A Flint River Ranch News Feed

Flint River Ranch has some new developments in the works for 2008 that we want to let our customers know about. (At A+ Flint River Ranch we also have some exciting enhancements in store for 2008 that you can read about here.)

First, the not-so-exciting news is that the Flint River Ranch official site has announced the company will be raising its prices effective January 14th, 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.

As far as why prices are increasing, there are two major factors exerting pricing pressure on the company. The first has resulted from so many pet food companies that previously used cheap (and potentially toxic) Chinese-imported ingredients in their pet foods finally looking to convert to American-grown ingredients after the international pet food recall in 2007. Flint River Ranch has used these high-quality, human-grade ingredients grown in the United States for more than 15 years, but the increased demand from so many new pet food companies has made it increasingly difficult and more expensive to acquire these high-quality ingredients. Vendors with whom FRR has purchased from for the past 15 years can now pick-and-choose whom they want to sell to, and prices have unfortunately been going up with each order.

This pricing pressure from increased demand for high-quality ingredients has been compounded with the rising cost of energy, which has had a dramatic increase on the cost of doing business, especially in terms of shipping costs. In order to keep Flint River Ranch’s extremely high quality of production consistent, the company has had to start paying higher costs for its ingredients and operations.

As a result, after January 13th, prices on average will raise about $1 for the 10lb bags, $2 for the 20lb bags, and $3 – $4 for the 40lb orders (view all of the new Flint River Ranch prices here).

The good news is that Flint River Ranch customers can take advantage of current pricing through January 13th, so make sure to get any large orders in over the next two weeks. The even betters news is that current A+ Flint River Ranch customers will receive an automatic 5% discount when placing orders over $150 from now until January 13th!

Additional FRR Changes to Look For in 2008

In 2008 Flint River Ranch will continue to focus on streamlining operations in order to keep prices as affordable as possible without sacrificing any of FRR’s ultra high-quality standards. One immediate change of note for 2008 is that all “small box” shipments (FRR bags and products under 20lb in weight) and custom shipping will be shipped only from the two Flint River Ranch official site distribution facilities — Atlanta, Georgia on the East coast and Denver, Colorado on the West coast. As a result, some orders may take a day or two longer to arrive than they previously did, and customers placing orders for multiple items may have their orders shipped out from different FRR distribution centers, resulting in some products arriving on different days.

If you’re interested in learning how long a FRR shipment might take to your state, you can utilize our helpful new Flint River Ranch Delivery Graph to get an average timeframe for deliveries as well as the most common distribution locations used for shipping pet foods and treats to your state.

In terms of product returns, the Atlanta and Denver distribution facilities will now be the only two locations for returns to be handled, and if you need to make a return you’ll now need to first call (1-800-354-6858) or email the Flint River Ranch Operation Center for an RAC (return authorization code) before a return can be processed.

In terms of product changes for 2008, the Flint River Ranch company will gradually be eliminating the regular Senior Lite formula in order to focus on the Flint River Ranch Senior PLUS formula, which features all the same ingredients as the regular Senior Lite formula while adding Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate supplements for arthritis and joint-related pain prevention and management.

The company is also expected to combine the best attributes of its Adult Cat Lite and Cat Hairball Management formulas into one formula that’s even more palatable and beneficial to your cat’s health. Cat lovers looking for a highly nutritious, tasty cat food that’s both high in protein and low in carbohydrates will find the new formula offers the best of both worlds.

Flint River Ranch has also seen a slight increase in complaints over the past year for some of the Adult & Puppy Dog Food formula, the Lamb Meal, Millet, and Rice Dog Food formula, and the Senior formula bags having too much kibble breakage and excessive morsels of small size. Flint River Ranch is considering gradually transitioning these formulas from the kibble-sized pieces to the oven-baked “nugget” shapes currently used in the Rainbow Trout & Sweet Potato Dog Food formula and the Nugget Dog Food Formula.

The change would give FRR a visually consistent product while eliminating the possibility of excessive kibble breakage and any ‘crumbling’ issues due to shipping and handling. The nugget shape would also allow Flint River to market a better product since the oven-baked nugget form incurs less waste in production and is more durable during shipping.

We continue to be invigorated by the opportunity to serve our customers the highest-quality pet food currently available, and both A+ FRR and the main Flint River Ranch company have many enhancements and changes in store for this year — we think everyone will be pleased with what we have planned in the coming months.

Happy New Year!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 at 11:20 am and is filed under Flint River Ranch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.