Oxbow pellets?

[earthisours]

Hi there,

So I work at a holistic pet food store and I just heard something interesting from my manager… Apparently Oxbow is now going to be carried at Wal-mart and immediately this brought up red flags for me. The thing is, while I can tell you what each ingredient in dog/cat food actually means, I’m not nearly as informed regarding bunny pellet nutrition…

Usually, when things get moved to Wal-mart, it’s because it’s become cheaper to produce (or will become cheaper to produce) so it can be mass-produced, and thus, sold to Wal-mart. This makes me worried because usually it comes along with a decrease of quality of food. (Think about it this way, all the cat and dog food found at Wal-mart are the equivealent of our McDonald’s) And the decrease of quality isn’t always obvious. (In dog food, think of it as potato vs potato product, it’s a sneaky decrease of quality most consumers don’t realize)

Does this mean there’s a formula change coming? And even if there is, I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to really make my own decision on this, does anyone have information regarding pellet nurtrition?? (Aside from the obvious stuff, like timothy vs alfalfa, etc) Or perhaps any information regarding Oxbow and whether there WILL be a formula change??

 

[Sarita]

That’s so interesting.

I have to think that this might be a possibility because they may not have the same quality control for such a large scale. I do know that they get their hay supply from different farmers – it’s not all farmed at one farm.

I don’t understand why they feel the need to expand to Walmart (other than for the profit) since they are now being carried at Petsmart.

I share your concerns but I don’t have any info on formula change.

I do wonder if it’s going to be a different “branding” of Oxbow too since they are so much pricier than say Haartz which is crummy stuff but that’s the stuff that Walmart carries.

[Elrohwen]

This is a very interesting question!

Coming from the food industry, which functions very similarly to the pet food industry, I can say that there are many ways other than a formula change that a product can become cheap enough to be accepted into Wal-mart. Perhaps Oxbow was able to increase their production to a level that makes it cheaper? Or maybe they’ve increased their distribution to a level that Wal-mart finds acceptable? Or, like Sarita mentioned, they could make a new formula/new quality level exclusively for Wal-mart (though it can add a lot of cost to produce more products for different customers sometimes, but since they seem to be a fairly small company it might not be a problem for them).

I hope they’re not changing their formula overall and have only implemented some savings in the way they do things operationally or through their supply chain. I’ll definitely keep a close watch on their quality, as I expect this would change before the actual formulation.

[Beka27]

Interesting! I don’t know anything about this being carried by Wal-mart… I can usually get mine at PetSmart, but as long as the quality remains the same (which knowing Oxbow standards, I can’t see them reducing their quality) this could be a good option for people who don’t have access to other chain pet supply stores.

[bunnnnnnie!]

Is there any kind of like press release about this or anything?  If it starts being carried at Walmart I might actually switch from Kaytee Timothy Complete.  The convenience factor would be great!

[BinkyBunny]

I’ll email Oxbow and find out more about this rumor. I have heard that Walmart is trying to change a few things == like carry more organics and upscale some of their stuff, so maybe it’s part of that aspect. Who knows. I’ll let you know if I get a response back from Oxbow.

UPDATE:  Okay,  so I decided to call and like always they have wonderful customer service/educators.  The person I spoke with said she’d be completely shocked if they EVER did that.  She said the only way that could happen is if one of their distributors did it without their knowledge. I asked her what would they do if the did find out a distributor was selling to Walmart and she said hey would discuss with their distributor the policies regarding that.—-One of which is:  Oxbow chooses to sell to places that would be more apt to educate about diet and care of a pet and that is why they choose not to sell to big box stores because that would be lacking. 

So, I think the Walmart thing  is just a rumor and if anyone actually sees Oxbow pellets at Walmart, you should call Oxbow directly as I’m sure they would want to know more about who could be distributing their product there.  

So how did this rumor get started in the first place? 

 

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By BinkyBunny on 08/18/2010 02:15 PM
I’ll email Oxbow and find out more about this rumor. I have heard that Walmart is trying to change a few things == like carry more organics and upscale some of their stuff, so maybe it’s part of that aspect. Who knows. I’ll let you know if I get a response back from Oxbow.

 

Thanks, be sure to let us know!

[BinkyBunny]

Op…bunnnnnnnie, I posted my update on the previous post — we must have posted at the same time.

So for everyone— the update is on my previous post.

[earthisours]

Oh, okay. I’ll speak to my manager then. She just mentioned that we were pulling Oxbow off our shelves because Wal-mart was gonna start stocking it, but I suppose maybe she had it confused with another retailer, maybe? Sorry, I didn’t mean to start anything! At least it’s been put to rest, hehe.

Sorry guys.

[Monkeybun]

I don’t understand that.. if WalMart stocks something, your store won’t? What if it’s a GOOD something? I mean.. if walmart starts selling something that is good for animals, wouldn’t that be a good thing?

*is confused*

[Sarita]

MonkeyBun I imagine that a small independent store just cannot compete with Walmart. Being independent you need to offer something that sets you apart from a big box mega giant store like Walmart.

[Sarita]

I’m very pleased that they are not selling at Walmart and they have their standards. Many rescues, vets and pet stores sell Oxbow and not to mention BB which actually care about pets and pet rabbits. Kudos to Oxbow (in my opinion). Walmart selling Oxbow would surely put those who care out of business.

[RabbitPam]

Thanks for checking BB. The Petsmart markup of their products is huge compared to other places. I wonder if they even benefit from that or if it’s just Petsmart making them look bad? I noticed that my vet is still selling it, so they are true to Oxbow’s policy.

[Kyoshi]

Hmm. I personally hate to order things for my pets unless it is a pet specialty store, as people in other stores have no idea what the products like, and most of them see pets as dollar signs.

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