Supreme Petfoods has defended its record of supporting independent pet retailers despite criticism from an award-winning store.
Dawn Worton, Director of Ingleby Pet Supplies crowned PIF Retailer of the Year in 2015, said: “I was interested to read about the Supreme Petfoods Survey results and think they should be challenged about how they are going to help and support the independents that are being let down by suppliers who sell on mass to chain stores and discounters.
“In my town centre Wilkinsons sell the Tiny Friends Farm range as do Home Bargains. Locally Morrisons Supermarket stock Tiny Friends Farm and the full Supreme small animal food range is sold in The Range. At the moment Wilkinsons are selling Harry Hamster 700g for £1.10. I cant compete with that – my cost price is 99p + VAT.
“Following their survey I would be interested to know if they are going to stand by the independents and pull back from selling to discounters and help drive business back into independent outlets who will, as they say, also benefit from the add on sales in the category.”
As reported in Pet Trade Xtra last week, Supreme Petfoods surveyed more than 500 independent pet retailers and found that over half (54%) report that in the small pet category they have experienced an adverse impact on sales as a result of brands moving into mass grocery channels. Stores that experienced the greatest decline in sales were those located close to mass grocery or discount stores.
In response to Dawn’s comment Supreme Petfoods issued the following statement:
“We continue to support independent retailers with monthly deals direct from Supreme and via the wholesale channel, free samples, feeding programmes, money off coupons, loyalty scheme discounts, point of sale, FSDUs, and a plethora of other marketing support materials.
“We’ve also carried out research into how the small pet category is shopped and can advise independents on the best way to improve sales from the fixture. We are more than happy to visit stores and provide category audits to help them stock and merchandise the right products and provide ideas on improving the shopper’s experience.
“With regard to pricing, like any supplier we can only recommend retail prices and retailers take a view on what margin they are prepared to invest in bringing customers to store.
“It’s obviously very challenging for independents competing with many diverse retail channels, more so when trading competitively against those where the whole household shop can be completed in one place.
“As a business we support outlets that have dedicated small pet sections, which allow us to remain competitive and able to produce high quality innovative products that the trade needs to flourish.”
