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| PET GAZETTE | TRADE TALK
PET FOOD MANUFACTURER
DONATES 25 PERCENT OF
PROFITS TO CHARITY
£800,000 of Burns Pet Nutrition’s £1m donation will go to its
Foundation which was set up in 2007
Burns Pet Nutrition has announced a
£1m charity donation – which equates
to a quarter of its annual profits – to
celebrate its 25th year of trading.
The pet food producer will be
donating to a number of charitable
organisations of part of its continued
efforts to support community projects
and animal charities.
The family-run Carmarthenshire-
based business has been producing
natural pet food for dogs, cats and rabbits since 1993. It is led by
veterinary surgeon, John Burns, who pioneered chemical-free
pet food when he used vitamin E as a preservative over industry-
norm chemicals.
A significant portion of the donation (£800,000) will be invested
into The Burns Pet Nutrition Foundation, a charity established
in 2007 by John Burns to improve the lives of people and pets
across the UK with an emphasis on tackling the effects of social
isolation in rural west Wales. Six full-time staff members currently
work for the third sector arm of the organisation on a variety of
projects supporting disadvantaged groups in the community. The
money will go towards developing and expanding the charity’s
projects and activities.
He said: “As the sole shareholder of Burns Pet Nutrition I am
not beholden to investors seeking returns on their investments.
I have decided that the company should be a force for good
channelled through the work of our Community Team and The
Burns Pet Nutrition Foundation. The charitable activities are not
intended to be a one-off but are designed to grow and develop
in the years to come.
“Our local community and the people within it are as equally
important to me as the staff and customers we work with. I want
Burns to not only be known for our natural pet food but also for
establishing and maintaining a legacy of good causes in the
community.”
www.petgazette.biz
SPEAKER’S CORNER:
ABBAS HUSSAIN, PARTNER
AT PRINCIPAL PETS
We lost a customer
today. Not to bad
customer service,
overpricing, or even
another pet shop.
I lost a customer to
Zooplus. So what?
All retailers are
losing out to the
internet! That’s true,
but the playing field
is more uneven than
we know.
The customer
bought Arden
Grange Sensitive
in 12kg bags from us, as she had for the last six months. Her dog
had been suffering from dry skin and digestive issues and moving
to the fish diet, on our advice, really helped her dog and saved her
hundreds of pounds in vet fees.
About an hour after buying the food she called us to say she wasn’t
happy. She’d been online and found the RRP for the food was £43.10
on Zooplus, as opposed to our sale price of £52.69 and that they are
selling the food for £37.99. We know we can’t compete with internet
prices, so why are we worried? We’re concerned that Zooplus are
advertising false and unrealistic RRPs making it look like we are
inflating our prices.
We contacted Arden Grange to try to find out who is supplying
Zooplus and why they are allowed to get away with falsely
advertising RRPs much lower than Arden Grange’s actual RRPs. I was
disconcerted to learn that Arden Grange supply Zooplus directly.
We buy Arden Grange Sensitive at £38.82 (£32.35+VAT) from Vital,
yet Zooplus are able to sell for £37.99. This means that they are
supplying Zooplus at prices lower than we can buy the products at
our wholesalers.
As a retailer, we’re asking Arden Grange why they are supplying
to other retailers cheaper than we can buy from our wholesalers.
I’m further asking why they are supporting, and unfairly giving a
competitive edge to a German internet business, to the detriment
of small independent UK bricks-and-mortar pet shops. Especially
when we independent pet shops impart our knowledge to customers
and influence what they feed their pets, and often recommend and
actively sell Arden Grange. We are further asking if we should stock
Arden Grange going forward, if they are giving such preferential
treatment to internet businesses, as the high street is struggling more
than it ever has.
When we lost this customer to Zooplus our wholesalers also lost
this customer to Zooplus. So Arden Grange’s policy not only puts
high street shops under increased pressure, it also loses means
the wholesalers lose business. Finally, I realise that Arden Grange
are not the only manufacturer who sell directly to online retailers at
reduced prices, it’s just the first one highlighted to us. I’m also asking
our wholesalers to ask their suppliers why they are cutting out the
middleman and selling to retailers directly.
September 2018