What to Expect at the 2015 Global Pet Expo: Nature’s Logic
Heather Hickey of Nature’s Logic shares the innovation Nature’s Logic is launching at this year’s Global Pet Expo. In addition, Heather speaks to how Nature’s Logic’s product assortment addresses consumers’ demands and drives growth to the premium pet food category.
What kind of innovation can retailers expect to see from Nature’s Logic at this year’s Global Pet Expo?
This year at the Global Pet Expo, we’re launching two new flavors of cat kibble and also a 15lb bag in the cat kibble line. Our biggest launch will be our new packaging—it will be seen at the Global Pet Expo for the very first time.
On the food side, we’re also introducing turkey and sardine flavors to our feline kibble. When we launch the 15lb bags, we’ll add that size to our chicken and rabbit feline kibble, which already exist in the two smaller, making us four total flavors in our cat line.
We’re also the only company in the world that does canned food without synthetics, and also we’re the only company that makes kibble, canned, and raw. Many customers are looking for simple ingredient panels without synthetics, but some customers and clients that can’t afford to do raw or for some reason haven’t taken that step to do an all-raw diet. If that’s the case, they’re really limited to their choices outside the freezer. We’re the first company to provide kibble and canned, so customers can rotate between the three categories, fitting their lifestyle and their budget—it’s really a cool place to be as a company. We’re having a lot of fun this year.
Which areas of the premium pet food category is Nature’s Logic planning to focus on this year?
Nature’s logic will focus on three primary areas: raw frozen diets, kibble, and cans. Early in the year, we will see growth in our kibble line. We’re one of only two kibbles in the world that do a completely balanced diet without synthetic vitamins that I am aware of. That sounds really simple, but actually everyone else is adding some sort of synthetic vitamin or synthetic minerals to their products to achieve the complete and balanced stage. Since we’re launching these new flavors and launching new packaging, we expect our growth early in the year to be in our kibble line. We expect our growth later in the year to occur when we update our packaging for raw and cans.
In terms of our new look, we have a big nice box at the top of our packaging that says “made with whole foods” and “no synthetics”. On the front of the package, we have a graphic design that represents simple healthy growth. It’s a representation of all of the colors in our primary protein lines, so consumers can easily identify that green is a turkey flavor and red is a beef flavor. Each of the colors and flavors is represented on all of the packages, which ties the line together. We do this to encourage customers to rotate. Food rotation helps to prevent allergies. We’re able to communicate all of that on the front of our new packaging.
How are Nature’s Logic’s latest innovations addressing consumer demands?
Even on the human side, people are looking for foods that are local, gluten free and non-GMO. And we’re addressing each of those in various ways. For example, our kibble contains millet, which is a GMO-free seasonal grass seed that is gluten free, low in sugar, has very few allergen responses from pets.
Additionally, we source our beef meal from a company in Omaha, and we’re based in Lincoln Nebraska. We’re local in as many ways as we can. We source our chicken and beef from the Midwest. We’re also sustainable in as many ways as we can. Our sardines are wild caught from Norway, for example.
What would you like retailers to get out of their experience with Nature’s Logic at the show?
We have a new booth at the show and our new packaging will be premiering for the first time. So we’re hoping that retailers will come by and learn a little bit more about us, and the great products that we’re offering. It will be the first time that consumers will get to see our entire line up with the new package.
How has Nature’s Logic applied what they’ve learned to help them build momentum and create enthusiasm about their latest product offering leading up to the show?
We’re doing some more consumer-facing advertising this year. We’re active with publications like Dogs Naturally and Animal Wellness, and we’re also participating in the Raw Round Up that’s coming up through Dogs Naturally.Our goal is to help consumers find those choices that are truly all natural. We hear every day that consumers want to feed their pets natural foods, but most consumers don’t realize that synthetic vitamins and minerals often come from China and are made in a lab, which create concerns if they’re not portioned correctly in the foods.
To communicate with consumers, we’re doing a lot with our website and social media. We’re also working with retail partners to help spread the word that there is an all-natural choice out there even if you can’t do an all-raw diet.
Ultimately, Global is an excellent show for us. So many of our retailers and distribution partners come to that show. We’re able to see distributors from all over the United States and also from other countries. Global is the one expo where we can see so many of those partners at the same time.