Vitamins P, E, and T

Could grocers soon support a pet-supplement section? A Bloomington, Minn.-based pet-products maker called Global Access is betting heavily that they will. And its planned entry into the $3.1 billion pet category bodes well for supermarkets, which industry watchers say have lost market share to pet superstores.

Armed with such data and confidence in the allure of pet wellness to the average shopper, the company is rolling out a sophisticated and pricey line of supplements and vitamin-fortified grooming products called Vetbasis, after selling it for three years through veterinarians and professional groomers exclusively. "We did only a little marketing to professionals. But we've done no marketing to consumers and yet we sell to them in spite of ourselves," says Deborah Swenson, Global Access's director of national sales accounts.

The company's probiotic, or enzyme-fortified, products first debuted in professionals' offices under the name Virtual Vet, targeting customers most likely to appreciate the line's heightened approach to pet care. "Thanks to trade show appearances, we have gained a cult following of about 900 pet owners who order products directly from us," Swenson says.

The newly named line for retail, which will launch in late November or early December, now includes 12 health-conscious SKUs: Healthy Dog and Cat Senior, multi-purpose vitamins in 3-ounce tubes of gel, with herbs, breath freshener, and glucosamine, that retail for $11.95; Healthy Dog and Cat Vitalizers, 3-ounce gels with chlorophyll and vitamins A, D, and E, selling for $9.95; Healthy Cat Hairball Relief, a 3-ounce, petroleum-free gel remedy, with essential fatty acids and breath freshener, retailing for $6.95; Healthy Dog and Healthy Cat Shampoos, with herbal ingredients, natural extracts and proteins, in 12-ounce sizes, and Foaming Cleansers in 7-ounce, all retailing for $7.95; and Healthy Dog and Cat Conditioner and Freshener Detangler, in 8-ounce sizes, with suggested retail prices of $6.95 and $5.95, respectively. "We tried to keep the prices in line with what you'd find in a PetSmart. Our ideal customers are female pet owners in their mid-40s, so I see it selling best in specialty supermarkets. But I believe all supermarkets can carry it," Swenson says.

Meanwhile, for supermarkets the company is targeting, timing is right to consider adding such products, industry watchers say. "In the last two or three years, supermarkets have lost market share quickly and dramatically to pet superstores. And now some dominant pet products manufacturers even limit their supermarket SKUs specifically to sell their other SKUs in pet superstore channels," says Jon Hauptman, a vice president of Willard Bishop Consulting in Barrington, Ill., which two years ago produced a state-of-the industry report for the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

Meanwhile, growing consumer interest in pet wellness might give a line like Vetbasis a slight edge. "Now retailers are starting to look to categories like pet products as a place to differentiate and regain lost market share," Hauptman says.

Of course, marketing pet wellness, which emphasizes natural and health-promoting ingredients, isn't new. Hartz, Pet Authority, and Pet Tabs brands have rival products, too. But the niche for Global Access?back in 1997 with its inaugural line as it is now?is substituting a gel form for pills, with a value-added spin. "Probiotics are health-promoting organisms. People are learning about the benefits of probiotics and supplements like glucosamine [said to promote healthy bones and joints]. We think they can embrace a pet wellness line this sophisticated," Swenson says.

Still, why pour money into supermarket distribution when the company already has vets and groomers sold?

"Even at the retail level, people are more indulgent of themselves and family. And now 'family' includes pets," says Hauptman.

And pet pampering has soared to new heights, creating a market for products like cat hammocks and heated pet waterbeds. "Pet care has many of the same characteristics as human health care did 15 years ago," the APPMA reports.

Global Access believes a resulting focus by major players on natural, but not necessarily health-enhancing, qualities in products has left non-pill supplements as a viable retail niche. "Sure there are eight million grooming products out there, but people are starting to read labels," says Swenson.

The company is sinking cash and manpower into new packaging design and brainstorming store-level promotions like samplings and the use of decals that lead a path to the product on the aisle floor.

Industry watchers agree that, for Vetbasis and supermarkets, the health-awareness trend can be good: "Ten years ago, I'd have been skeptical, but now I believe such a product line with these SRPs is sustainable," Hauptman says.