Update on Mike Fidlers Complete Soft Food
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 1:40 pm
Let me tell you a story…
6 years ago when Birds R Us Australia got permission from Mike Fidler to market the soft food used at the Save the Gouldian Fund they ran into a freight train in Australia.
As soon as it hit the shelves of pet stores an anonymous complaint was filed with the Australian government citing that Mike Fidler's Complete Soft Food (CSF) was a prescription diet that could only be sold by veterinarians. This forced Birds R Us to pull it off the shelves of retailers and prove it was not a prescription diet and that it could be sold in pet stores. The process of proving this cost tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and proceedings, and kept the CSF off the shelves of pet stores for approximately 1 year. It was a complaint designed to crush a small company starting a new brand, as the complaint would have had to be filed by an entity knowledgeable in prescription diet law and as such, this entity would have known it was not a prescription diet and contained no medications. It was merely an exercise in forcing Birds R Us to expend capital.
Once Birds R Us had jumped over this hurdle, Mike Fidler's Complete Soft Food hit the shelves of all the major pet stores again. At that point, a large Australian company that manufactures a wide range of bird and small animal foods visited many of the major pet stores and told them if they did not stop selling Mike Fidler's Complete Soft Food they would pull their entire line. Birds R Us lost over 70 retailers due to this action.
I believe in the U.S. this would be considered restraint of trade and would be prohibited by the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. But in Australia it is a way of doing business. I'll let you insert the reason why a major bird food manufacturer would want to stop the soft food used by the Save the Gouldian Fund and Macquarie University research programs from reaching the market entirely.
Since the summer of 2010 I have been attempting to import a new supply of Mike's Soft Food from Birds R Us, but the Australian government has sent them through a seemingly unending maze of new forms and processes to meet my USDA Import Permit. The Australian government has not said "no," they have just created an unending process that was not in place in prior years. Personally, I am very suspicious…Australia is a small country.
Based on the history of these events Fabulous Finch, LLC has purchased the rights to manufacture Mike Fidler's Complete Soft Food here in the states. Birds R Us Australia will remain a partner in our U.S. brand rights and will participate closely as we establish manufacturing in the U.S.
Our target date to begin production is July 1st, 2011. If by some chance the Australian government allows my pending shipment to be exported, then we will have the CSF available before July 1st. But establishing U.S. manufacturing of the CSF is not something we can do overnight. Fabulous Finch, LLC is an FDA inspected bird food manufacturer and of course we will set up production of the CSF under FDA guidelines, undergo routine inspections and meet all state and federal manufacturing requirements. This takes time.
It has not been easy introducing the Birds R Us products here in the U.S. as nothing the Save the Gouldian Fund does is designed for commercial distribution. Ingredients are more expensive and many are very difficult to obtain (such as the almost impossible task of reviving the American grown niger project first established in Minnesota by plant breeder Glenn Page over two decades ago).
When we re-release Mike Fidler's Complete Soft Food this coming July, it will be "Made in America" and never to go out of stock again!
Bill Van Patten
Fabulous Finch, LLC
6 years ago when Birds R Us Australia got permission from Mike Fidler to market the soft food used at the Save the Gouldian Fund they ran into a freight train in Australia.
As soon as it hit the shelves of pet stores an anonymous complaint was filed with the Australian government citing that Mike Fidler's Complete Soft Food (CSF) was a prescription diet that could only be sold by veterinarians. This forced Birds R Us to pull it off the shelves of retailers and prove it was not a prescription diet and that it could be sold in pet stores. The process of proving this cost tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and proceedings, and kept the CSF off the shelves of pet stores for approximately 1 year. It was a complaint designed to crush a small company starting a new brand, as the complaint would have had to be filed by an entity knowledgeable in prescription diet law and as such, this entity would have known it was not a prescription diet and contained no medications. It was merely an exercise in forcing Birds R Us to expend capital.
Once Birds R Us had jumped over this hurdle, Mike Fidler's Complete Soft Food hit the shelves of all the major pet stores again. At that point, a large Australian company that manufactures a wide range of bird and small animal foods visited many of the major pet stores and told them if they did not stop selling Mike Fidler's Complete Soft Food they would pull their entire line. Birds R Us lost over 70 retailers due to this action.
I believe in the U.S. this would be considered restraint of trade and would be prohibited by the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. But in Australia it is a way of doing business. I'll let you insert the reason why a major bird food manufacturer would want to stop the soft food used by the Save the Gouldian Fund and Macquarie University research programs from reaching the market entirely.
Since the summer of 2010 I have been attempting to import a new supply of Mike's Soft Food from Birds R Us, but the Australian government has sent them through a seemingly unending maze of new forms and processes to meet my USDA Import Permit. The Australian government has not said "no," they have just created an unending process that was not in place in prior years. Personally, I am very suspicious…Australia is a small country.
Based on the history of these events Fabulous Finch, LLC has purchased the rights to manufacture Mike Fidler's Complete Soft Food here in the states. Birds R Us Australia will remain a partner in our U.S. brand rights and will participate closely as we establish manufacturing in the U.S.
Our target date to begin production is July 1st, 2011. If by some chance the Australian government allows my pending shipment to be exported, then we will have the CSF available before July 1st. But establishing U.S. manufacturing of the CSF is not something we can do overnight. Fabulous Finch, LLC is an FDA inspected bird food manufacturer and of course we will set up production of the CSF under FDA guidelines, undergo routine inspections and meet all state and federal manufacturing requirements. This takes time.
It has not been easy introducing the Birds R Us products here in the U.S. as nothing the Save the Gouldian Fund does is designed for commercial distribution. Ingredients are more expensive and many are very difficult to obtain (such as the almost impossible task of reviving the American grown niger project first established in Minnesota by plant breeder Glenn Page over two decades ago).
When we re-release Mike Fidler's Complete Soft Food this coming July, it will be "Made in America" and never to go out of stock again!
Bill Van Patten
Fabulous Finch, LLC
