Pet Food Field Trip

I took a little field trip yesterday – to Walmart and paid a visit to the pet food aisle. It was one of the most discouraging field trips I’ve ever taken. I’m not going to mention any product names but wow do I have some interesting pet food sales tricks to share with you.

The number one interesting marketing technique – and I have changed the exact words to protect the identity of this pet food (gotta play nice)…Blazoned across one pet food was Crunchy Beefy Nuggets™. Did you catch it? Crunchy Beefy Nuggets is a trademark name – it’s a name! It has nothing to do with the pet food – it is literally just a name. Very slick.

The most common sales technique I found was pet foods that are ‘flavored’. The actual name of the pet food was ‘Steak and Vegetable Flavor’ or ‘Chicken and Fish Flavor’ – one even got very specific with the name mentioning Albacore Tuna and Yellow Fin Tuna FLAVOR. The trick there is the pet food is just FLAVORED with steak and vegetables or Albacore Tuna – that’s not really in the pet food!!! Again – it’s just the flavor. Most people do not get that – they see Albacore Tuna and Yellow Fin Tuna or they see Steak and Vegetable — they don’t see Flavor. Most pet owners just assume that since the front of the pet food bag – in big bold letters says Albacore Tuna on it – it’s got Albacore Tuna inside the bag. If the food actually had Steak and Albacore Tuna in it – it wouldn’t say ‘Flavor’ on the front – it would say ‘with Steak and Albacore Tuna’ and it would cost more (Albacore Tuna does cost more than Albacore Tuna Flavor).

One pet food proudly stated ‘No Fillers’ on the front of the bag – yet in the small print of the ingredient list – Ground Corn, Chicken by-products, Corn Gluten Meal were the first three ingredients. Sounds like fillers to me!

Another mentions “New Shapes and Colors”. Let’s see, does this mean this pet food is using more Red Dye now or more Yellow Dye? Very discouraging.

One pet food bragged that it contained Protein and Phosphorus for Strong Muscles. Phosphorus? Wikipedia provides us with the following “The most important commercial use of phosphorus-based chemicals is the production of fertilizers. Phosphorus compounds are also widely used in explosives, nerve agents, friction matches, fireworks, pesticides, toothpaste, and detergents. Among other uses these are used to improve the characteristics of processed meat and cheese.” I’m not sure I’d brag about that.

I found a lot of pictures of steaks and chicken on the front of the pet food bags, but I had a very challenging time finding any beef or chicken listed in the ingredients. Oh, but I did find a lot of BHA and BHT, Animal Fat, and Dyes.

I left the pet food aisle just shaking my head – actually more than a little blown away at how many by-products, meat and bone meals, and BHA/BHT pet foods that were there. In the 20 minutes or so I was looking at pet food and pet treat labels, probably five or six pet owners came in and purchased pet food. I kept my mouth shut – but it was very tough to do. To give Walmart a little credit – there were a couple of pet foods that were good (not great, but good). I understand that not everyone can afford to spend $25 for a 20 pound bag of pet food. But in my opinion, no one should spend a dime on pet foods that contain by-products, meat and bone meals, and BHA/BHT (or other chemical preservatives).

Just a reminder…Don’t let sticker shock steer you away from a better quality food. A pet food with a quality meat protein will cost more (a human grade of beef or chicken DOES cost more than cow intestines and chicken feet!!!) – but your pet (on average) will eat about 1/3 less of the higher quality food.

So let’s break it down to cost per meal…

Let’s say your pet currently eats 1 cup of food per day. A 20 pound bag of food will provide you with about 50 servings. If the food costs you $15.00 for a 20 pound bag – that equals about .30 per meal.

Now with a good quality pet food – feeding about 1/3 less – a 20 pound bag will provide you about 80 servings. If the better food costs $30.00 for a 20 pound bag – that breaks down to a little less than .38 cents a meal.

So even though the price tag of the food reads to be twice as expensive – it’s actually far from the truth. Using the above example, at .30 cents per meal, two meals a day, in one month you are spending around $18.00 per month to feed a pet with the inferior food. With the apparent twice as expensive higher quality pet food, at .38 cents per meal, two meals a day, in one month you are spending around $22.80 per month. Less than $5.00 per month difference in actual cost. You can probably imagine the health benefits to your pet from eating a human quality/grade meat protein pet food versus a by-product chicken feet and cow intestine protein pet food.

Please bother to read the ingredients of all products you give your pet. Learn where the ingredients come from (U.S. or China). Learn the shelf life so you understand how fresh the product is you are purchasing. And learn if the ingredients are a human grade or a pet grade (many ingredients themselves will tell you – as an example by-products – are not human grade). Knowing these things helps you find the right pet food and right treats to provide your pet.

And yes, Petsumer Report provides those to you – on over 500 different pet foods and treats. Nothing in Petsumer Report is proprietary information or secret – you can find out all that I provide in Petsumer Report by calling the manufacturers. It’s just a simple way of comparing over 500 different pet foods (adding 40+ every month) all in one place. Either way, please find out the above information before you purchase the product.

http://www.bigcatrescue.biz/

http://www.bigcatrescue.biz/

Wishing you and your pet the best,

Susan Thixton

Truth About Pet Food

Petsumer Report

www.TruthAboutPetFood.com

More articles on pet foods and pet treats can be found here: http://www.TruthAboutPetFood.com/PawsClub.html

All rights reserved PPC Publications.

Help Big Cat Rescue

And

Learn which dog foods, cat foods, and pet treats

Contain risky and inferior ingredients

And which pet foods contain the highest quality ingredients.

A full one year subscription of Petsumer Report™ Online costs less than $1.50 per month. That’s cheaper than the cost of one cup of coffee a month! About $.03 cents per review for just the existing pet food and treat reviews (as of August 2008 there are over 700 pet foods and treats reviewed). Forty plus reviews are added each month. By the time your year subscription expires there will be well over 1000 reviews of dog foods, cat foods, dog and cat treats, and soon pet toys and other pet supplies.

$17.95 for a one year online subscription.

$5.00 of every sale goes directly to Big Cat Rescue.

Help Big Cat Rescue and learn the Truth about Pet Food! Nutrition is one of the most neglected areas of pet care. Modern veterinary science tells us that the average size dog (30 pounds) should have a life span of 25 years and the average size cat should have a life span of 30 years. Sadly, we lose them far earlier. Genetics, environment, and nutrition – or lack of nutrition – all plays a role in the life expectancy of your pet. Improve your pet’s diet – improve their health and extend their life span.

Pet Food meat ingredients come from two VERY different categories or classifications…Pet grade/quality ingredients (which can be diseased or sick animals or animal parts rejected for use in human food) or Human grade/quality ingredients.

Do you know which your pet is eating?

Pet foods and Treats can legally contain chemical preservatives linked to cancer and tumors.

Do you know if they are in your

pet’s food or treats?

Many pet food manufacturers import pet food ingredients outside the US – from countries with little to no government regulations or quality control.

Do you know if any ingredient in your pet’s food

comes from outside the US?

Petsumer Report Does!

Let Petsumer Report help you find which pet foods DON’T use risky or inferior ingredients AND help Big Cat Rescue at the same time. Purchase a one year subscription to Petsumer Report Online today.

It’s simple to login after purchase. Go to www.TruthAboutPetFood.com. Click on the link at the top right of the page that says “Just Purchased Petsumer Report? Click Here to Register your subscription”. On the following page – enter the User Name and Password of your choice and your order number provided in your receipt email – and you’re set. Within minutes you can be scanning and comparing hundreds of different dog foods, cat foods, and treats. Return anytime to check out new reviews – 24/7. For all follow up logins go to www.TruthAboutPetFood.com. Click on the link at the top left of the page that says ‘Login to Petsumer Report’. Enter your User Name and Password. It’s that simple!

One more bonus available ONLY to supporters of Big Cat Rescue…

Instead of just one year, I’ll add an additional three months to your Petsumer Report Online subscription. Now…15 months for the one year subscription price of $17.95 – and $5.00 of every sale goes to benefit Big Cat Rescue.

This is a limited time offer. Don’t put it off another day!

Click Here to Order and Take Advantage of this Special Offer

https://00e07d5.netsolstores.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=45

Please note: This special offer to benefit Big Cat Rescue is ONLY available on the special page link above. You can read more about Petsumer Report at www.PetsumerReport.com or learn more about pet food at www.TruthAboutPetFood.com – but to help Big Cat Rescue and receive the bonus three months on your subscription – you MUST make your purchase on the Special Big Cat Rescue page linked above.

Link to Shopping Cart Page for Big Cat Rescue Special Offer:

https://00e07d5.netsolstores.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=45