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A popular question we get from our customers when they want us to white label our grooming products for them is: “are your grooming products 100% natural”?
It’s a great question. It’s also one that you would think is a simply “yes” or “no”. But, in the world of natural products, there’s a little more to it, than a one-word answer.
We were one of the first companies to develop naturally-derived shampoos and grooming products for pets. Over 15 years ago, we started looking into how to develop naturally-derived grooming products. We wanted our white label customers to be able to sell effective, but safe and gentle formulas to their pet-owning customers!
A few natural ingredients doesn’t really make a product “natural”
When we set out to make the best natural grooming products we could… we noticed that most shampoos and other grooming products on the market had cheap, chemical bases, but just added a few natural ingredients to them. Then, they simply emphasized those natural ingredients. Such as “Natural Oatmeal” shampoo. Or “Natural Aloe and Coconut” shampoo. In other words, the idea is to have a cheap base, that cleans the dog’s coat… while letting the consumer believe the whole product was natural, safe and gentle on their dog’s skin and coat.
What was the goal of this approach? It allowed those manufacturers to have higher margins, since those old-school, cheap formulas cost less and can be diluted farther. Secondly, it helps make a great marketing campaign. You can show pictures of those few natural fruit, extracts, etc, that you added… on the label. So, when customers are shopping, they see pictures of those natural ingredients on the bottle and assume the whole product is natural. They further assume that it will be great for their pets.
The problem is that your pet is not fooled.
If the base has cheaper ingredients (or worse, sourced from overseas) and are not derived from natural sources… then it will likely have negative effects on your dog’s skin & coat. How that shows itself, is typically with reddish-color skin, itching, and a drier, rougher fur.
Your pet knows if you’re using a naturally derived product
Once we developed our naturally-derived formulas, we had customers contacting us, asking how they were different. We basically told them:
- We developed formulas that are as natural as they can be… not just a few ingredients
- They should try them and see what their pets think
We were actually shocked by the results. Our customers would call back regularly with stories about the positive effects our products were having on their pets!
We had someone tell us that they had tried all kinds of shampoos on their dog. Recently, they were using a “natural” Oatmeal shampoo. The Oatmeal Shampoo cleaned their dog well enough, but afterwards it would go to the back yard and roll in the dirt like it was trying to scratch itchy skin. This of course defeats the whole purpose of a wash! But, it also made him feel horrible that his dog was that uncomfortable! He said his dog had been doing this for years. He said that after using our naturally-derived shampoo… his dog stopped rolling in the dirt completely. He couldn’t believe the difference. We heard story after story like this.
It turns out that a fully naturally-derived product makes a real difference for you pet.
Why are they called “naturally derived” formulas and not just “100% natural”?
We get this question from time to time. Customers want to white label our grooming products and they want to go to market with claims on the label saying “100% natural”. We tell them that is not really an honest claim.
Why? Because all products have to undergo some kind of processing. Otherwise, to be 100% natural, it would look like this in the shower:
While those natural ingredients may smell nice, it wouldn’t be very effective to put them in a bottle, mix with water and try to clean your hair.
Almost all products have to undergo processing to be used as a product that can help us and our pets. So, maybe you can call them “natural formulas” but “naturally derived” is more accurate. In our opinion, you really shouldn’t call them “100% natural”.
So, the goal is to START with a natural source to process! Coconut can become a coconut oil. Aloe can become a gel, etc.. The point is to start with all natural sources, so that you can have a NATURALLY DERIVED product! Nature has many solutions to our problems, if we have the desire to look for them!
So, we set out to make our formulas as natural as they can be, by using natural sources for everything.
The proof is in the pudding as they say… which is why we always have our customers try the product. It seems they (and their pets) are never dissatisfied!
We recently had a chain of pet resorts contact us, asking if they could let their in-house groomers test some of these naturally-derived grooming products. Once again, they all came back saying that they were blown away with the results. The products worked so well, but also left the dog’s skin & coat feeling healthy, like nothing they had ever used. They had been using the “natural ingredients added” products before they tried ours. They were so happy and surprised with the results… be we weren’t. It’s what we’ve come to expect when you develop the best naturally derived pet grooming products available!
Make sure you have the best formulas and the best packaging!
It’s important to us, to make the best natural products possible for our customers. But, it’s also important to package them in the most appealing way, so that they catch the attention of the consumer. Your customers can’t try the best formulas out there, if they never notice them!
We consider part of our normal customer service to design full color, custom labels and pouches for every customer. Every one of them is unique, so our customers can have their own look and feel.
See the natural products we manufacture along with some label & pouch designs
