo will have in store – catch you there!