First show and we over bought!

[jojodancer]

Well, Casey's Hidden Pantry did their first show last weekend in Chicago. We had Ziwipeak, Stella and Chewy's, AFS, and Pingford's Porridge ready to sell.

Well, apparently the Chicago ferret show circle isn't as into commercial raw diets (in fact, perhaps they don't know a lot about raw diets at all) and most of the time was spent discussing raw diets in general. We were able to sell the soups rather easily when we explained it was SOOOO much better than Uncle Jim's. But we had the other products which we wanted to sell.

So we are selling the products for the next few weeks at "GCFA Show Prices" so that you can cash in on the deals.

Check it out:
www.caseyshiddenpantry.com

[squishy506]

I didn't know there was any show in Chicago. I would have gone!

[pear2apple]

I really like it that you're selling the S&C, but are you also going to sell the lamb?

And Ziwipeak, thank you!

Will you be selling POgOs? Not that I need to buy any (I currently have 15 packs...sigh), but eventually I will need a supplier!

[jojodancer]

(sorry - was out of town for a few days and hubby doesn't check the forums as often as he should)

we probably won't be selling pogos anytime soon. basically I don't sell anything that isn't approved by our fuzzies first - and they couldn't stand the pogos. We felt that if we couldn't honestly tell a customer that it is liked/loved and by our ferrets, we shouldn't be selling it. we can honestly say that our fuzzies eat and love the items we are selling.

As for the S&C lamb, that is a possibility. I will have to call them and ask for samples to see how our ferts like it. Do you think there is a market for lamb? So many people think chicken-chicken-chicken.

Just got the info for Wysong in the mail, and will look over it tonight. As I explained in another thread, Illinois makes companies pay $75 for each product they sell, so we start a couple hundred in the hole with each item listed.

[pear2apple]

I appreciate you selling only what your ferrets like so that us as customers can really trust your expertise.

Please try your ferrets with POgOs again! Those are a necessity in my house!

I know everyone always thinks chicken, however Apple is allergic so I need that other variety!

Perhaps you could also sell Whole Life treats. They are just freeze dried pieces, like Salmon, Venison, Beef, etc. Big hit over here too.

Does Wysong have any products (other than canned) that don't contain chicken? That being said, are you considering selling any canned products?

[jojodancer]

We really hadn't planned on selling canned food, even though we use it here in our soupies. (we use canned EVO or wellness core) If there is enough demand, we'd probably add it. We may have to retool our shipping, though, since cans are heavier than packages of food. Have to look into that.

I'm looking at the Wysong list. The thing about these order forms is that they don't list ingredients. You have to know what you want and then order it. If you don't know the products, you have to research on the web, and then go to the order form. The Wysong order form is 8 pages long, with something like 7pt type (relatively small)

But right now, we're sitting on gobs of AFS majestic sprinkles and Stella and Chewy's (both of which our ferrets go gaga over). We may carry some canine treats since we've been getting requests from our friends to get some - their dogs go crazy over the green tripe and freeze dried nibblets. So we have some green tripe on hand, to sell, for those who know it's there.

I'll look into whole life treats. I haven't heard of them and will have to find a supplier.

BTW, I really appreciate the input. We were approved to start selling 9/1/08 and are starting small (due to the economy and the outlay of expenses) and chose foods that our ferrets like. But we are getting lots of requests for canine treats (not foods) so may add that, and if we get enough requests for other foods (like the Wysong A-1), we'll probably end up adding it.

[pear2apple]

Good point about the canned! haha Hadn't even thought about shipping weight, that said it would prob be too expensive and not worth it to ship cans.

But Whole Life treats are great, freeze-dried meat only for cats, dogs, ferrets. That would be awesome if you sold them! Once the ferrets got the hang of how to eat them, they loved them.

Perhaps those Halo Live-a-Littles protein treats too. Those I think are similar to Whole Life. Perhaps more expensive, not too sure about those.

Glad to give feedback!

[jojodancer]

I've requested info from Whole Life and they gave me a call back within 30 minutes. They are sending the product info to me this week.

Halo is more difficult (and also more expensive). I'm trying to sell foods that won't turn people off of feeding raw - and in this economy, paying $13 for 2 oz of treats might turn people off. We'll probably add Wysong-I, even though it is more expensive than we'd feel comfortable with, due to it's following.

Jus wanted to keep you posted.....

[Forum Administrator]

Any chance of adding meat-based treats? My guys LOVE Duck Jerkey by VitaLife. They also make Chicken Jerkey and Turkey Jerkey Medallions.

Even though these foods arent raw, they are still wonderful for ferrets. MUCH better then N-bones or Greenies which are more like junk/empty food.

Dont know if you'd be interested in carrying it or not The thing I like about the duck jerkey is that its an 8oz bag. It costs like $6 at petco, but man oh man those treats last FOREVER. There are SO MANY strips of jerked packed into the bag, its awesome!

[Forum Administrator]

Oh and I also meant to ask. Do you plan to stick with freeze-dried/dehydrated foods or do you plan (in the future) to add FROZEN raw products, such as nature's variety patties, stella and chewy's patties, etc?

[pear2apple]

Nov 3, 2008 21:24:05 GMT -5 Forum Administrator said:

Any chance of adding meat-based treats? My guys LOVE Duck Jerkey by VitaLife. They also make Chicken Jerkey and Turkey Jerkey Medallions.

I've actually been told NOT to feed the medallions because they are super hard. I've only fed the Duck Jerky and mine LOVE them too! And yes, there's like 50 strips in there and it takes mine about a week to get thru one. And thats stealing it back and forth between each other!

But that is a good plan, with the Whole Life and possibly the jerky, maybe Dogswell too? They have tons of options.

Hmmm adding NV raw frozen you have to take into account shipping with dry ice and what not. That just sounds like a lot of work you know? I have no idea how much shipping costs to send out dry ice and everything, but it seems so expensive and thats whats holding me back from ordering anything from Hare Today, because a lot of that stuff I am interested in, but not a fan of the shipping cost and worried about it sitting outside my door.

[jojodancer]

we do plan EVENTUALLY to add the frozen AFS and S&C to the pantry. But we had to see if the Freeze Dried worked first, before investing in shipping frozen products. We also wanted to add Wildlife Whole Prey Laying Hen, which comes frozen. That was our first attempt at raw foods, and the ferrets loved it. and it's whole prey - the enitre chicken ground up for you.

Giuli, I wish you could have come up here during the GCFA show, I wanted you to go through the catalogs I had and get your input. As I mentioned before, the catalogs only list the product name, and no ingredient or GA info.

So on my list of items to look into: VitaLife, Dogswell. Remember we are talking $75 for each item we add to the pantry. So we need more people asking for it. But I can look at costs and such, just see if it's worth it.

[Forum Administrator]

If you add the Vitalife Duk strips I know I can commit to buying them. That is the only treat my Fugey-poogy will eat.

That's a shame that you have to pay $75 to add each new product! I will be so happy once you are able to start adding more products. I really want to see you succed. I love buying from all the online raw feeding suppliers.

Currently I purchase from:

Hare Today, Gone Tommorow (Delilah eats a ground raw diet---bad teeth---and I get all the weird organs that I can't find in a local store)

Rodentpro.com- That's where I get all the boy's whole prey

Prey4pets- I have not purchased directly through them, but I did have a member of a raw feeding cat forum mail me some leftover chicks (from Prey4pets) that she had for Zephyr. I've also talked with Nicole (owner of prey4pets) and she was very nice. I plan to order from her in the future.

I'd definitly love to start ordering from you, but at this time you don't carry any products that my kiddos will eat.

I'd be willing to try the stella and chewy's RAW, the AFS RAW, and the Nature's Variety RAW. I generally don't feed ground to Mizu, Fugue, or Zephyr (only occasionally), but Delilah eats a totally raw diet, so I'm always on the lookout to add variety to her diet.

How are the stella and chewy's freeze-dried patties? And the AFS sprinkles? I might order those and see if De likes them.

After years of eating crunchy food, De will always go for crunchy food over soft food (I have to be sure to sweep and vacuum my floor or she'll eat hard plastic, flyaway woodstoove pellets, and pasta that has fallen on the floor). I take the vitalife jerkey and I break it into pieces and add it to her ground raw, and she seems to really like that.

[jojodancer]

My ferts LOVE the stella and chewy's. Pear2Apple's guys love the stella and chewy's too. Mine like the S&C more than the AFS patties, but I still mix it up to give them variety. The AFS Sprinkles are the same ingredients as the patties, and they love that as well. Honestly, when I told Pear that we only sell things that our ferrets eat and have approved of, I mean it. I can tell anyone who asks that (1) are well-balanced raw meal and (2) they are gobbled up by our horde.

We also have some natural doggie treats that friends have been asking for. I still have to get those up on the pages, but we'll be selling those as well. I think I have to have a separate page for those treats since (1) they are just treats (not a meal supplement) and (2) they are geared toward dogs (larger pieces, less protein). I have to figure out what I want to do with that.

I have a shipment of wysong on it's way, should be here by the end of the week, and it will show up on the website that night. I'll post here so you all know it's there.

Let me look into Vitalife. And Whole Life (suggested by Pear) is sending me info so one (or both) may be added in time.

[jojodancer]

I received the shipment of Whole Life samples yesterday, with the price list. Wow, they are pretty expensive. It's about $4 for a 1 ounce bag. How long do these treats last? I know that Bear, my inquisitive fert, was sniffing around them, and kept trying to steal them. so we gave him a piece to sample, and he ran off to hide it. I don't know if that constitutes "ferret-approved" or not.

I am also looking around for the VitaLife treats. None of my local suppliers carry it. This is what I could find online: www.normericainc.com/dog-products-treats.php#natures
Is this what you are looking for?

And, I just added Wysong Archetypal-1 to the pantry.

Green Tripe, Beef, and Chicken dog treats are being added. They can probably be used as a cat or ferret treat as well - but I know my ferrets weren't interested in them. But my friends' dogs went bonkers for them. They are like doggie ferretone or something. These doggie treats are $7 or $8 for 5 ounces.