New Diamond Look

[shets114]

Coming the first of April, you'll see a new look on Diamond Naturals.

New bag design and enhanced formulas.

http://www.diamondpet.com/dn_new/

[birddog1968]

Sounds good just hope diamond doesn't go foo foo or raise the price too much.

[41magsnub]

Sorry, you guys have had too many recalls over the years to even consider your products now.

[birddog1968]

Been feeding it for a decade to many dogs....been a great feed. I like a company willing to have a recall even if its not 100% necessary, careful is a good thing, even at the possible expense of your reputation. Actually makes me respect the company.

[Cajun Casey]

Let me guess - cutting it by five pounds and leaving the price the same like they did Chicken Soup?

[birddog1968]

Yea I hope that's not the case CC or they'll loose me.

A response to blues silly commercials?

[ezzy333]

When prices go up everyone has to either raise prices or cut the weight. Most do it at different times which is normally governed by how much they had contracted and when they had to buy more off of the market.

Ezzy

[birddog1968]

I can understand price increases.... But when they cut lbs and raise the price I call gouging.....

[shags]

It isn't gouging IMO. They know they need to raise the price by a certain amount, so they can leave the weight alone and raise the price by that much more, or leave the price alone and reduce the weight by however much more, or they can lower the weight a little bit and raise the price a little bit. Like, go up $6 a #40, stay the same for #30, or go $3 more for #35. Probably less sticker shock the last way.
After the other brands go up this year, Diamond will still look pretty good

[Mountaineer]

I can understand price increases.... But when they cut lbs and raise the price I call gouging.....

No, that would be marketing, same as the packaging changes....however, it can fool a consumer that is not alert.
It did me decades ago when they reduced the size of Payday candy bars.
Ultimately, it is the consumer's responsibility to flop open their wallet after making an informed decision rather than a decision based upon habit.

Price gouging implies fewer opportunities or a dependence upon one product....there are many fine dry dog food choices available.
Make a choice...don't hold a grudge.
Diamond is not unique in any measure...of food or in business realities.

[birddog1968]

Yea when feeding a bunch of dogs I really want a bag to not last as long.....call it what you want. Reducing bag size or protein/fat levels is like they are trying to hoodwink you....raise the price and be done with it. The rest is semantics.

[Mountaineer]

I would be surprised if the weight is not listed on a bag of dry dog food....might want to allow more time in the store for reading.
Responsibility...a good thing to find on both sides of any purchase.

[Cajun Casey]

This is also a formula and cosmetic change.

[MonsterDad]

Eukanuba Premium 30/20 is now in a 29lb bag, down from 33lb, same price....

[shets114]

Let me guess - cutting it by five pounds and leaving the price the same like they did Chicken Soup?

Diamond doesn't own Chicken Soup. They may make it but they don't even represent the brand anymore.

[shets114]

I would be surprised if the weight is not listed on a bag of dry dog food....might want to allow more time in the store for reading.
Responsibility...a good thing to find on both sides of any purchase.

Packaging regulations don't allow a product to be sold without a weight or volume.

[shets114]

This is also a formula and cosmetic change.

Your correct. Updated packaging and ground breaking upgrades in ingredients. Diamond will be the only company using digestive enzymes derived from dogs instead of cattle, also improving upon ingredient panel.

[Cajun Casey]

Let me guess - cutting it by five pounds and leaving the price the same like they did Chicken Soup?

Diamond doesn't own Chicken Soup. They may make it but they don't even represent the brand anymore.

Schell and Kampeter makes both. I've never seen a rep for any of their products. They rely on their distributors. Regardless, if the price goes up and the quantity down, I will be looking for another basic C/W/S free to sell. The typical Diamond Naturals customer for me is after the value, not the BS. People who want the benefits of enzymes, probiotics and antioxidants typically supplement or feed raw.

[shets114]

Let me guess - cutting it by five pounds and leaving the price the same like they did Chicken Soup?

Diamond doesn't own Chicken Soup. They may make it but they don't even represent the brand anymore.

Schell and Kampeter makes both. I've never seen a rep for any of their products. They rely on their distributors. Regardless, if the price goes up and the quantity down, I will be looking for another basic C/W/S free to sell. The typical Diamond Naturals customer for me is after the value, not the BS. People who want the benefits of enzymes, probiotics and antioxidants typically supplement or feed raw.

Still in a 40# bag...

[Cajun Casey]

^^ Yippee skippee. They need to take the price up before the new packaging hits so people like me can tell customers it's due to fuel prices and not fancy new packaging.

[ezzy333]

^^ Yippee skippee. They need to take the price up before the new packaging hits so people like me can tell customers it's due to fuel prices and not fancy new packaging.

Is anything ever OK with you.

[CHJIII]

^^ Yippee skippee. They need to take the price up before the new packaging hits so people like me can tell customers it's due to fuel prices and not fancy new packaging.

Is anything ever OK with you.

Or to rephrase:

Ezzy, Has anything ever been OK about you?

Hi CC long time. How's it been?

[shets114]

^^ Yippee skippee. They need to take the price up before the new packaging hits so people like me can tell customers it's due to fuel prices and not fancy new packaging.

Still the best value out there.

[Cajun Casey]

^^ Yippee skippee. They need to take the price up before the new packaging hits so people like me can tell customers it's due to fuel prices and not fancy new packaging.

Is anything ever OK with you.

Or to rephrase:

Ezzy, Has anything ever been OK about you?

Hi CC long time. How's it been?

Stunning, thanks. Loved the winter of thundersleet storms where the dust was blowing in our faces the next day.

I move a million bucks in dog food a year. I lose money if I have to take ten minutes to justify a company's pricing. Especially when that company does very little promotion.

[CHJIII]

Stunning, thanks. Loved the winter of thundersleet storms where the dust was blowing in our faces the next day.

I move a million bucks in dog food a year. I lose money if I have to take ten minutes to justify a company's pricing. Especially when that company does very little promotion.[/quote]

We had the same snow-effect. Ranger's old, none of the others stand out. One of the two EP pups show's some promise.

[Cajun Casey]

We just took a 20% price hike on the Naturals.

[birddog1968]

The value slips away....but it's still under a dollar a pound. Now to wait and see about the formula....shame something that worked so well needs changed.

[shets114]

We just took a 20% price hike on the Naturals.

Sounds like your gouging a little seeing how the price hike was around 5% or less. I would look for another distributor. Who do you buy from?

[Cajun Casey]

We just took a 20% price hike on the Naturals.

Sounds like your gouging a little seeing how the price hike was around 5% or less. I would look for another distributor. Who do you buy from?

Statewide. Fuel surcharge went up, too. We took the whole hit on Naturals and left the regular line alone.

[birddog1968]

Took the whole hit or put the whole hit.....and what would be the reasoning there?

[Cajun Casey]

Took the whole hit or put the whole hit.....and what would be the reasoning there?

Took, as in that's the one we chose to bear the burden on complaints. It may have gone up only 5% from the manufacturer, but we saw twice that, plus fuel. Chicken Soup just dropped the bag size. TOTW jumped less than six months ago. Manufacturers kiss product goodbye at the dock and forget retailers have to pay to sell it through operations cost. I spend ten minutes selling a bag of dog food, most brands, and my profit is cut in half.

[birddog1968]

Just out of curiosity, what was your price on naturals chix and rice, pre price hike?

[Cajun Casey]

Just out of curiosity, what was your price on naturals chix and rice, pre price hike?

$32.99 plus .08517% state, county and city sales tax for a total of $35.60. Lamb was the same, beef cheaper.

[ezzy333]

Sounds like you have some retailing problems but I don't quite understand why you blame the manufacturer for them. Prices do change, always have and will in the future. I think what you are trying to tell us is that your cost of doing business is going up and you are deciding how to recover it. Sounds like you have a plan but it will hit the one feed pretty hard while you let the others off of the hook. That is your prerogative as you see fit to make it as easy on you as possible.

Ezzy

[birddog1968]

We pay 33.91 here which includes 6% sales tax.

Your naturals will be right at 43.00 and assuming we only see the 5% increase ours will be around 34.60.

I still don't get the logic of spiking price on one formula...must have something to do with your margin on the others.

[Cajun Casey]

Sounds like you have some retailing problems but I don't quite understand why you blame the manufacturer for them. Prices do change, always have and will in the future. I think what you are trying to tell us is that your cost of doing business is going up and you are deciding how to recover it. Sounds like you have a plan but it will hit the one feed pretty hard while you let the others off of the hook. That is your prerogative as you see fit to make it as easy on you as possible.

Ezzy

Uh, no. Note above, I called an increase off the bat.

[shets114]

Sounds like you have some retailing problems but I don't quite understand why you blame the manufacturer for them. Prices do change, always have and will in the future. I think what you are trying to tell us is that your cost of doing business is going up and you are deciding how to recover it. Sounds like you have a plan but it will hit the one feed pretty hard while you let the others off of the hook. That is your prerogative as you see fit to make it as easy on you as possible.

Ezzy

Uh, no. Note above, I called an increase off the bat.

If Diamond took a 5% increase and you took 20% i see that as an operational problem not manufacturer. You claiming delivery charges yet you are only taking price on Naturals. Im sure your having more than Naturals delivered. FYI Chicken Soup is not part of Diamond anymore.

[Cajun Casey]

Sounds like you have some retailing problems but I don't quite understand why you blame the manufacturer for them. Prices do change, always have and will in the future. I think what you are trying to tell us is that your cost of doing business is going up and you are deciding how to recover it. Sounds like you have a plan but it will hit the one feed pretty hard while you let the others off of the hook. That is your prerogative as you see fit to make it as easy on you as possible.

Ezzy

Uh, no. Note above, I called an increase off the bat.

If Diamond took a 5% increase and you took 20% i see that as an operational problem not manufacturer. You claiming delivery charges yet you are only taking price on Naturals. Im sure your having more than Naturals delivered. FYI Chicken Soup is not part of Diamond anymore.

Victor isn't part of Diamond, either and it's in the same truck. Diamond's increase goes to our distributor, not to us.

[shets114]

If Diamond took a 5% increase and you took 20% i see that as an operational problem not manufacturer. You claiming delivery charges yet you are only taking price on Naturals. Im sure your having more than Naturals delivered. FYI Chicken Soup is not part of Diamond anymore.
[/quote]Victor isn't part of Diamond, either and it's in the same truck. Diamond's increase goes to our distributor, not to us.[/quote]

So i still don't understand. Diamond Naturals takes a 5% increase. You claim freight cost for the additional 15% . Victor rides on the same order yet no 15% increase on it. Sounds like you're just screwing the Diamond Naturals customer.

If the distributor receives an increase, I'm pretty sure most are passing that increase to the retail market and the retailer is passing onto the consumer. If not than your business is loosing margin and cuts would have to be made somewhere.

The only other explanation for passing all increases onto Naturals would be to bring the price point more inline with Victor making it more attractive to the customer and move the Naturals customer to Victor. However you didn't take a freight increase on Victor so then when your selling more Victor than Naturals your loosing more Margin and also likely lost some customers to competing stores with a better price on Naturals.

[shets114]

Or if your claiming Statewide is taking freight just on Diamond products than still it would be spread across all Diamond brands.
In that case i would look for another distributor and not punish the customer who you've spent your valuable time selling the product to.

[birddog1968]

New diamond bag and formula is now here....dogs have done well on the change and the price here is the same as old formula......

[Brazosvalleyvizslas]

So what did they change other than the bag? Price and ingredients look the same on my Extreme Athlete.

[birddog1968]

K9 strain probiotics, and some foods containing micro nutrients.I'm just glad it wasn't a big change.

[CoolHandLukeGSP]

Picked up a bag of the new stuff at TSC the other day. Still 40 lb. bag and I paid $35 for it, $3 more than the old bag and formula. Not too bad IMO. The dog seems to be doing well with it, too.

Eric

[Brazosvalleyvizslas]

There was no increase on the Extreme Athlete here. The performance seems to be the same also but it is too early to tell for sure yet.