This Is Where Your Pet's Toys Are Made

It’s no secret that in recent years, our pets have become more than just an extension of our family, but part of our actual family.

This growing bond has brought innovation and a boom in products and services catered to our four-legged family members, and we wanted to tell the stories of not only our best friends but of the people driving this industry forward.

It’s hot out there! 

This heat wave is no joke, here are 5 quick tips to keep your pets cool & safe:

1. Do not, we repeat, DO NOT leave your dog in the car!

2. Limit outdoor activities to early mornings or nighttime.

3. If you do go outside, seek shade, make sure the pavement is not too hot for their paws, and bring water. Remember, surface temperature gets a lot hotter than air temperature.

4. If youre hot, they definitely are, especially pets with thick fur or flat faces like Pugs or Persian Cats.

5. Know the symptoms of overheating: excessive panting or difficulty breathing, drooling, mild weakness, stupor or even collapse.

Have you ever heard of a small town called Shuitou? We’re going to go out on a limb and say probably not. However, if you’ve bought your dog or cat some pet accessories in the last few years, chances are it came from there.

So where exactly is this spicy pepper-sounding place? Shuitou is a small town in China that used to be known as “China’s leather capital”. The town was filled with hundreds of tanneries but after 20 years of nonstop production using harmful and toxic chemicals the town’s waterways were so polluted they turned black.

So in the early 2000’s the local Chinese government decided to finally act and clean up this environmental catastrophe. The cleanup resulted in a rapid decline of tanneries over the next few years. From over a thousand tanneries that used to be open and in production, they went down to only eight.

This obviously stifled their economic growth so they needed to come up with a new way to generate income. Local authorities came up with the idea of transforming Shuitou from the “leather capital” to the “pet accessory capital”.

Specialty towns are nothing new in China, some make socks, and others make silk or toilets, or cotton. These are only some examples of “specialty towns” in China.

• Shaxi, Yunnan: Known for its production of tie-dye textiles.

• Jingdezhen, Jiangxi: Referred to as the "Porcelain Capital”.

• Wuqiang, Hebei: Wuqiang is a specialty town known for its production of colorful paper-cutting art.

Some numbers from Shuitou:

• It produces around 60% of the world’s dog chews.

• It produces around $630 million of pet products a year.

• More than four in five American pet owners use products manufactured in Shuitou.

• They export to more than 60 countries.

• Yuanfei is one of the biggest factories there - it produces 50 million leashes and 7 million dog chews a year.

Petpal Tech, another one of the largest factories in the region, now exports over 200 million chewing sticks to the U.S. alone each year, and its factory in Shuitou employs around 1,000 people.

While the industry continues to grow, the pandemic encouraged the government and the largest companies in the region to rethink their sales strategy. Yes - unlike other parts of China's economy, the pet industry did do quite well and companies in Shuitou saw a significant increase in revenue as more people worldwide adopted cats and dogs for companionship during lockdown. However, key players also realized how unstable international markets can be. So while they are still focused on exports, many of the top factories in the region are also focusing their expansion plans domestically.

The Chinese pet market is growing rapidly: consumers spent 37 billion USD on their pets in 2021, up 8.7% year-over-year, and 40% of Chinese pet owners say they now consider their animals to be members of their family.

The number of cats kept increasing and they overtook dogs as pets for the first time in 2021.

Shuitou is trying to make itself more attractive to young pet owners. The government has plans to set up dog parks, pet-friendly hotels, and a dog show. For the local government, the hope and aspiration lie in the prospect of Shuitou transcending its current manufacturing status and becoming more of a “pet town” - a tourism destination that genuinely captivates the hearts of middle-class pet owners.

Currently, the United States is still the primary target market for many pet product brands going global. According to data from the American Pet Products Association for 2021-2022, about 70% of American households own pets. However, even though the US is still by far the current biggest economic opportunity, we wouldn’t be surprised if the growing middle class in China caused a change in the economic opportunity, pushing key players to start looking inwards for growth opportunities.

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• Lyka raises like a… lot - Aussie pet wellness brand Lyka secured $25 million in follow-on funding, increasing its total series B funding to $55 million.

• CEO GO - GoDog has just appointed a new CEO as they plan to jumpstart the company’s franchising platform, moving from a regional player to a dominant nationwide name.

• Woof means yes - With the help of AI, we might be able to finally understand what our 4 legged friends are saying.

• More expansions - Bowie Barker, the LA-Based Dog Grooming Concept aims to open as many as 200 Locations by 2028.

• Rockster for the Ruffstars - A new bio-organic European pet food is launching in the US, hailed as the first certified bio-organic pet food in the US.

• Community pantry - Wilder Harrier a Canadian pet food company recently launched an initiative to help “give inflation the paw”.

• Golden Hour

• This smart dog is better at fishing than you

• Around the world in 10 years - This couple has been traveling with their dogs on motorcycles for the last 10 years.

• Shadow of a Dog - Watch this short The New Yorker documentary about animal tracker Jim Tierney and his search for a missing puppy

• Million Dollar Baby - Meet the Golden Retriever influencer bringing home a cool mil a year.

• Vote now! - This city in Florida is looking to elect a new kind of mayor, the 4 legged kind.

• The adorable patient - This video is going viral of a good bot being the best patient at the vet’s office

• Puppy Yoga - This new yoga trend is on the rise, but critics argue it’s not in the best interests of the puppies.

  

Scaling

Interestingly, starting a business, as scary as it may be, is simpler than scaling one. So, you just started your custom bird cage e-commerce business and you have the designs and suppliers all ready to go, but, hmmm... where are the customers? Let's talk about different ways to generate traction:

Word of mouth - Informal referrals. Probably the best but probably the slowest one to scale. Your reputation is only as good as your last transaction/sale so keep that in mind. One thing you may want to think about here is incentivizing folks to help you - "hi, if you refer someone, I will give you 10% off your next bill". See how that works.

Social media - Think Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc… Most social media platforms offer a way for businesses to advertise themselves. This is an interesting channel because you can have a pretty wide reach from your home office and you can be very specific about what you target. You can also see the return on investment (ROI) here and double down or stay away from certain channels and strategies. Don't be afraid to dabble in this one. You may need to watch a few tutorial videos, but this is a skill to develop which will serve you well down the road.

 Face-to-face - This could be anything from flyers to setting up a booth at a conference. We sometimes forget about this channel with all the technology around us. This one is also challenging because it's more difficult to track return/effectiveness. However, nothing really compares to chatting with your customers directly and getting feedback.

The choice, or mix, of channels, will be determined by the type of business you have and your aspirations. You may be a local service-based entrepreneur, in which case word-of-mouth is critical. Alternatively, you could be looking to take over the pet industry, so social media is your playground. Sometimes a mix of approaches might yield the best results. In future posts, we will also cover how to keep track of the effectiveness of different channels.

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Finally, Why are dogs like phones?

Because they have collar IDs.

See you next week!

The Woof is a weekly newsletter dedicated to covering the pet industry.