(Published in Oct. 2003)

Picky Birds, Pretty Pellets
Pellets are designed as a complete food for birds and can be a steady seller for you
By Scott & Ann Springer

Howard Gunther has been feeding pellets to his 44-year-old macaw pellets most of the bird's life. He's convinced that his macaw's pelleted diet is what has kept it out of the vet office and as healthy as a horse. In fact, the macaw recently laid an egg. "The proof is in the pudding," says Gunther, the general manager and executive director of multiple bird product-oriented companies, including the retail store Birdbrain based in Carbondale, Colo.

Pellets have evolved during the time Gunther has been feeding them to his bird. They were once made solely in a palletizing process (hence the name pellets) and now most are manufactured in an extrusion process designed to make them more compact.

The idea behind pellets hasn't varied much over the years even though the manufacturing process has. Avian veterinarians and others have sought to find a nutritionally complete product for birds that would reduce or even eliminate the need to feed a bird a mixed diet of such items as seeds, fruits, nuts and vegetables.

"There are a lot of schools of thought on pellets," says Gunther. "Birds don't eat pellets in the wild; however, we can't give them the diet or the surroundings that they get in the wild. But they still need balanced nutrition."

Birds Are a Lot Like Children
While not every avian vet and bird owner believes in pellets, the steady growth of an extruded diet for birds shows that plenty of people do.

"Our sales are growing," says Gail Shepard, senior marketing manager for Premium Natural Products in Lenexa, Kan. "There is more information out there now because of the Internet and there are more companies dedicated to finding good nutritional products."

Ador Dy, the owner of Adorable Birds in San Pedro, Calif., says pellets are "pretty steady, sales wise. More and more people are beginning to accept them. There was more resistance before to feeding pellets to birds because it used to be that most people just gave their birds sunflower seeds." Dy adds that most customers who seek pellets for their birds are there on the recommendation of a veterinarian.

The staff at Dalton Birds in Mesa, Ariz., has a slightly different approach with pellets: owner Brenda Davis pushes pellets and seeds together, as well as a mixture of other foods. "To have a well-balanced diet, birds must have all kinds of things," Davis says. "A bird in a cage that is given only seeds and pellets is missing the enzymes that are available in live food."

Gunther believes the main advantage of pellets is that they are a complete meal for a bird. His view is that while feeding a mixed diet may seem like a good idea, it simply invites picky eating. In this way, birds are a lot like children.

"People have the best intentions when they give their bird fruits and vegetables," Gunther says. "They cut them all up and at the end of the day, the bird will pick out what the bird likes. But when the bird eats one pellet, it doesn't have a chance to be picky because it's eating a complete diet."

Don Haukom, vice president of sales and marketing for Pretty Bird International Inc. in Stacy, Minn., says another advantage of pellets it that they can be formulated to be breed specific. "Each diet is designed to meet the needs of the bird," he says. "There is a wide variety of extruded diets available because an eclectus and a macaw have different needs, for example."

Switching a bird from a seed-based diet to pellets can pose a challenge. The bird may not be very eager to switch diets. "They are hard to convert to a pelleted diet because sometimes they are addicted to seeds," Gunther says. "They like seeds because they are easy to open and taste good, but they are also 50 percent fat."

Shepard adds that "there are several methods for converting a bird's diet, but we always recommend seeking the advice of a veterinarian, too."

Sometimes bird owners give their birds supplements to enhance their diet, even after switching their birds to pellets. This isn't necessary and can actually be dangerous. "If you give birds the proper diet to start out with, you don't have to give them anything else," Shepard adds. "In fact, a person may overvitamize their bird, which does as much harm as a bad diet does."

Having a "Pellet Expert" on Staff
Your business depends on customers flocking to your store looking for specific products or solutions to problems. Find ways to educate yourself and your staff on the features of pellets.

An easy method is to talk to the manufacturers themselves and pose your questions and concerns to them. "Retailers can take advantage of manufacturers training and increase sales—they just need to ask," Haukom says. "We would love to supply them with more information. Specifically, talk to manufacturers about the features of pellets and about their benefits and disadvantages."

Once you are educated you can pass correct information on to your customers. "You can say, ‘Even though this is more expensive, this is better for you bird because…'"Gunther says. "If you can explain the upside and the downside you can talk with authority about it. In this way, you have an advantage over the average retail store."

Be sure that someone on your staff can speak authoritatively about pellets. Your reputation may depend on that level of knowledge. "People go to specialty pet stores, as opposed to the discount stores, because the sales people are more knowledgeable," Shepard says. "It promotes repeat customer visits, which translates into higher ticket sales."

You may even consider having a resident "pellet expert" on staff. Having a staff member specialize in specific areas or products such as pellets can greatly affect the sales of these items, Haukom says. "Bird specialty retailers who are very hip to pellets feature them and tell their customers about them," he says.

Of course, displaying products well and using brochures provided by manufacturers and distributors will also help your profit margin. "People need to see why a bird needs a pelleted diet, and a display should explain what a pelleted diet features," Gunther says. "The bird is not buying the product—the people are."

Davis says it's very important that a pellet display is rotated often to avoid growing dusty. "People have to perceive it as fresh or they aren't going to buy it," she says.

Another common idea is to have your instore birds eat what you sell. "We practice what we preach," Davis says. "From finches to macaws, all of our birds have seed bowls and pellet bowls. People ask us, ‘What is in their bowl?' and then we can educate them. Hopefully, they will feed their birds better because of what we do."

Shepard also recommends developing relationships with distributors. "We can help them and they can help us," she explains. She also recommends attending trade shows and using the Internet to find out what products are new or have been improved.

Whether the bird-owning customers in your store own 4-year-old birds or 44-year-old birds, remember that they will return to your store only as long as you give them the attention they need. "Anyone can carry pellets or cages or toys, but what makes a great store shine is when they take the time to help the customer understand what they are trying to sell them," he says.

Scott and Ann Springer are freelance writers living in southern California.