Selling natural dog chews in your store: display, storage and the origin story
Natural chews sell in a shop when customers can see the sizes side by side, touch a real piece and hear a short, true story about where it came from. Group the display by material and size, keep stock sealed and out of the heat until it goes on the shelf, and give your staff three or four facts they can repeat with confidence.
- For pet store owners
- Coffee wood, loofah, hemp, coco coir
- About 6 minutes to read
Lay the shelf out by size
The question customers ask first is "which one for my dog?". A display that answers it without staff help saves everyone time. Put one open sample of each size in a row, from smallest to largest, with the length and diameter on a small card under each. Sealed stock goes behind or below.
Our coffee wood comes in six sizes, from XS at 10–11 cm long and 1.5–2 cm across to XXL at 22–23 cm and 5.5–8 cm across. A shop does not need all six at once. Two or three sizes that match the dogs your customers own are enough to start, and because our minimum is 50 pieces per item, split across sizes as you like, a small shop can stock a full row without a large order. The full table is in coffee wood chew sizes, XS to XXL.
Smaller sticks wear down faster, so they bring customers back sooner. Place them where repeat buyers will see them, near the counter.
Store and display so the wood stays in good shape
In a shop, the two risks for wood chews are heat and open air. Wood can start to crack from around 40 °C, depending on how much moisture it holds.
- Keep coffee wood in its vacuum bag until it is sold. The bag slows the exchange of moisture with the air.
- Use one opened piece per size for touching, and replace it when it looks handled.
- Keep display stock out of direct sun and away from heat sources.
- Explain to customers that, once the bag is open, wood slowly balances with the room and small surface changes are normal.
Loofah toys are also vacuum-sealed. Hemp balls and coco coir toys come in poly bags and are easier to leave out for customers to handle. What to tell customers who notice differences between pieces: explaining natural variation to customers.
The origin story, in facts your staff can repeat
A good origin story is short and checkable. These are the facts we give retailers for each line.
Coffee wood
"Coffee wood sourced from mature Robusta trees (20+ years) at the end of their productive life, cleared to make way for new planting — a byproduct of the natural farm renewal cycle in the Central Highlands of Vietnam." Coffee is a long-lived farm crop, not forest timber, and the wood is collected by hand, one farm at a time. Our two factories are in Đắk Lắk and Gia Lai provinces, in the same coffee-growing region.
Loofah
Loofah is a gourd. We use mature fruit, 6–9 months old, dried and cut into shapes: teddy bear, fish, cat, kitty, bone and duck.
Hemp and coco coir
Coco coir toys are made from machine-twisted coir rope, hand-knotted into balls and bones. They are soft, for occasional play. Hemp is a stiffer fibre and more durable than coir. More on each in choosing natural dog toys to stock.
Signs and labels: say the specific thing
Shelf cards work well when they state one concrete fact. "From coffee trees cleared for replanting" is stronger than "eco-friendly", and it is also the safer wording. The US Federal Trade Commission's Green Guides say "marketers should not make unqualified general environmental benefit claims" (16 CFR 260.4, FTC Green Guides). Leave out "safe", "non-toxic" and "indestructible" for the same reason, and add a short care line: supervise while the dog chews, replace the chew when it is small, remove loose pieces.
Country of origin is part of the story and, in the US, part of the law. Unless an exception applies, imported articles must be marked with their country of origin in English, in a place the final buyer will see (19 CFR 134.11). "Made in Vietnam" on the bag or tag tells that story; your customs broker confirms where the mark has to go. More on how we mark it: Made in Vietnam origin marking.
Make the range your own
A shop with its own name on the product gives customers a reason to come back to that shop. We can help in a few ways:
- Your tag inside the bag. Our standard tag is 5 × 9 cm, kraft or eco cardboard; we print to your design.
- Your logo engraved on the wood. Laser engraving on coffee wood is available at a charge, done once your order is confirmed.
- One order, several materials. Coffee wood, loofah, hemp and coco coir can go in the same order. See mixed orders.
- Photos of your own goods. Once you have ordered, we photograph your products for you to use on shelf cards and social media.
Questions store owners ask
How many sizes of coffee wood should a small shop stock?
Two or three sizes that match your customers' dogs are enough to start. Our minimum is 50 pieces per item and you can split it across sizes.
Should I take coffee wood chews out of the bag for display?
Keep stock sealed and open one sample per size for customers to handle. Opened wood balances with the room and is more exposed to heat.
Where does coffee wood for dog chews come from?
From mature Robusta coffee trees, 20 years or older, cleared for replanting in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
Can I put my shop's logo on the chews?
Yes. We print your tag and can laser-engrave your logo on coffee wood; engraving is charged and done after your order is confirmed.
Can I call natural chews eco-friendly on my shelf card?
State a specific fact instead, such as wood from coffee trees cleared for replanting. The FTC Green Guides advise against unqualified general environmental claims.
Build your first shelf
Start with samples: your first 3 are free, you pay the shipping.