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!
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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 «
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