Okay, it will come as no surprise that this industry is as exceptionally diverse as it is full of details specific to animal parts, and we know it can be challenging to find great quality treats at reasonable prices. We also understand that meeting margins that are healthy for your business and competitive in the marketplace can be "challenging," to say the least.
If your goal is quality and value, we are here to share some inside information; if price is your only driver, you should proceed cautiously and know what you are buying. You don't want to pay a fortune, but you do want a great product, and this is where things get blurry.
Contrary to mainstream belief, all animal parts are NOT the same. You may have noticed in this industry that prices and quality of dehydrated animal parts vary tremendously.
Why does this happen?
Here is an essential checklist to consider when choosing dehydrated dog treats; this will help you identify fantastic products and avoid getting caught with poor-quality merchandise.
Origin
The country of origin and how the raw materials are handled at the beginning of the supply chain matter immensely in making a great product. Any mishandling at this point would become a nightmare that carries over into the rest of the processes, compromising not only a single batch but also the integrity of an entire shipment.
Food for thought: great products don't only speak about the products themselves but also about good manufacturing and trustworthy suppliers. At Zenta Pets, we ensure we source our raw materials from the best, most premium origins and work only with top-of-the-line suppliers in every country we operate. Developing partnerships with our suppliers is vital, as is having a "hands-on" approach from the initial raw material stages to the end finished product.
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
Protocols regarding how the treats are made matter, which is no joke. When any food products are manufactured in a substandard way, primarily by unlicensed factories, this can open the door for issues that damage the industry as a whole, putting our furry friends at risk along with any person that comes in contact with the materials throughout the entire "journey" of the product, from inception as raw material to the final consumer. Making sure you buy from a professional manufacturer ensures your product. Also, it preserves the industry, the "good actors," and their workforces.
Manufacturers don't always give enough attention to the most essential part of the process when the treats are raw. At Zenta Pets, we have a simple but effective "rule of thumb" when entering a relationship with a raw materials supplier. We always ask ourselves, "Does this company produce consistently high-quality, well-managed, human-grade raw materials?"
This criterion is paramount to our company's beliefs and practices.
Color and Odor
Much has been said about the odor and color of animal parts and what is good and bad. This can be confusing for an untrained eye (and nose) and not a surprise; when parts are all you do, it is all you know. When you are looking for a well-produced, sustainable product in animal parts, you want to see a natural brown, food-type color; it could be lighter, it could be darker, but any weird colors could indicate the use of harmful chemicals or additives that some unprofessional manufacturers sometimes use to cut corners and remove strong odors that come from wrongly handled raw materials.
Dogs prefer a treat with some odor, which is called "palatability" in industry lingo. But make no mistake; our furry friends sometimes need help distinguishing between a product with its natural odor (more or less) and a product whose odor comes from being poorly manufactured (and the risk that it carries). This becomes our "duty and responsibility," as conscious human beings, to be intentional about what we buy and let into our and our pets' lives.
At Zenta Pets, how do we have superior, consistently fresh products using ONLY water to clean them before dehydration? Well, it takes work, to be honest, and it's not cheap either. The ONLY way of producing a treat with outstanding quality, avoiding using non-natural agents, is to ensure that little to no time passes between production stages. It is not rocket science; sometimes, you must do what is right above what is convenient, which is one of our core values. We decided long ago that we would be the best at this, and we achieve this by ensuring products are cleaned, trimmed, and dehydrated while they are super extra fresh!
We could not have done this without the support and trustworthiness of our suppliers, who work with us daily to ensure that our materials are delivered on time and meet our expectations…..KUDOS to them!
New players come to the market all the time. Is that bad? No, it is not, as long as we can protect the integrity of our industry. Because single-ingredient treats are always in high demand, some unscrupulous players enter the market with substandard products and practices to make money and very little industry knowledge.
In an informal investigation we did within the industry regarding "legitimate" manufacturers, we realized that many of the suppliers that say they are manufacturers are NOT. In conclusion, be careful of the many "posers" out there.
At Zenta Pets, we manufacture at our facilities in South America and the USA, following second-to-none manufacturing practices. We ship the products to our distribution centers and have been doing this for a long time. We maintain complete control over the whole supply chain, providing a great advantage and complete visibility throughout the process. We take great pride in this!
The bottom line is that natural Dog Treats can be top quality and affordable if they are competitively priced and offer good value. Now that we have told you all our secrets (not really), feel free to email or call us anytime to learn more about Zenta Pets products and why we are simply a great choice when buying dog treats.