A Flint River Ranch News Feed

Jay P. Margedant, President of Flint River Ranch, has the following message to share with Flint River Ranch customers and distributors:

As the end of the year is fast approaching, we would like to take a moment and express our sincere thanks to everyone who honored us with your business, continued loyalty and fellowship. We know that this has been a trying year with the economic conditions that continue to be a part of all of our lives, but we are pleased to say that Flint River Ranch has come through strong and more directed towards our future.

While we did not have any major impacts this year, we did make a significant improvement with moving of our offices into a new address. We are just around the corner from the old address, but it’s a whole new environment and one in which we will better able to deal with “the work that is the back office” to Flint River Ranch. We still have some unpacking and improvements to finish, but we are getting settled down and I do not think that anyone was impacted by our transition. The new official Flint River Ranch site address for all correspondence is:

Flint River Ranch
245 Hembree Park Dr, Ste 110
Roswell, GA 30076

None of our phone numbers, fax, or email addresses have changed.

Our New “Signature Brand” Line of Dog Food Formulas

Another important announcement is that during the 1st Quarter of 2010 we will be releasing our newest formula! We are building on the foundation that the Trout and Potato dog food formula initiated by utilizing most of its formula as the core of our new “Signature Brand” line of dog foods.

Our second release will be Duck and Potato. We have plans for a complete line of separate formulas under this line — all with their core ingredients being very similar, therefore greatly easing the transitional periods that some folks run into. We have always advocated a “mix of different proteins” within a pet’s diet, as it better enables our pets to garner different nutritional aspects from these variations. We look to do the same with our “Signature Brand” line of formulas, but with the proteins being more concentrated and savory in their own unique formula.

Our intention is to have a formula line that will present the various proteins of Fish, Duck, Chicken, Beef, Lamb and perhaps Venison as the key ingredients in separate formulas with a variety of complementary fats. We already know — as do most of you — that the “Fish and Chips” diet is a fantastic formula and has generally met with no adverse issues for those dogs who are thriving on it. We believe that everyone will find a favorite as the new formulas are released and also be comforted that if you need or want to offer some more variety, you won’t have to move to a totally different formula. You’ll still have the majority of the formula as a base to greatly eliminate transitional issues.

We will still continue to carry and support all other lines but we’ll be looking to be able to meet more of the public need for a true “rotational diet” and also continue to satisfy those looking for more of a “reduced or grain-free” dog food diet that the Signature Brand line provides. There will be no wheat, rice, corn, or soybeans in any of these formulas and we will have an emphasis on more unique ingredients as we go along.

We’ll be utilizing oats, potatoes (sweet and white), and more fruits and vegetables than we have traditionally used within this new line. We know that these new formulas will find their niche just as the Fish & Chips formula did so many years ago. As with previous formulas, all new products will continue to be oven-baked and in the nugget shape. We’ll be making a further announcement with the final ingredient list once we go into production. We are also doing our best to get the pricing to be as complementary to each formula as we can.

Thank you all again for a wonderful year and we look forward to 2010 and the renewed vigor that the New Year always brings. Happy Holidays and have a very happy and safe New Year!

Sincerely,

Jay P. Margedant
Flint River Ranch

This Thanksgiving we’d like to take a moment to thank our customers for your continued patronage and for making Flint River Ranch an integral part of your pet’s lives. To help say thanks, we’ll be providing our customers savings via a Thanksgiving ‘Black Friday’ Sale on all Flint River Ranch dog and cat foods.

For a limited time both new and current A+ FRR customers will save on Flint River pet food purchases, with new customers receiving an automatic 10% discount and current customers receiving $10 off orders over $75 and $15 off orders over $150 – no coupon codes needed!

Thank you again, and please tell your friends and family about the Flint River Ranch Spring Sale — hurry, the automatic Flint River discount savings will end soon!

Order Now!

Flint River Ranch

Our comparison page of the top prescription and premium dog food diets for urinary and renal health issues has been updated this week with a completely new look (let us know what you think), revised information — and pricing, and new prescription dog food diets released recently, including Royal Canin’s new Urinary UC 18 Low Purine dog food formula.

After two years the comparison listing was starting to show signs of age both in its look and in terms of its information, especially when it comes to prices for the leading premium and prescription pet foods.  In the last year and a half prices have risen dramatically for pet foods (ranging from 20% to as much as 70%!), largely due to an increased use of U.S.-only ingredients in the wake of the 2007 Pet Food Recall as well as increased production and shipping expenses.

Pet food manufacturers have also frequently resorted to decreasing the size (total weight) of their bags, and in many cases (especially with the veterinary diet dog foods) have significantly increased prices while also decreasing the dog food bag size.  We’ve addressed both issues in the updated page, with a new focus on the pricing and changes in bag sizes.

By popular request we’ve also added ‘Buy Now’ buttons.  These new buttons link to the sites with the lowest prices that we’ve found for the dog foods and cat foods listed on the page.  If you’re considering purchasing one of the veterinary prescription diets please note that many require a prescription in order to purchase.

While some veterinarians are reluctant to issue a prescription for you to have filled elsewhere (it impacts their bottom line after all), veterinarians are required by law to provide a written prescription upon request, making it possible for you to save money by purchasing for less online (or elsewhere).

Check out our updated comparison page and let us know what you think of the new look and new information:

Comparison of Premium and Prescription Pet Food Diets for Urinary / Kidney Health Problems

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We’re excited to announce the official release of our new online Flint River Ranch automatic shipment services system today!  The new system makes it easy to view your current automatic shipment(s) as well as make changes to your FRR auto-ships, including updating the frequency and type of your Flint River Ranch shipments, your address information, and your billing / credit card details as needed.

The auto-ship system has been in beta testing for several months and is now ready for all A+ FRR auto-ship customers.  If you currently have an automatic shipment (or shipments) with us simply log in to your A+ Flint River Ranch account (‘My Account’ icon at top right-hand of our site) and you’ll see your current auto-ship details displayed at the top of your account page in the ‘My Automatic Shipment’ section.

If you need to make any changes to your auto-ship, simply click on the ‘Modify this automatic shipment’ text link or click the ‘change’ icon next to this link.  You’ll be able to update all of your current auto-ship information, as well as add additional comments and optionally place your auto-ship on hold (or cancel it entirely).

We’ve designed the online auto-ship system to make it simple and easy to stay current on your Flint River Ranch pet food shipments and to make receiving what you need when you need it as efficient and smooth as possible.

We’re excited to be the only Flint River Ranch distributor to currently offer online auto-ship viewing and management features — even the official Flint River Ranch site doesn’t offer a way to view or update your automatic shipments online.

Along with our new Flint River Ranch customer discounts, seasonal coupon codes and Flint River sales, unrivaled customer service, and top-rated website, our new online auto-ship system is just one more way we’re working to be the best pet food company for you and your pets.

Start an auto-ship today and save up to 20%!

With economic news of doom and gloom running rampant these days it’s refreshing to be able to provide some good news when it comes to pet food pricing.

We’re excited to announce pricing reductions for two of our Flint River Ranch dog foods.  FRR Headquarters has received a slight adjustment in some of the ingredient costs used to formulate the Flint River Ranch Original Oven-Baked Kibble and Flint River Ranch Nugget Dog Food formulas, and has also extended supply contracts and negotiated a lower price on some key ingredients.

We’re passing these savings on to our customers.   The reduced prices currently only apply to our two most popular dog foods, the 20 and 40 pound sizes of both the FRR Adult & Puppy Dog Food formula and the FRR Nugget Dog Food formula.  Here are the new prices:

New 20 LB Adult & Puppy Dog Food Price: $ 32.89 (from $33.89)
New 40 LB Adult & Puppy Dog Food Price: $ 60.89 (from $62.64)

New 20 LB Nugget Dog Food Price: $ 33.89 (from $34.39)
New 40 LB Nugget Dog Food Price: $ 61.89 (from $62.49)

While not as deep as we would have liked in terms of slashing prices, we’re happy to be able to offer reduced pricing in an economic market where pet food prices are continuing to rise across the board.  We’re striving to do the best we can for you and your pets, and we’re serious when we say that we’re proud to be a part of your pet’s nutritional health!

We hope to be able to provide additional price reductions later on in the year, and we’ll also continue to offer the lowest possible pricing on our pet foods while also offering as many discounts as possible.

Speaking of discounts, make sure to take advantage of our Early Spring Savings Special this month, with new Flint River Ranch customers receiving an automatic 10% discount and current A+ FRR customers receiving $5 off orders over $75 and $10 off orders over $150 – no coupon codes needed!

Order Now!

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In the spirit of jump-starting the spring season we’re excited to offer our customers an Early Spring Savings Sale on all Flint River Ranch dog and cat foods.

For a limited time both new and current A+ FRR customers will save on Flint River pet food purchases, with new customers receiving an automatic 10% discount and current customers receiving $5 off orders over $75 and $10 off orders over $150 – no coupon codes needed!

We want to thank you for your continued patronage of A+ Flint River Ranch, and we want to let you know there’s more good news on the way.  Check back frequently in March for more great deals and new developments at A+ Flint River Ranch.

Thank you again, and please tell your friends and family about the Flint River Ranch Spring Sale — hurry, the automatic Flint River discount savings will end soon!

Order Now!

The Flint River Ranch official site has announced the company will be raising its prices effective October  15th, 2008. While we have very little flexibility in terms of working with the prices that Flint River Ranch sets, rest assured that we will continually strive to keep our operating costs and other expenses as minimal as possible in order to ensure that you continue to receive the absolute lowest prices on Flint River Ranch pet foods and treats.

The good news is that you can take advantage of current Flint River Ranch pricing through October 14th so make sure to get any needed pet food and treat orders in before the 15th. The even betters news is that current A+ Flint River Ranch customers will receive an automatic 5% discount when placing orders over $200 from now until October 15th, and customers new to Flint River Ranch will continue to receive up to 20% off your first order!

» Updated Flint River Ranch Pricing «

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As far as why the prices for Flint River Ranch pet foods — and most all high-quality pet foods for that matter — have been and are continuing to increase, we’ll let Jay P. Margedant, President of Flint River Ranch, explain the recent developments in the pet food industry and Flint River specifically:

There is never a good time to tell your customers that you are about to change pricing, especially in the middle of all turmoil that is hitting this country and now the world. Flint River Ranch has endeavored to “ride-out” our continued increased costs over the last 6-9 months; however, this is no longer an option. We unfortunately need to make the announcement that on October 15th, 2008 Flint River Ranch will have to instigate a product price adjustment.

I’ve alerted your distributors earlier in the month and a number of emails have crossed my desk from them. Some understanding and supportive of the necessity of this adjustment; others somewhat negative in content, but all of them indicating the same concerns that we all feel about the price of food, energy, housing and our financial community challenges. Some of us have lost a major part of our investments and retirement funds; it is going to take some time to recover.

Flint River Ranch has been sensitive to all of the issues of this year and for the past several months we have done all we could to adjust our business processes, conserve our costs and withhold the previous increases that we have had to stabilize the price that you pay for your pets FRR products. Most everyone purchasing from Flint River Ranch fully understand that without a market adjustment, there would be no way to continue losing capital and we would be forced to close Flint River Ranch.

There are a number of challenges about this adjustment I wish to share. The factors surrounding the amount of the adjustment is not solely based on recent price increases on ingredients, but an accumulation of many price increases over the year and more recently the past 6 months that we have incurred.

Those who have followed Flint River Ranch over the years realize that we endeavor to remain conservative and keep our costs as low as possible. We have stocked 16 warehouses across the USA in order to maintain the smallest possible shipping regions. October 12th will be our 15th anniversary and during this time freight costs alone have more than tripled. It is not only our shipping costs, but every supplier’s costs in the movement of products have increased as well. Investments in automated and operational systems have helped reduce overhead and we have invested in long-term contracts to help lower ingredient costs.

However, the entire pet food industry, along with human product producers is faced with the same challenges. Who would believe that in our lifetime we would see a loaf of bread rise to over $3.50? Jim Flint can recall when Wonder Bread™ was 5 cents a 1 lb loaf. Some experts feel the ingredient market will remain high; others are looking for some downward adjustment in the future. We ride with the market and if we receive a downward trend, Flint River Ranch will also match this trend with reduced pricing.

There are many other factors to consider. About 10 days ago, 90% of the gas stations in Atlanta did not have gas. The other 10% were able to supply gas for only 3-4 hours a day. It was a real challenge to fill our cars. All of us are continually faced with on-going challenges. All will pass in time; as they say that markets bounce and adjust. We may never see the lower prices of a few years ago, but there will be favorable adjustments as it always happens. Hopefully, the US Dollar will get stronger and the United States will stop being the shopping center of the world.

While Flint River Ranch was not involved in the recent pet food crisis; it has forced many manufacturers to upgrade their ingredients to the US market thereby forcing a price increase and shortages on ingredients. Also regulatory agencies have also forced many brands to actually put in their bag what is written on the label.

Flint River Ranch continues our pledge for quality products with the finest ingredients. We also pledge to constantly monitor the industry and reduce price if we are able to do so. We truly appreciate your continued interest and support. We will constantly endeavor to do our part to the best of our ability. Thank you for your attention to this matter and your continued support of Flint River Ranch!

» Updated Flint River Ranch Pricing «

In the spirit of celebrating the summer siesta as well our return to online operation after this past weekend’s server outage (more on this below), we’re excited to offer our customers a sizzling summer sale on Flint River Ranch dog and cat foods.  For one week only both new and current A+ FRR customers will receive an automatic 10% discount on all Flint River Ranch pet food and treats orders – no coupon code needed.

We want to thank you for your continued patronage of A+ Flint River Ranch, and we look forward to serving you for many years to come.  Thank you again, and please tell your friends and family about the Flint River Ranch Summer Sale — hurry, the FRR discount expires July 25th!

Web Server Outage Update

We also want to apologize to our customers for a server outage that rendered our Web site inaccessible over this past weekend (July 12th weekend) and earlier this week.  Our previous Web hosting service migrated our site to a new server platform earlier this month and unfortunately that server has created many more problems than it was intended to fix.  The server crashed on Friday and our host company has as of yet been unable to get the server back up and running.

The good news is that after much frustration and angst with our old hosting service, we’re now back up and running with a new and much improved Web hosting service, and we’re really excited about the improvements in performance, security, and reliability that we’ve already seen and that we expect to continue to see over the long haul.

We’ve also taken measures to prevent future outages from taking our site down for an extended period of time.  We now have a backup site ready to go at a moment’s notice and we’re also working to assemble a dedicated support team to ensure that any outages that do occur in the future are resolved as quickly as possible.

Again, we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience associated with not being able to place online orders over the weekend and early this week.  We hope you’ll be able to take advantage of the summer sale on Flint River Ranch that we’re running for the next week, and as always, if you have any questions or concerns about our site, about our company, or about Flint River Ranch pet foods in general, we’d love to hear from you.

Contact us anytime at aplus at aplusfrr dot com or call us toll free at (877) 919-5356.

Last year’s Salmonella outbreak that affected more than 70 people in 19 states has been linked to dry dog food produced in a Mars Petcare pet food plant in Pennsylvania, according to a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. This marks the first time a human illness has been linked to dry dog food.

The Mars Petcare pet food plant is responsible for producing about 25 different brands of dry pet food, both cat foods and dog foods. An inspection of the manufacturing plant revealed an isolate of the outbreak Salmonella strain on an environmental surface and two isolates in two brands of dry dog food.

Following the inspection, operations were suspended between July and November, 2007, for cleaning and disinfection, and specific batches of the two brands of dog food, Krasdale Gravy dry dog food and Red Flannel Large Breed Adult Formula dry dog food, were recalled as of August 21st, 2007.

Neither of the recalled brands was related to human illness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which publishes the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports. The CDC added that the limited recall by Mars Petcare means that contaminated dry pet food is almost certainly still present in many homes.

Mars Petcare US, Inc. manufactures a variety of well-known pet food brands, including Pedigree dog foods, the Goodlife Recipe cat and dog foods, Whiskas cat food, Cesar Canine Cuisine wet dog food, and Sheba wet cat food. The company originated within the Mars, Incorporated family as Masterfoods Pet Division/Mars, Inc. and later acquired the Doane Pet Care company.

Mars Petcare expanded again last year with an acquisition of Nutro Pet Food Products, manufacturers of a healthy line of “super premium dog and cat foods,” including Nutro Max, Nutro Ultra, and Nutro Natural Choice brands.

To date, Mars Petcare has not recalled any brands or batches other than specific batches and sizes of the Krasdale Gravy dry dog food (5lb bag) and Red Flannel Large Breed Adult Formula dry dog food (50lb bag). The dog foods were sold in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania markets.

Salmonella bacteria can cause diarrhea (possibly bloody), fever, and abdominal cramps, with most victims recovering within a week without treatment. Babies, elders, and those with weak immune systems are particularly vulnerable.

The CDC urges pet owners to wash their hands immediately after handling pet food in order to prevent a possible Salmonella infection and also recommends that infants and children be kept away from pet feeding areas and prevented from touching or eating pet food, pet treats, or supplements.

Additional information is available on our Mars Petcare Dog Food Recall page.

A+ FRR Note: Flint River Ranch has no involvement with Mars Petcare or Nutro Products, and none of Flint River Ranch’s all natural, healthy dog food formulas or cat food formulas are involved in the dog food recall mentioned above or any other pet food recall.

Make sure to get your Flint River Lamb and Rice Dog Food and Wafer Treat orders in within the next nine days to take advantage of the current prices.

As previously reported, Flint River Ranch will be increasing the price on its Flint River Ranch Lamb, Millet, and Rice Dog Foods effective May 11th, 2008. On May 11th the prices will increase from:

FRR Lamb & Rice – 20lb bag (LMR20): From $30.89 to $32.89
FRR Lamb & Rice – 40lb order (LMR40): From $56.79 to $58.79
FRR Lamb & Rice – 200lb order (LMR200): From $276.99 to $289.99
FRR Lamb & Rice – 520lb order (LMR520): From $679.99 to $729.99

The price changes are due to the continued price pressures on the cost of ingredients in Flint River Ranch pet foods. Following the pet food recall in 2007, many pet food manufacturers turned to buying their lamb exclusively from New Zealand, which has long been recognized for its high quality and efficient production capabilities.

Large commercial pet food companies have made a huge impact on the cost of lamb since most have discontinued purchasing from their old sources in China. This coupled with the declining value of the US dollar and a historic drought in New Zealand and Australia (severely depleting their viable crops) has caused commodity pricing to soar to historic levels.