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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 2, 2005
'Greenies' most popular dog treat
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
W
NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. Five years ago, the makers of the popular "Greenies" dog treats sometimes survived on saltines as they tried to get their product on store shelves.
Today, the minty green bone- and-toothshaped snack that some owners refer to as "doggie crack" is the No.1 brand of dog treat in the United States and number two in the world, according to market tracker Euromonitor International.
"We feel really blessed," said Judy Roetheli, who started S&M NuTec LLC eight years ago with her husband, Joe, out of their Kansas City-area home. "The synergy has just worked for us."
An aggressive marketing strategy that put the breathscrubbing product in national retail outlets such as PetsMart, Petco and Target, as well as a strong push to establish Greenies' image in the highly competitive pet supplies market, also helped.
Euromonitor said that between 2000 and 2003, Greenies' share of the U.S. pet treat market went from less than half a percent to 11.2 percent, overtaking Kraft Foods' venerable Milk Bone brand. The privately held company doesn't give out revenue figures, but analysts estimate the company
that year had $181.2 million in sales,
Worldwide, S&M NuTec had 5.3 percent of the market, running second to Pedigree.
Euromonitor analyst Brian Morgan, in Chicago, said S&M NuTec has benefited from Greenies' unique look and easy-to-remember name. It also fostered a loyal following among pet owners for improving dog breath and dental hygiene.
“It's the timing,” Morgan said. “I think the market is at a point where there's a trend of humanization of pets and the idea you should treat your dog with the same respect to its health as you would a child.”
Sue Coyne, 44, Shawnee resident, said she gives her 12-year-old Husky, Bleu, a Greenvie three or four times a week for her breath.
"I'd say those are her favorite," Coyne said. "They last about four minutes."
Coyne also works in a pet store and said she regularly sees customers come in every two weeks to snap up a supply.
"We've never had someone bring one back and say their dog didn't like them," she said.
The first dog to sample Greenies was Ivan, the Roetheli's Samoyed that had breath so bad people didn't want to come out on the back deck with him.
Joe Roetheli, with a doctorate in agriculture and, in the mid-
1990s, working at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, started tinkering with various formulas until he found one using chlorophyll to counteract breath odor. He mixed it with a wheat-based resin to form a green-colored, hard treat Ivan could chew on, helping clean his teeth and gums.
"In less than six months, we had Ivan's breath 85-90 percent cleaned up." Joe Roethel said.
Figuring other pet owners were dealing with the same problem, the Roethelis started S&M NuTec in 1996 to turn the home remedy into a marketable product. The "S&M" refers to their sons, Steffan and Michael.
Around this time, Joe Roethell resigned from the USDA, leaving the couple and their two sons without a main source of income. It took two years to develop Greenies, during which the family sometimes relied on Steffan and Michael's afterschool jobs for grocery money.
Initially it was a family operation. Judy Roetheli went on cold calls at pet stores while their boys sat in front of the television packaging Greenies in plastic bags.
In 2000, the Roethelis went to California for their first pet supply show and came back with $150,000 in orders — more Greenies than they had made up to that point.
"Finally, it just sort of took off," said Judy Roetheli, who is
company president. Joe is CEO.
Besides quickly getting shelf space in national chains, the company aggressively marketed their products, setting up special displays in the store aisles, further differentiating themselves from the stacks of rawhide and pig ears next to them.
There have been some bumps along the way. One of the company's shipments of Greenies to the United Kingdom in 2002 got a little too much attention from customs agents dogs trained to smell contraband. Only after weeks of tests did authorities allow the treats to continue on to stores.
The company has also gone to court to protect its turf from what it considers copycat products. One such defendant claims the company has bullied national chains from buying similar products over threats of trademark infringement, a charge S&M NuTec denies.
S&M NuTec is also looking at coming out with a Greenies for cats, as well as products aimed at bird owners.
Looking ahead, the company wants to move beyond Greenies. Last fall, the company rolled out some new products, including Hip Chips, treats aimed at dogs with joint problems, and SecondWind, an energy treat for high-performance or working dogs.
"We wanted to diversify a little bit," Roe Heelthe said.
Students get sea legs during term on ship
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — There was nothing to hold onto.
Lauren Osgood watched as waves and flecks of sea spray licked at the glass on the door. Computers, library books and furniture crashed to the floor and were flung against the walls as the ship leaned like a massive metronome from port to starboard and back again.
"We were right by the exit doors on either side, and so you could like see the waves on the doors, which freaked me out," said Osgood, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was enrolled in the Semester at Sea program, which used the research ship Explorer as a floating classroom.
The Explorer limped into Honolulu Harbor on Monday for repairs and inspections after passengers endured more
than a week's worth of rough seas.
The ship's see-sawing motion made sleeping difficult, so many of the nearly 700 students were awake when a wave shattered the glass on the ship's bridge and three of the four engines shut down early last Wednesday.
The incident occurred about 650 miles south of Adak, Alaska, in the Aleutian Islands and about 1,300 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Students said rough seas had plagued the ship since they left Vancouver on Jan. 18 with 990 people aboard, including about 700 students enrolled in a University of Pittsburgh program designed to give students a global perspective.
The crew distributed plastic bags for nauseous passengers and students sat on the floor during classes because the furniture was not secured to the floor and would topple with the ship's movement.
"We were so used to it after a while. You'd just be talking to someone and when you felt the boat move, you'd just instantly grab for something," said Becca Leonard, 21, a junior at the University of Southern California.
After the engines and bridge were damaged, passengers and crew donned life vests. The students were herded into the ship's narrow hallways and eventually to the fifth deck of the ship.
The crew eventually separated the students and passengers by gender. Some students weren't sure whether the procedure was meant as a prelude to entering lifeboats, or as a safety measure, or both.
A spokesman for the ship said the crew took precautions to protect passengers.
"They tried to stick everyone in a hallway, so we were like
halfway on top of each other, said Melissa Good, 20, a junior at Indiana University.
"It was totally not fun when it was happening, but afterward, everyone was so much tighter," Leonard said.
"Safety is always the first concern when you do anything at sea. This is a state-of-the-art vessel," spokesman Jim Lawrence said. "The route she travels is one taken by 6,500 vessels a year, and she has a superb captain and crew."
Osgood and Leonard suffered bruises but said the experience "bonded the group."
The ship is expected to remain in Honolulu for about five days while undergoing repairs and Coast Guard inspections before sailing for Shanghai, China.
Pope John Paul II taken to hospital
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME — Pope John Paul II, suffering from breathing problems and the flu, was rushed to the hospital last night, Vatican officials said.
The 84-year-old pope has been suffering from the flu since Sunday and apparently suffered a "breathing crisis," a Vatican official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Earlier, a close member of the pope's staff, American Archbishop James Harvey, said he didn't know the pope had gone to the hospital but knew that the pope had congestion and a slight fever during the day.
The Vatican planned to issue
a communique toward midnight yesterday. In the meantime, cars with Vatican license plates were speeding toward to Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital where the pope had been taken, according to an AP correspondent at the scene.
It was the same Rome Catholic teaching hospital he was taken to when he was shot in the abdomen in 1981 and at which he has undergone several operations.
The Vatican appeared calm with no traffic or sign of an alert last night. The sudden transfer of the pope caught his own staff by surprise.
The frail pontiff has Parkinson's disease, which makes his speech difficult.
STUDENT: Skills used to help
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
Raymer was inspired to help people after a pivotal change in his life. During his senior year at the University, Raymer became a Christian, a decision that altered his life and affected many of the decisions he would make, he said.
"My life changed a lot and the direction in my life changed a lot." he said.
Raymer finished his undergraduate studies and had to make a choice about continuing on to medical school or taking a year off so he could grow spiritually. Raymer chose to continue his education and said that it was God's planning.
His decision to go to India was not hard to make, he said. Raymer had traveled to Bucharest and Moscow with Hope Worldwide, a faith-based charity. During his trips he helped with charity work at local orphanages.
Those who know Raymer say that they aren't surprised he had a desire to go to India.
"I think it's pretty cool and he's doing what he wants to do," said Tanner Raymer, Kevin's younger brother.
Raymer's mother said his family was very proud of him, but she said she was nervous about him going abroad.
"Helping people is what makes him happy, he's always had a big heart," Sherry Raymer said. "That's what he wants to do, as long as he keeps in touch."
Raymer was raised in a farmhouse 15 miles south of Russell, so when he first arrived at the University, he had to adjust to a school and a town much larger than he was used to.
"There was a lot I wasn't ready for," Raymer said. "When I walked into my first general chemistry class there were more people in that class than in my whole high school."
Raymer became a member the Nu chapter of Sigma Nu and originally wanted to become a physical therapist before he got the longing to practice medicine.
"When he came home and told me he wanted to be a doctor, I said, 'Oh brother,'" Sherry Raymer said. "Then I thought, 'Can he really do it?'
"He has always been able to do what he wanted to, he has always had high goals," she said.
Raymer spent summers in Russell helping Earl Merkel, a KU alumnus and a local practitioner who assisted in Raymer's birth.
"He has always been targeted to go to med school because of his dedication and commitment." Merkel said.
Raymer helped with patient's histories and shadowed Merkel while he attended to patients.
"He was a huge influence on me, more so in my college days and at the med school," Raymer said. "This guy's dedicated 46 years of his life for Russell."
Raymer is scheduled to return from India on Mar. 12.
Edited by Kim Sweet Rubenstein
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