Hank

Just posted on their facebook. Can't wait to see the freeze dried food!

Looks like the treats are Wild Boar, Tundra, Regional Red, Original, Ranch Raised Lamb, Brome Lake Duck, Free Range Bison, Black Angus Beef

more pics on their pinterest
http://pinterest.com/championpetfood/

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wolfgirl1987

This is awesome! So looking forward to getting some!

ZeldaRules

Nice!

EmilyB

We have wild boars in Alberta? I don't get out enough.

prairiefire

People raise wild boar in SK and MB, why not AB? I think wild boar is more a breed of pig than an actual distinct species. I cannot wait to try these treats even it there isn't any hope that they'll be cheaper than Zukes.

smudgeid

Wouldn't they be domestic boar if they are raised on a farm? It doesn't have the same sort of marketing ring to it though....
Kate

prairiefire

Because they are no longer domesticated. They are still feral, just penned in and slaughtered at convenience and (usually) not causing problems roaming around freely. That last part only if the farmer keeps them properly secured.

EmilyB

Ugh, penned slaughter. But let's call them wild.

Alberta Wild Boar Hunting (.com) - Alberta Wild Boar Hunts, Wild Boar Hunts in Alberta, Ca.

speedog

New user here and as the owner of an independant pet food/supplies shop, I can assure you that pricing will be an issue - so much so that we are very hesitant on stocking the Orijen freeze dried foods as freeze dried foods have never done well in our shop.

Freeze dried treats such as PureBites and Benny Bullys have also always moved very slowly in our shop - price points versus quantity plus demographics kind of controls this. We have found that it really doesn't matter how much one educates customers with respect to how good a freeze dried treat is, cost versus value almost always seems to win out - so much so that the PureBites line in our shop will be gone once sold down.

That said, we will probably stock the Orijen freeze dried treat line just because consumers have been looking for a treat made by Orijen and these will sell just because of that. The freeze dried food line, on the other hand, is a whole different beast - yes, easier than BARF/raw, but it still requires more work than feeding a dry kibble and that in it's self will make it a hard sell. Knowledgeable dog owners know that feeding a BARF/raw diet is the optimum way to go but for many families, they find it is just does not fit into their lifestyle - convenience will win out for most dog owners. This is why we currently do not stock any freeze dried foods and we only stock one line of raw which sells very slowly - our customer base isn't looking for these type of products and there is a well known chain in Calgary that pretty much has the BARF/raw market sewn up. Now that being said, we haven't actually had any hands on with these new products nor do we know anything of the feeding guidelines - if the cost per feed is competitive, then we could possibly sell this new food no different than how we are able to get customers moved on to CaniSource, it looks expensive until one breaks down to a cost per feed basis.

Cost will be a huge factor in a consumer's purchasing decision and even if they decide to try a freeze dried diet out, convenience will find many of them switching back to a kibble feed before long.

ZeldaRules

That's interesting. Maybe things are different here. I briefly managed a pet boutique where we sold raw, freeze-dried, and kibble diets. We also sold freeze-dried treats. I was able to sell a lot of freeze-dried treats when educating people on how sanitary the process is for making them and how great they are for their pets. Many mainly raw feeders also came in to buy freeze-dried food because they mentioned it being convenient when they traveled and such. We kept our food prices low though and barely marked up since we made money on other things. I just found that people were very open to the freeze dried treats and were interested in them. We carried the Bravo! and Stella & Chewy's treats.

speedog

Demographics - in a city of 1.2 million, I know a variety of independent pet food/supply store owners as well as managers of smaller chains and what sells very well at our shop in one quadrant of Calgary will not even move in another part of Calgary. Freeze dried just doesn't work in our area - too many rural pet owners (farmers and acreage owners) and young families. Yeah, I know the benefits and all, but it just doesn't fly in our shop and like I said before, there is a chain here in western Canada that pretty much has the BARF/raw market to themselves - finding a good variety of raw in any other store but this chain in Calgary is quite difficult.

Now the mark-up on this new Orijen is good, but the barrier in many stores will be the price points and convenience - many pet owners just do not want to be bothered with re-hydrating a food as it's just another little thing they have to fit into their busy lives whereas kibble is much easier for them. In our shop, freeze dried food accounts for exactly 0% of our sales - we've had freeze dried stocked in the past and it stale dated and of our nearest 4 competitors (3 chain and one independent), only the independent stocks freeze dried and very little at that. But at the same time, I know of stores in other parts of Calgary where this new food and treats will fly off the shelves - different demographics.

Hank

Heres the freeze dried food

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Hank

Found this on another forum









http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177261

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Anton-Caesar

this will be interesting, im a Orijen feeder, Caesar loves it, will be good to try some of the treats and maybe some of the food, i wonder how long it will take before it is available over here in England though