Sometimes some relationships have to break down to keep both sides independently strong. And we are not talking about people here – it happens to businesses too. Core values don’t always align and sometimes business connections cease to be satisfactory. This is pretty much what happened to Chewy and its long standing partnerships with Fromm Family Foods and Champion Petfoods. As soon as Chewy was acquired by PetSmart in 2017, pet foods made by both of those companies were taken down at Chewy.
Why is it? Why would a company pull out its products from a retail giant like Chewy? Turns out, not everybody is going for quantity, some companies choose quality. Both of those pet food manufacturers have been family-owned companies for generations and always focused on independent retailers, believing that they will know the product and the needs of their customers’ pets better to make a perfect match.
As soon as Chewy became part of PetSmart family, it stopped being an independent seller and thus the financially beneficial ties were severed. This brave move was lauded and praised by small independent retailers like Bentley’s Pet Stuff, which is a young fast growing retail chain with small stores. The VP of Bentley’s said he has his hope renewed that not every company is chasing the bottom line, but rather investing in quality and relationships with customers.
Tuffy’s Pet Food, who make NutriSource, Pure Vita, and Natural Plant brands, has also abandoned Chewy. Such relationship severance doesn’t happen because companies have something against Chewy or want to make life more difficult for their customers. All they really want to do is give independent sellers a chance to survive in today’s big store dominated market.
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- 30% OFF First Autoship Order
- 20% OFF Select Items with code RX20
- Free Shipping on Orders Over $49
Customers who are used to buying Orijen, Acana, and other pet foods made by these companies can go to their websites and find retailers in their area that still carry their favorite foods.
So while on one hand the decision is understandable, on the other it is quite questionable because you can still find these foods at Walmart and Petco. Neither one of those two seem like a small specialty pet store with intimate knowledge of pets and their owners.
Orijen carries quite a few different varieties of dog and cat food on Walmart. Website search brings 16 types of dry dog food, 7 kinds of dry cat food, and 19 different varieties of dog and cat treats. It would be interesting to hear the explanation behind that, but most likely the company wants to sell big after all or has long-term contract with Walmart. Many pet parents like Chewy a lot more than Walmart though, so selling there would probably make more sense, but sometimes the reasons behind some decisions are hard to comprehend without inside knowledge.
See Walmart Coupons:
- $10 OFF Your Order with code SAVETIME
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Petco is just as big as PetSmart, but yet it is selling Orijen foods. 26 results come up at Petco.com when you search for Orijen dog food and include treats and cat food as well. As expected, nothing at Chewy and PetSmart.
See Petco Discounts:
- 10% OFF Select Items with code WELCOMEFG
- Up to 60% OFF Online Deals
- Free Shipping on Orders Over $35
While we may not know all the behind the scenes details, one thing is certain – every company has their own reasons to sell their products wherever they want, the decision is in their hands. All we, the consumers, can hope for is total transparency and equal treatment of us and their partners – otherwise we might suspect truth withholding and you don’t want your customers to feel that way when you make dog food and treats.
Chewy is fantastic in so many ways, so here’s to hope that Fromm, Champion, and Tuffy’s pet food manufacturers will eventually come back to Chewy and offer all of us easy access to their exceptional products.