CC July 2022

www.creature-companions.in

available in a particular store is significantly less important here. E-commerce is all about getting

because we don’t have a lot of retail chains. But better assortment; if the customer is getting all

what has changed over the years is that with the products ranging from pet grooming to pet food

retail chains, such as Heads Up For Tails, JUST stacked under one roof, then why would he juggle

DOGS etc. coming in place, we are able to see between different websites. The only reason why a

consolidation happening; this consolidation would customer would prefer your website could be better

lead to better customer service and buying power, pricing with heavy discounts or if you’ve already

ultimately leading to the availability of assortment. established trust among pet parents.

This is probably also going to lead to the more

retails chains being created. Further, we are going Creating D2C brand is easy, but the actual test is how

see ahead a lot of D2C brands making their mark long you can sustain in the market with or without

in a particular category such as pet grooming, pet funding and your vision behind creating your brand.

accessories etc. The art of selling is how you differentiate yourself

from your contemporaries.

Secondly, as compared to FMCG, e-commerce

penetration in pet care is already very high, close IN E-COMMERCE, WE SEE THAT LOGISTICS

to 17–18%, whereas the former has only around 6% AND WAREHOUSING ARE THE TWO

penetration. The clear reason behind this is the IMPORTANT ELEMENTS. HOW IS PETSUTRA

lack of availability of assortment at stores. This TRYING TO WORK AROUND THIS AS THESE

issue is prevalent more in tier II and tier III cities ARE THE MAJOR ASPECTS THAT DECIDE

as compared to tier I cities. In THE PROFITABILITY AND

such situations, e-commerce "IN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS, OUR MAIN NON-PROFITABILITY OF A
becomes a logical choice. FOCUS IS GOING TO BE ON IMPROVED PET BRAND?
TECHNOLOGY, IMPROVED DISTRIBUTION
I think in the coming times, AND WAREHOUSING, AND THE NEW A brilliant question indeed! We are
around 25% of the pet care PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. " moving towards our 7 warehouse
market would be present on system, probably going to get live
by quarter 3, where we would

the e-commerce platforms, have 7 warehouses serving all

be it marketplaces or be zones in India. Ideally speaking,

it standalone pet e-commerce players such as in my experience, you need to have close about 20

PetSutra. warehouses, which clearly means you should have

money to have inventory because at the end of the

WE CAN SEE A LOT OF D2C BRANDS day – the closer you are to the customer, the better

COMING UP NOW. WITHOUT CONNECTING is the time to serve, and better is the customer

TO THE RETAILS STORES, THEY LIKE experience! It not only drives customer experience,

TO SELL THROUGH DIRECT CUSTOMER but it brings down your logistics cost tremendously,

INTERACTIONS, HAVING THEIR OWN and also it brings a lot of new elements into play

WEBSITE. IS IT A MATTER OF CONCERN such as same day delivery etc. There are 7 cities in

FOR E-COMMERCE COMPANIES IN THE India where every e-commerce company needs to

LONG RUN? have a warehouse if it needs to scale up quickly.

To be honest… No! The founder of a D2C brand

would ultimately want to get some traffic to their Nowadays, I have noticed various new e-commerce

own website, but getting traffic to your own website companies and D2C brands try to play their

either involves heavy investment in advertising and game based on discounts, lowering their prices

marketing or an investment in great content that unreasonably. I would like to advise them that they

should pull a customer to your website. Speaking need to be a little cognizant. Lowering down the

about the customer, I think he would prefer trusting prices would create a doubt as to the quality of the

the already established e-commerce company product in the minds of Indian customers. It’ll do

over the new individual platform. Understanding more harm than good in the long run. So, it is very

the shopping behaviour of the customer is very important to price your brand reasonably.

47JULY 2022 • VOL. XV • ISSUE 07 • NOIDA | Creature Companion

INDUSTRY SPEAK Though there are several investors who are still
sitting on the fence because they haven’t figured
WE CAN SEE THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE out the model yet (whether it is omnichannel, or a
IN THE FUNDING SCENARIO IN INDIAN private label, or a D2C), I think with time everybody
PET CARE INDUSTRY DURING PRE AND is going to get their thesis correct. Having said that,
POST COVID PERIOD. EARLIER THERE we are very optimistic that we are going to see more
WAS HARDLY ANY FUNDING FROM ANY and more funding happening towards D2C segment,
INVESTOR, REASON BEING THE SMALL which means the founders should be ready to raise
BASE SIZE OF THE INDUSTRY; BUT the bar of their products displaying world class
STARTING FROM 2021, THE FUNDING IS marketing skills. This is because generating initial
STILL CONTINUING TILL NOW. WHAT revenue is easy but the key to success for any brand
DO YOU THINK HAS CHANGED IN THESE is its consistency in growing its numbers; and that
TWO YEARS THAT HAS MADE INVESTORS would require brawn and brain both!
TAKE SO MUCH INTEREST IN PET CARE
INDUSTRY? WHAT KIND OF NEW INITIATIVES CAN WE
EXPECT FROM PETSUTRA IN THE YEAR
The commercial pet food market may seem 2022?
small right now, but I clearly have a view that the
total addressable market is very big. The pet care In the next 6 months, our main focus is going to be on
category is growing at a very quick rate; it is the improved pet technology, improved distribution and
category that attracts high spenders, people who warehousing, and the new product development.
are willing to spend as much as they can on their We believe it’s not a red ocean strategy that we want
pets, so the customer lifetime value in this category to play; it’s clearly a blue ocean strategy that we are
is quite high. Also, the fact that millennials are now targeting at because the market is really big. It’s not
driving this category means that this expenditure a ‘winner takes it all’ market; there is enough space
is going to continue. It has a lot to offer in terms for brands or platforms of all sizes to coexist and
of growth and this is going to continue for some actually nurture each other.
time now as the sentiment on this category would
remain positive.

48 Creature Companion | JULY 2022 • VOL. XV • ISSUE 07 • NOIDA

26 – 28

OCTOBER 2022

BITEC | BANGKOK, THAILAND

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PET FOOD RECIPES

DELICIOUS PET TREATS

CHICKEN AND CRANBERRY FROZEN PEANUT
CAT TREATS BUTTER BANANA
DOG TREATS
Let’s brighten your cat’s day with these
yummy cranberry treats that not only look Here are amazing treats for you furry friend,
delicious but also help reduce the risk of all natural and organic, which will leave your
UTIs by lowering the urinary pH levels and pup feeling healthy and happy!
preventing bacteria from sticking to the system.
(source - www.lifeloveandsugar.com)
(source - www.allroadsleadtothe.kitchen)
Ingredients
Ingredients • 4 bananas
• 1 heaping cup rolled oats • 1/2 cup natural peanut
• 3 tbsp unsweetened, dried cranberries
• 120 grams cooked, unseasoned butter (make sure it
does not contain xylitol
chicken, chopped small as it is poisonous to
• 32ml olive oil dogs; don’t forget to
• 1 heaping tablespoon dried catnip check its ingredients)
• 1 large egg • 4 plastic mini cups (you could
use paper cups, but please take the
DIRECTIONS paper off before giving it to your dog)

• Place the rolled oats in a food processor and whiz until they DIRECTIONS
turn into flour
• Peel and slice your bananas.
• Add unsweetened, dried cranberries into the oat flour mixture • Freeze banana slices.
and whiz again until they are ground fine • Put frozen banana slices in a food

• Add the remaining ingredients into the food processor and processor and blend. You’ll need to
pulse until everything is combined. Pour out into a bowl. scrape down the sides a few times. It
will get pretty thick.
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. While waiting, line two • Keep blending until it smoothens out
baking trays with parchment paper. into soft serve banana ice cream.
• Add peanut butter and mix well.
• Scoop out ¼ teaspoon-sized portions of the mixture and roll • Fill it into 3-4 cups and freeze.
them into balls. Press them flat against the parchment paper
with your finger. Source: www.lifeloveandsugar.com

• Place the baking trays into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
The treats should look golden and dried out at the top.

• Allow the treats to cool before treating your cat. These yummy
treats can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for
up to five days.

Source: www.allroadsleadtothe.kitchen



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52 Creature Companion | JULY 2022 • VOL. XV • ISSUE 07 • NOIDA

www.creature-companions.in

3 The Dandie Dinmont Terrier noticed that his two Siamese kitties
were arching their backs and clawing
is the only breed named for a at one of the walls. Helb had a hunch
fictional person — that the cats heard something he
a character in couldn’t, and sure enough, he found
the novel Guy 30 tiny microphones hidden behind
Mannering, by the boards.
Sir Walter Scott.
YOU KNOW? 2 Your cat probably hates music.
4 According to the Guinness
DOGS But…
World Records, a Mastiff named They might like tunes written by
1 Dogs are not colourblind. They Zorba is the world’s overall largest composer David Teie, who partnered
dog ever. with animal scientists to make
can see blue and yellow. Some dogs are taller or heavier, but an album called Music for Cats.
Colour is discerned the Guinness World Records named Released in 2015, the songs are “based
by nerve cells Zorba, a Mastiff, as the world’s overall on feline vocal communication and
in the eye. largest dog ever. Zorba weighed 343 environmental sounds that pique the
The retina pounds and measured over eight feet interest of cats,” Teie’s website states.
of the eye from his nose to his tail. He’s been
has two main described as being about the size of a 3 Japan has a cat who manages a
types of cells — small donkey.
rods, which detect train station.
light levels and motion, a n d 5 The Labrador Retriever has been
cones, which differentiate colours. A train station in
Dogs possess two types of cones and on the AKC’s top 10 most popular
can only discern blue and yellow breeds list for 30 consecutive years Southeastern
– this limited colour perception is — longer than any other breed.
called dichromatic vision. However, Chocolate contains an ingredient Japan is
human eyes have three types of called theobromine which dogs are
cones that can identify combinations unable to digest. The stimulants in presided over
of red, blue, and green. chocolate can cause dogs to have
extreme thirst, start pacing, have by an adorable
2 A dog’s sense of smell is seizures, or have too much energy
that can lead to shaking, panting and ‘stationmaster’:
legendary. diarrhea.
But did you know a 7-year-old calico
that his nose CATS
has as many cat named Nitama. The Kishi train
as 300 million
receptors? In station near Wakayama City hired
comparison, a
human nose has Nitama in 2015, just a few months
about 5 million.
after its prior feline mascot, Tama,

died from acute heart failure at the

age of 16.

1 Cats make great private 4 Quotation marks have a feline

connection.
The Hungarian word for quotation
marks, ‘macskaköröm,’ literally
translates to ‘cat claws.’

detectives. 5 Your cat has more bones than

In the 1960s, you do.
A cat has 244 bones
Ambassador in its entire body
— even more
Henry Helb — than a human,
who only has 206
who then lived bones.

in the Dutch

Embassy in

Moscow —

53JULY 2022 • VOL. XV • ISSUE 07 • NOIDA | Creature Companion





RNI NO. UPENG/2008/26403