PET Food Processing - December 2019 - 20

PLANT PROFILE

Left: Although
Tuffy's dry pet food
facility is just a
few years old, the
company is in the
process of adding
a fourth extruder
from Extru-Tech
to keep up with
demand.
Right: Lab technician, Duane Asfeld,
tests finished product for the amount
of fat it contains.
Products are also
tested for protein,
moisture, ash, pH,
water activity, and
glycols and sorbates
for treats.

Tuffy's currently has five packaging lines for its dry
pet food production with a sixth line being installed
to accommodate the increased production from the
new Extru-Tech 750. Three of the operating bag lines
are Thiele Technologies systems from BW Flexible
Systems, Duncan, South Carolina, for bags that are 11
to 50 lbs. and two of the lines feature Parsons-Eagle
small bag systems.
Packaged product is stored in Tuffy's 378,000-sq.-ft.
warehouse, which houses what might be Perham's
busiest intersection near its pick-and-pack pallet
staging area. During a typical day, up to 32 fork trucks
are in motion either storing product or preparing
orders to ship.
To help manage all of the products and the
data Tuffy's tracks, the company uses a warehouse
management system from Manufacturing System
Corporation (MSC), Ontario, Canada and an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system from IFS,
Itasca, Illinois. While new management tools, a stateof-the-art processing facility and cutting-edge equipment is how Tuffy's manufactures its products, the
company credits its success to both its quality products and a relationship-oriented approach to selling
its products.

It's personal
According to Darren Fujii, chief growth office and
national sales manager, one of the secrets to Tuffy's
continued growth is how products are sold. "We have
more than 40 salespeople who are on the street every
single day," Fujii says. "That means we have a lot of
contact with our independent retailers. We do a great

PET FOOD PROCESSING | December 2019 | www.petfoodprocessing.net

deal of training with them, which is our bread and
butter, to make sure they understand our products
and how to sell them to consumers."
Tuffy's is also working to help increase overall
brand awareness and drive more people into its retailers' stores. "We are working to connect more with
the end consumer in the digital world when they are
contemplating pet foods so when they get to the store
they are already aware of our brands and are asking
for them," Fujii explains.
The company helps retailers expand their own digital presence through the use of Promoboxx, a digital
asset platform free to retailers. Tuffy's regularly uploads digital marketing campaign assets that retailers
can co-brand and use on their own websites, social
media channels or other media platforms to promote
their businesses. "We are helping them brand themselves and taking some of that workload off of their
plate," Fujii says.
Tuffy's does not compete with its retail customers
online. "Tuffy's has always had a very strong focus on
independent pet locations and that has continued to
be the focus for NutriSource, PureVita and Natural
Planet," Rasmussen says. "You won't find any of our
products in Petco or Petsmart. We've also chosen to
be very loyal to the independent brick-and-mortar
store and to support those good partners of ours that
have their own e-commerce businesses or platforms."
Rasmussen adds, "Pet food is a very passionate,
people business. Consumers want to visit with folks,
get recommendations and find out what's new. We've
been fortunate to help foster that passion with our retail partners and then ultimately with our consumers

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PET Food Processing - December 2019

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