Caught My Eye: Football Toys, Cat Food, Reptile Waterfalls at Phillips

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Distributor events are always beneficial to attend. They are like mini-trade shows, but with a little less stress. You actually have time to learn more about a product, visit with clients, talk with retailers and find interesting items.

Earlier this week, we attending the Phillips Pet Food & Supplies‘ Mid-Atlantic Buying Show at the Ocean Place Resort & Spa in Long Branch, N.J.

Having just come off of SuperZoo, it was nice to get more time to spend looking at some of the products that caught my attention at SuperZoo, but that I didn’t have the opportunity to learn more about.

PHOTOS: PHILLIPS MID-ATLANTIC BUYING SHOW.

Like the Repti Rapids LED Waterfall from ZooMed. This would look fantastic in a tank. Plus, it’s pretty functional.

Another item that stood out were these vintage flat footballs toys from Howard Pet Products. With pre-season just getting started and regular season less than a month away, now is the time to start stocking football-related gear.

Something somewhat new at the buying show was ActivPhy. Since 2008, this supplement, which contains the patented ingredient blue green algae extract, was only available through vet offices. Now, retailers can take advantage of the patented ingredient, which has a similar formula to the veterinarian one.

Also new, were these functional treats from CloudStar. They are available in Hip & Joint, Skin & Coat and Tummy.

I stumbled across several interesting retail opportunities that may benefit stores.

First, is this display from PureBites. Whether a customer is buying bison or chicken or turkey, all of the treats are the same price point,  which makes it very simple for the consumer who could pick up multiple flavors all for the same price.

Slap a large “only $9.99” sign on there, and it makes a great in-store display.

Almo Nature, a pet food company who has been around since 2000 in Europe but only in the U.S. since 2013, has a sample program that retailers can participate in.

The trail program offers 24 sample cans of four different flavors of their cat food. They suggest retailers give it to customers at check out to try and see how their customers like it. This lets the retailer test out if their regulars would buy the product without committing to a whole order.

According to the company, 90 percent of the time, the customer comes back to buy it.

While Sho Koi has been around for years, they recently introduced a sinking fish food pellets for goldfish and other ornamentals.

And, in the plush category, Kyjen has launched a new frog design in their line of Invincibles products.