PEt Food ????

[PPRM]

So, it doesn't take much for me to try making a newer product or cut....

I have one little ole man decides he wants Liver and Heart and I start deciding to sell it.....4 months later, I haven't sold any, but keep on having it cut and wrapped....Dog Bones as well....

There is a point where I really start thinking, "That was stupid, this is filling my freezer and for what?" Well, the Dog bines we are starting to call Soup Bones and the restaurant is taking most of them......

The Restaurant is also challenging us to go to more Markets so we can sell the cuts they don't take...So far it is working...

Friday, Richland washington, I sell some Liver nad Heart...The one I am most excited about is a lady with a Pet Grooming shop that too a lot of flyers. She has customes looking for this...

A friend is a rep for a pet supply company...He tells me I should start mrketing Pet food, frozen raw meat.....

I know I have some heart and liver.....He suggests Oxtail is soft cartiliage??? and full of natural glucosamine.......To grind with burger and mix it all and sell 1 pound frozen raw meat....

I think it needs to be to where I can find a pet retailer and sell it in 1 pound frozen packages for about $4.00/ lb to them so they have room for markup....

I need to find a source of vitamins and minerals to add that ae natural...Hmmmm..Vigortone????? I dunno....

The source for the meat part????? Maybe my older butcher cows? And do I have enough Heart and liver????

Sorry, thinking a lot out loud...If I do this, it is a pretty big endeavor.....even on a small scale....Any of your thoughts and insights are always appreciated,

PPRM

 

[Goodpasture]

We have a client who buys goat meat for dog food. All we do is dehydrate it, freeze it, and ship it. It isn't quite jerky, but close. And we don't season it like we would if it was for people. But the costs are relatively low......we get culls and cripples from the auction barn and sell it for $2.50 hanging weight.

I don't see why you couldn't market your beef it in yuppie specialty stores to "select clientèle" Like Orville Reddenbacher learned, if you market it property you can increase the price way over the normal price....remember he took a product that sold for $0.15 a pound and by claiming it was better sold it for $1.50 a pound.........

 

[PPRM]

ok....What kind of labeling is done on the packaging?


PPRM

 

[Goodpasture]

I would package it in 1 pound packages, like Jimmy Dean sausage. And grind it VERY coarse, after it has dried. I would prefer it diced in half inch chunks, but a coarse grind would be faster and equal.....maybe even easier to handle all the way through.....from processing to feeding. I would probably set a retail price of $5.99 a pound and sell it to the suppliers for $4.00 a pound or there abouts. I would label it 100% all natural, range fed beef with no hormones, antibiotics or additives. If you do a logo, do it as a black on white logo to make it appear you are simple and unpretentious in your marketing. You simply offer their pets a quality of beef they cannot get in the meat department at their local supermarket. Put an ad on the label that says to ask their retailer for specialty cuts and meats to suit their individual needs.

I would place it in high end pet stores (NOT Pets are Us or Petco etc) in major cities.......the kind of store where they sell knit angora sweaters for Fluffy for $150 and up. I would also locate a dozen or so vets that advertise in major metropolitan areas, the kind that do cosmetic surgery on dogs and cats, and offer to supply them with private label products. That way Dr Browns Special Formulated All Natural Beef can be sold for substantially more than any other dog food on the market. Isn't that the way the fancier dog foods got started? Before they sold out to Wal-Mart?

 

[kolanuraven]

ANYTIME you market anything edible....use the color red somewhere on the package.

The color red has been found to stimulate the brain receptors for hunger.

Yes, it's not the critter that will see the label....but we humans transfer our feelings to our animals. If we think it would taste good or looks good we'll buy it for not only us but our critters also!

 

[Texan]

I would think that cooler space would be the biggest obstacle you would face in trying to set it up at the retail level. You might could get around that if the retailer had room for a simple chest type freezer out in the floor. But still - there's going to be some expense on your part and you're gonna take up a lot of that retailer's floor space.

Why not try online sales first? Just advertise and do it all from home? People that will spend that kind of money on dog food aren't going to balk at paying the shipping. They might even buy larger quantities that way. If it costs the same to ship four pounds as it does one pound, they'll think they're getting a bargain.

The online sale could just be your experiment - sort of an IPO. If/when it catches on, it would be much easier to move it to retailers because you would have the consumer demand working for you - people asking their retailer for it.

I hope that works for you. Innovation to keep more money in the cattleman's pocket - just what we need. Good luck!

 

[PPRM]

Thanks for all of the positive comments. The local papers have been running articles on the Dinner House and mentioning us as suppliers. It is nice to hear all of the supportive comments from people, especially other ranchers tipping thier hats to us for making the effort.

As I think of this venture, I see more possibilitites.....

I feel a pet Expo may be the best way to kick such a venture off in conjuntion with a web site.....I appreciate the thought on retail floor space Texan. That is our new world of retail that you can own floor space if you'll buy it.....Likely, an internet venture may very well use all we could supply anyways......

The package would likely be along the lines of paper and Boutique cute with a homey feel. My wife used to make and sell a lot of craft products and cute it up with rafia paper string bows.....

Honestly, any kind of venture like this would take some time.....Another avenue may be Pet grooming shps, likely where high end clientel would take thier pets.....

And Alaska as a source of information.....When I was there, they fed those sled dogs a lot of raw meat in addition to the higher end brands at the time (At the time, Iams was a quality food).....

Another thing I was thinking is likely I have not enough heart and liver for this, but other guys selling the all natural product mght welcome someone that would buy up all of thier heart and liver products?

Just more random musings,

PPRM

 

[Anonymous]

ANYTIME you market anything edible....use the color red somewhere on the package.

The color red has been found to stimulate the brain receptors for hunger.

Yes, it's not the critter that will see the label....but we humans transfer our feelings to our animals. If we think it would taste good or looks good we'll buy it for not only us but our critters also!

Yep-- and light blues and pinks stimulate you to calm down-- the reason so many lockups (Jails- Hospital psych wards) are painted in those colors.... I think the best for now- and the next few years to come is to make sure it has a big red/white/ and blue labeling on it, that also includes Guaranteed ALL Product of USA!!!! Could be worth several cents a pound more....