Bloggy Giveaway: Wagatha Dog Treats

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Bloggy Giveaway: Wagatha Dog Treats
by Heather on October 27th, 2008

Wagatha’s (how cute is that name?) all-organic (Kosher) gourmet dog treat line is based in Vermont and sells to pet retailers across the U.S. and Canada.

The delectable Vermont-made doggie treats feature human-grade ingredients like olive oil, honey and whole eggs to keep your pup safe and healthy, and come in a fun canister with company mascot Wagatha on the front. Wagathas’s promises: good enough for owners to eat!

They’ve recently launched Super Biscuits for the younger dog with boundless energy - with added vitamins and minerals to refuel and refresh, and they also have a Senior Biscuit for less active dogs.

Wagatha’s is giving away one canister of each! (Two winners, one canister each.)

To Enter:
Tell me how old your dog(s) is/are! That’s it!

* Contest closes at 5:00pm PDT on Friday, October 31. Winners will be notified by email and will have 24 hours to respond with mailing information before new winners are chosen.

Vermont-made Products Pamper Your Pets

October 17, 2008
Circulation:43,168
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The grim outlook on the economy aside, people still love to spoil their pets. The pet business is doing remarkably better than just a few years ago and only seems to be growing.

"Approximately 63 percent of U.S. households, or 71 million homes, now own at least one pet, up from 64 million just five years ago," said Paul Mann, CEO of FETCH! Pet Care, the nation's largest provider of professional at-home pet sitting and dog walking services with more than 200 franchise locations throughout the U.S.

"With annual spending on pets expected to hit $52 billion in the next two years, clearly, the demand for pet care services is at an all-time high, irrespective of economic concerns."

Here are a few Vermont-made pet products to keep your furry buddies happy. They can all be found at PawBella Pet Boutique on College Street in Burlington. For more products. Wagatha's Tuscan Tomato and Cranberry Cheddar dog treats, made in Manchester. The company was established in 2006 by Neil Reilly and Norman Levitz. 877-924-2842, www.wagathas.com Mini Mode Collection doggie raincoat with faux Louis Viutton pattern. Mini Mode Collection was founded in 2003 by Lyne Boire-Weinberg in Montreal. She now lives in Vermont. 858-9919, www.minimodecollection.com. South Burlington-based PUPCAT bakery, founded in 2003, makes and bakes treats for dogs and cats, including these doggie cookie bars. 859-9574, www.pupcatbakery.com

From Storeroom to Store Shelves

October 13, 2008

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Visitors Per Month: 7,943,529

Use these 9 tips to craft a pitch that will have retailers filling out purchase orders.

Neil Reilly, 46, a former commodities trader, used to walk the streets of Manhattan after the markets closed, trying to pitch his organic, kosher dog treats to retailers. Now Manchester Center, Vt.-based Wagatha's, co-owned by Reilly and Norman Levitz, 52, is projecting $1 million in sales for 2009. Reilly, like other entrepreneurs, learned that getting a product onto store shelves takes patience, persistence and a strong pitch.

Even connecting at first with a buyer for a larger retailer can take time and multiple phone calls. If cost allows, send your product to potential buyers before calling. When you do make contact, they will already have your product in hand.

Once you have a meeting set up, consider these nine tips for getting your product into stores and the hands of customers.

Address how your product compares to similar ones the retailer already carries. Adding a new vendor can be costly for a retailer. Buyers are taking a risk by agreeing to dedicate limited shelf space to a new product. Compel them to take a chance on your product by showing why it's better. Maybe your headphones have exceptional sound quality, a higher-than-average margin and come in five different colors.

Discuss how you and your product fit in with the retailer's culture. "The people behind the product and their mission are just as important as the product itself," says Harvinder Singh, a regional local products forager for Whole Foods. "We look for products that are made with high quality, organic ingredients, have a low carbon footprint and are socially just, meaning the growers and producers are paid fairly and treated well." Also consider the retailer's image: Is it high end or budget conscious? Trendy or traditional?

Demonstrate demand for your product. Retailers, especially large ones, often calculate revenue per square inch of shelf space. They want to know before they agree to carry your product that there's going to be demand for it. Tell them where else your product is carried or how many units you've sold through your website. Maybe a local boutique only bought 20 of your necklaces in an initial order but sold out of them in three days. Also, know your market. This includes the age, gender, income and interests of your target customer. Compare how your market overlaps with that of the retailer.

Show your passion. "If it's a quality product, you just have to tell your story," Reilly says. "You have to be really honest and believe in yourself." As part of his pitch to retailers, Reilly often will eat his dog biscuits, which are made in Wagatha's own facility.

Present a finished product, including packaging. Retailers want to know everything about your product. If you can't have your packaging ready for the pitch meeting, at least know what it's going to look like. Include a logo and artwork, and what materials you're going to use. Keep in mind that some retailers will be looking for recyclable packaging. Reilly says that some home stores and hotels he's pitched his dog treats to have been more interested in the packaging and what the product is going to look like on the shelves.

Address how your product will fare in difficult economic times. If your price point is comparable to or higher than your competition's, focus on why people still need or will want your product. Retailers, including Whole Foods, are focused on finding the next big trends, Singh says.

Discuss your ability to deliver. Buyers often are given a set amount of money to work with. If you tie up their funds and fail to deliver your product on time, you are wasting their shelf space and costing them money. Be honest with yourself and the retailer about how much of your product you can deliver and when. Failing to deliver on time also could result in hefty fines.

Be prepared to discuss your business plan. Major retailers in particular will want to know that you can continue to deliver your product as promised and that you will be professional to work with. "I love people with ideas and passion, but there's a whole other side to it," Singh says.

Don't exceed the allotted time, and leave enough time for questions. If buyers have important questions about the viability of your product and don't get to ask them, they might go with a surer thing.

Be strategic about the retailers you meet with. Major chains like Target, Best Buy and Costco may seem like a gold mine. But first realistically evaluate your ability to supply them with the amount of product they need. Consider starting smaller to gauge demand for your product. Also look for companies with programs supportive of startups. Whole Foods, for instance, has a Local Producer Loan Program for small, local producers.

Also consider hiring a manufacturer's representative or agent, someone to do most of the legwork for you and who doesn't get paid until your product gets placed.

"Go out and hit the street," Reilly says. "Just make sure you believe in your product."

Being In The Doghouse Never Felt So Good

October 4, 2008
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In August 2008, Janine Franceschi, owner of PAW, Pet-friendly Accommodations Worldwide, along with her Irish setter, Beau, launched a four-month, 30-state tour in New York City to promote the booking site of the only collection of luxury, pet-friendly accommodations on the Web today, www.luxurypaw.com.

As the dynamic duo drove away from the Big Apple in their red "PAW"-print-adorned Honda Element -- on loan from the Honda Corporation and recently voted Dog Car of the Year by www.dogcars.com -- Franceschi was on course to reshape the notion of pet-friendly travel, one hotel and one pet owner at a time. Her message, "It is no longer necessary to sacrifice the level of amenity and comfort when traveling simply because you choose to travel with your pet. Finding quality pet-friendly hotels just got a whole lot easier!"

Throughout the tour, Franceschi is staying as a guest at premiere pet-friendly hotels, experiencing and evaluating their pet-friendliness, and providing visitors to www.luxurypaw.com with thoughtful insight and priceless, insider information. From Westin's Heavenly Pet Bed to Keswick Hall's (one of only six Orient-Express properties in the U.S.) fresh-baked, chicken-flavored doggie biscuits delivered hot from the oven to your door upon arrival, Franceschi gives the scoop on the best hotels catering to the needs and wants of pets of all sizes and their people. In addition, Franceschi highlights the best luxury, pet-friendly activities, shops, restaurants, and resources available in each city she and Beau visit.

Plus, she's taking it a step further; please join Franceschi and Beau at the Hotel Allegro-Chicago this Friday, Oct. 3 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. for the hotel's nightly Yappy Hour -- just one of many ways Hotel Allegro strives to accommodate pets and their people. Attendees and their pets will delight in "CockTAILS & PAWd'oeuvres," great conversation, information, take-home goodies and a special giveaway chock-full of great prizes. The Hotel Allegro-Chicago is located at 171 W. Randolph Street, Chicago, IL. For directions, please call 312.236.0123 or visit www.allegrochicago.com. Please RSVP by noon on Friday to Dawn Terrick at dterrick(at)dktcommunications.com.

Guests can look forward to the chance to win the ultra-stylish "Sleepover Suitcase" donated by ArfDog -- a top purveyor of creative and original gifts for dogs (www.arfdog.com)-- a three-bottle gift set from Dog Lovers Wine Club -- a California boutique winery offering carefully crafted premium wine and illustrated labels to support animal shelters and rescue organizations around the country (www.dogloverswineclub.com); and a 9-ounce canister of Wagatha's Dog Biscuits -- wholesome, kosher, organic dog treats made with human-grade ingredients (www.wagathas.com).

Take-away goodies include doggie snacks, also sponsored by Wagatha's, and the new Pink-A-Bella Pet Shampoo sponsored by the Tickled Pink Group.

When asked why there was a need for this Web site in the marketplace, Franceschi responded, "When I initially began using the Web to source luxury, pet-friendly hotels for my own use, I became increasingly frustrated with a number of elements on each site that I have tried to incorporate solutions to on the PAW site. One of the biggest disappointments when using the other sites was that not one site offers the user a way to search for pet-friendly hotels by pet weight restriction, with the exception of course now of PAW." Franceschi continued. "Hotel pet policies differ dramatically with regard to pet weight restriction. We've made sure that you can search for luxury, pet-friendly hotels by pet weight restriction on the PAW site. This saves a huge amount of time when you are trying to find accommodations that will allow a large dog."

Another important difference Franceschi wanted to incorporate into the PAW site was an aesthetic sensibility that would appeal to an affluent traveler. "Most if not all of the existing pet-friendly hotel booking Web sites present the information in a very busy, cartooney format and I wanted to see a rich photographic representation of the properties being offered, something that would appeal to the affluent traveler, and I think we've achieved that with the PAW site."

PAW brings these industries -- luxury travel and pets -- together in an unprecedented way by offering a supplemental marketing vehicle for luxury hoteliers targeting affluent travelers who travel with their pets. Franceschi elaborates, "The low to moderate level of amenity, pet-friendly hotel has been well-represented in the online booking marketplace. However, until now, until PAW, luxury pet-friendly properties have been largely overlooked or buried within a selection of moderate hotel offerings. Luxury hoteliers have created elaborate pet-centric programs, but neglected to create the distribution channels to get the information out to the consumer. My goal was to fill that void and create an easy-to-use, original, time-saving resource for people who travel with their pets." Franceschi's secondary goal is to further the widespread acceptance of the pet-centric travel preference and lifestyle.

And with her discerning pup Beau in the role of co-pilot, Franceschi is well on her way to doing just that.

A Conversation with Wagatha's Norman Levitz

A Conversation with Wagatha's Norman Levitz

I had the opportunity the other day to speak with Mr. Norman Levitz, one of the founders ofWagatha’s organic dog treats . We’re very pleased thatWagatha’s is one of 2Dogs’ sponsors.

Our conversation began when I asked him how he learned about 2Dogs2000miles and Hudson, Murphy, and Luke.

I came to know of Luke’s efforts from a mutual friend, Tracie Hotchner. Tracie actually lives a few miles from us down in Bennington (Vermont). She told me about Luke’s efforts and I thought it was just a fabulous idea. I just thought it was great. I’m totally supportive of what he’s doing. There needs to be more of this kind of a thing going on.

I noticed on your web page that an important part of your philosophy is to give back to the community. One of the things that Luke has told me is that for every shelter that he visits, you send them 10 pounds of Wagatha’s Treats.

That’s correct. … The products that we make are 100% organic, we manufacture everything right here in Vermont. Most of our ingredients are domestic and the ones that aren’t are either from Central America or Europe. Everything we do is human quality. We want our best friends to have the best.

You’re the developer of the biscuits yourself?

Yes, my wife and I started making these biscuits about 30 years ago when we were in college, so there’s quite a lot of history behind them.

Can you give us a little bit of the history? Why did you start making dog biscuits?

Well, here’s the thing. Like I said, about 30 years ago my wife and I started making these biscuits in college because we had a lot of friends and family who had dogs and … you know, on a college budget, there’s not a whole lot you can do at holiday time. So we decided to try making dog biscuits. The dogs loved them and it became an annual tradition for us. About 15 years ago we had a bakery in Rhode Island and we started making these biscuits at the bakery just as an aside. We sold a lot of them. I always wanted to do this as a business but the timing just was never right. Then I finally got together with my present business partner [Neil Reilly] who thought this was a fantastic idea and here we are, 2 years later.

So you got started in 2006?

2006, yes that’s right.

Right from the beginning we wanted to be 100% certified organic and we do not do anything that does not fit that profile. We’re also kosher. We didn’t want anyone to have any barriers to why they couldn’t bring Wagatha’s into their lives.

As a professional chef and as a culinary educator, you obviously understand the issues of good nutrition. Do you see a connection between nutrition and the higher incidence of cancer in animals?

Yes, I do. I see it in people too. You are what you eat and your body can only fight off and deal with so many chemicals and artificial ingredients and things of that nature before it begins to rebel. Even more of a reason for us to be completely organic … every ingredient in our treats is there for a reason. Most of the treats are very high inantioxidant properties to help fight cellular damage.

What drew you personally to the issue of nutrition in dogs in particular?

I think it was a number of things. One of the things is, as a culinary educator, nutrition was a big part of what I had to learn and teach to my students. So, to me that really made a lot of sense. And then, the more I researched commercially available pet products and pet foods, it was horrific what I found. I knew if I was going to get involved in this business that everything we did had to be nutritionally sound because I didn’t want to be part of the problem. I wanted to be part of the solution.

I understand that Hudson and Murphy especially like the Tuscan Tomato and Herb Biscuits. Do you know what your best selling product is?

The best seller is our Breakfast Biscuit. In the South we found that the Tuscan Tomato and Herb is the number one seller. In the North it seems to be that the Cranberry and the Breakfast go neck and neck, and on the West Coast is seems the Breakfast is number one. I think it just depends on people’s life style, eating habits … we haven’t found a dog who wasn’t partial to these biscuits!

In the years ahead, do you see your company expanding into dry food, because there’s certainly a need for that?

We are actually doing research into that – whether it’s going to be dry, wet, or raw or some combination of the three we’re not sure yet, but we’re really working hard to find the right direction to go; but no, we’re not going to be just a treat company. We are looking to extend our philosophy beyond the treats.

Do you see yourself moving into less of the canine boutique or on-line ordering and maybe getting out there to mainstream your product?

We’ve really built our business so far on supporting the independent retailer. Once you cross the bridge into the mass market there are a lot of problems that go with that and we really want to maintain the integrity of our brand. So, independent is where we’re staying. But our treats are all available on our web site, you can purchase on-line, and shipping is very reasonable – over $50.00 shipping is free. And we ship almost immediately – we usually ship that day or the next day FedEx ground.

Do you see your company, even as new as it is, leading the way to a new philosophy of thinking about feeding animals?

I think we understand the difference between right and wrong and understand what the health requirements are for animals and I think that we are just reflecting changes in the way people are starting to look at animal nutrition. We’re supporting that in everything we do. We try to get that message out to everyone we interact with -- that by feeding Wagatha’s they’re feeding their dogs the best available products that they can find. We put a lot of research and time into our biscuits and stand behind what we do.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us about Wagatha’s and your interest in 2 Dogs?

I think that what 2 Dogs is doing is fantastic and I think raising awareness about canine cancer is really important. I think that grass-roots efforts will raise the awareness of people’s choices when they go into the store and buy what they buy. It seems that every month there’s another food recall, whether it’s pet or people … and why take that chance? For the majority of people, their pets are the center of their lives -- why subject your best friend, your family member to something you don’t have to subject them to? There are choices. And they’re not necessarily any more expensive.

Mr. Levitz, thanks for speaking with us. And special thanks for donating to the shelters Luke goes to.

It’s my pleasure. We live in a world where we all really have to help each other out … reaching out to our neighbors and friends is really what we have to do.

Wagatha's name and logo are the copyrighted property of Wagatha's. Their logo is used with permission.

Product Review: Wagatha's Dog Biscuits

September 30, 2008
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With all the pet food recalls from China don't we need to be more careful what we feed our pets? Wagatha's makes this easier. The biscuits are made in Vermont and certified organic!

They come in six favors, Original, Tuscan Tomato, Breakfast Biscuit, Cranberry Cheddar, Senior, and Super.

My dog Patience got to try all the favors. She loved them! She got to know the bags they came in and got very excited. She didn't seem to have a favorite. She loved them all. I have to say they smelled great!

They only sell what they bake and they are 100% organic, certified kosher, made from human grade ingredients, and come in re-sealable containers.


The senior biscuits and super biscuits are wheat, corn and lactose free. So if you have a dog with allergies this could be great for them.

The Original has toasted whole wheat with garlic and honey. The Tuscan Tomato is wheat free, with spelt, barley, and oat flour, sundried tomatos, cheese, basil and oregano. Breakfast Biscuit is wheat free, with maple, oatmeal, bananas, and apples. The Cranberry Cheddar is also wheat free, with cranberry, cheddar cheese, and a hint of spearmint.

This company seems to be very devoted to it's customers and the health of dogs. They even donate 5% of profits to charitable causes.

These dog biscuits will make your dog happy because of the taste and you happy because they are safe. Doesn't your dog deserve safe food of high quality?

To find more information about these biscuits and to order go to wagathas.com.