Recently I attended a very interesting two day session with Kevin Roberts, Global CEO ie “Chief Excitement Officer”, as he puts it, of Saatchi and Saatchi http://www.saatchikevin.com/). He lives in New Zealand for part of the year and has a desire to assist entrepreneurial companies.
K9 Natural was fortunate enough to win “The University of Auckland Business School Entrepreneurs Challenge”. Part of the prize was a two day session with Kevin. It was a very personal session with only 8 attendees. I feel like I have completed an MBA in just two days as well as being very inspired but exhausted at the same time.
One point that came out of the session with Kevin was trying to define a “one word equity” for ourselves and our Company. This is one word that typifies us and our Company. It sounds easy but it wasn’t. I kept coming back to the word “trust”. In my banking career, I believe the legacy that I left, was that people felt they could trust me which is quite a rare quality found in banking these days.
Trust is also a word I have been thinking a lot of lately in the New Zealand Food Industry. I have attended seminars in New Zealand and I have been trying to define what is lacking in marketing New Zealand Inc from a food perspective to the world. Our strongest attribute is the word trust. If you buy a New Zealand lamb rack you can TRUST that it has been farmed ethically, the sheep has had a good life, the animal ended its life humanly and the food safety standards are world beating. If you buy milk from New Zealand you can TRUST that the milk is not going to harm you, unlike milk from China.
Americans are also losing trust in their own food chain and there is a great opportunity for New Zealand to take advantage of this. Presently we are not doing a very good job of communicating our story to the rest of the world.
The recent Salmonella outbreak in dog food is a great example of why serious questions should be asked about the food safety standards in the USA. New Zealand and K9 Natural take food safety very seriously. Before any batch leaves our facility it is tested for Salmonella and Ecoli O157:H7. There must be zero traces of these two nasty strains of bacteria before the product can be dispatched. We also take great care in the sourcing of our products and endeavour to source the highest possible ingredients. We believe prevention is better than a cure in regards to food safety.
We know New Zealand’s pure image is a key selling point and we must protect it. We also know that New Zealand’s Food Safety Standards are world leading, especially for exported product. We need to get better at communicating this to our customers. These points are key attributes to prove that K9 Natural is a product that can be TRUSTED.
Regards
Calvin Smith
CEO K9 Natural Food Ltd
Scott,
Thanks for your comments. I share the same view as you as to the integrity of the food from New Zealand. I am also heartened that you know so much about the quality of the New Zealand food. We in NZ, just need to get better at communicating this to the rest of the world. I appreciate you helping us with this. We are very fortunate in New Zealand and a goal of K9 Natural is to share that fortune with as many dogs and cats of the world as we can.
We are looking for a distributor in the South East USA at the moment. If you are after the freeze dried product it is available nationwide from our online shop.
Regards
Calvin Smith
It’s also important to note that: many countries, including us in the U.S. are altering -or Genetically Modifying raw products to increase yield, and be resistant to insecticides. So, if a legume had 12 chromosomes while the human digestive, and endocrine system was adapting to it’s bio-availability – it’s now foreign.
As it is in animals, and with animals we keep finding cheaper ways to produce foods -and like the latest escapade regarding salmonella, it’s America’s drive to run 24X7, so that food is available in every Pet Store, Feed Store, and Hardware Store.
New Zealand does set the standard for it’s uninterrupted nature. I know this having lived in Sydney 20 years ago, and having friends go to, and from New Zealand.
That’s another cause that should be made by K9Natural. Cattle don’t have to be fatter. Chickens don’t have to be younger. Legumes don’t have to be sweeter for the nutritional value to be bio-available -and lend to natural health, and well being.
And if it’s proof you need, look no further than cancer rates, and life expectancy. I say that because my Dalmatian is 18. And for the last five or so years, I’ve tried to feed her something similar to k9 Natural.
I sent an earlier request that K9Natural make a presence in the South East U.S., and I look forward to growing it’s presence. And as part, I will do my part to educate everyone that New Zealand set’s the standard for pristine products, i.e., products not molecularly, or genetically modified.