Shiny and New

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We spoke with Glenn A. Novotny, vice president of sales and marketing for Emerald Pet Products about the company’s newly redesigned packaging and what to expect at Global Pet Expo.

Rebekah: Can you tell me a little about how Emerald got its start?

Glenn: Emerald Pet Products was started in 2012 based on the need for a healthier choice in the dental segment for dogs and cats. The Smart n’ Tasty brand was developed to clearly communicate to the consumer that they can feel confident in our products being the right choice for their pets when it comes to ingredients and that our products have amazing palatability. We are confident in our formulations and back all products with a 100 percent guarantee for acceptance.

Rebekah: What should retailers know about Emerald Pet Products?

Glenn: At Emerald Pet, we are very passionate about pets and providing them with treats we can be proud of under our Smart n’ Tasty brand. Our team of employees have each been in the pet industry for a minimum of 18 years with various companies in the past.
Even though we are a young company, we are a bunch of old souls working hard to create the items we want to feed to our own pets. Our love for animals comes through in the high quality items we create for our furry friends.

Rebekah: I know you recently changed your packaging. Can you tell me a little about that?

Glenn: The redesign was primarily based on customer feedback. Retailers kept commenting on how much they liked our products but they wanted to know why we were not taking credit on our packaging for all of the great features and selling points. Looking at our new packaging, you can see we are now calling out the primary features like the fact all of our products are made in the U.S.A. using U.S. ingredients and that we use limited ingredient formulas with most being grain-free, gluten-free, soy-free and dairy-free.

We also developed a new logo, new cat and new dog to better reflect a modern approach to packaging that marries well with the fresh outdoor scenery. This new look creates better brand recognition at the consumer level with a design created to stand out compared to the competition.  It was important we update, yet still maintain, an overall feel that highlights the fact our Smart n’ Tasty brand is exclusive to pet specialty retailers.

Rebekah: What is a typical day like for you?

Glenn: Being a small company really makes the day fun. You never quite know what each day will bring. The one thing I make a point to do every day is to start with customer service inquiries. Customer service is the backbone of any good company.

Rebekah: Anything retailers can look forward to for Global from Emerald?

Glenn: Global Pet Expo and SuperZoo are our two big launching platforms we focus on each year. At Global, we are very excited to launch 10 new SKUs across three new product lines. Several customers have been asking for us to create the items we are launching at Global in order to improve upon what is already in the marketplace. We are really looking forward to showing off our complete new look at Global this year.  All packages and all company branding will reflect our new look that we have been working on over the last year.