🚨 NEVER FORGET 🚨

There were many heroes to come out of the tragic events of 9/11.

A fair amount of them had four legs, check out the stories of some of the notable rescue dogs that were at Ground Zero.

Story HERE

THIS WEEK'S TOPICS:

• 🍄 Truffle dogs bring in $100K+

• 💰 TikTok is making pet companies millions

• 🤔 The pet industry is doing great but also getting worse?

 🍄 TRUFFLE DOGS BRING IN $100K+

In the realm of gourmet cuisine, few ingredients command the prestige and price of truffles.

These elusive fungi, growing underground in specific forest conditions, have long been prized for their unique aroma and flavor.

While modern technology has attempted to replicate the truffle-hunting process, nothing quite matches the efficiency and reliability of a well-trained truffle dog (and pigs!).

This niche industry has become increasingly lucrative, with skilled canines fetching premium prices and generating substantial returns for their owners.

The truffle market is booming, with prices for the most coveted varieties reaching astronomical heights.

White truffles from Alba, Italy, have sold for up to $3,600 per pound, while black Périgord truffles from France can command $800 per pound.

This high-value market has created a significant demand for skilled truffle-hunting dogs, making them valuable assets in their own right.

Training a truffle dog is an intensive process that requires time, expertise, and patience.

While various breeds can be trained for truffle hunting, the most common are Lagotto Romagnolos, known for their keen sense of smell and trainability.

Other popular breeds include Springer Spaniels, Beagles, and Belgian Malinois. The training process typically takes 2-3 years to perfect, involving scent recognition, obedience, and field practice.

The cost of a fully trained truffle dog reflects the investment in their education and the potential returns they offer.

Prices for these specialized canines can range from $3,000 to $30,000, depending on their pedigree, training level, and proven success rate in the field.

Top-performing dogs with a track record of finding rare and valuable truffles can command even higher prices, sometimes exceeding $100,000.

The most expensive truffle ever found, was sold for $330,000!

It weighed 2lbs 13oz, and was found by a dog who was 14 years old and blind 🤯

A proficient truffle dog can locate several pounds of truffles in a single day during peak season.

Considering the high market value of truffles, a dog could potentially recover its purchase price within a single successful hunting season.

Many truffle dog owners offer hunting experiences and tours to enthusiasts and tourists, creating additional revenue streams.

Some even lease their dogs to truffle farms or restaurants for short-term hunting expeditions, commanding daily rates that can reach into the thousands.

💰 TIKTOK IS MAKING PET COMPANIES MILLIONS

TikTok’s influence on the pet product industry is undeniable, especially with viral sensations like this Temu dog grooming kit.

This grooming set has soared in popularity, thanks to TikTok creators who combine engaging content with practical product reviews.

It’s raked in $1.4M in sales just in the last 90 days alone.

Below, we dive into the numbers behind this trend and highlight how creators are raking in serious cash by promoting dog products on TikTok.

Product Overview: The Viral Dog Grooming Kit

• Price: $50

• Components: Clippers, nail grinders, trimming accessories

• Units Sold: 11,000+ in the last month

  • Last 90 days: 26,000+

• Reviews: Over 3,000 ratings, average 4.8 stars

Top TikTok Earner (Last 90 days): @travel.bestie1

• Followers: 31.4K

• Views on Top Video: 7.3M

• Sales Driven: 1,000 units sold

• Affiliate Earnings: Estimated $5,000+ from this product alone

• Top Content: Travel destinations

@travel.bestie1

This has been a life changer for me and for my wallet!!! Its SO easy to groom my cat now and save money for more treats!! 🤭🐈💕 @Geoorood pe... See more

TikTok’s Impact on Sales

• Percentage of Total Sales from TikTok: 45%

• Creator Earnings: Collectively over $100,000 in commissions

• Top 5 Creators: Responsible for 15,000 units sold

• Estimated Commission for Top Creators: $30,000+ combined earnings

FastMoss Data Highlights

• Total Sales Driven by TikTok: 12,150+ units

• Top Product Performance: The grooming kit is one of the top-selling pet products across TikTok

• Affiliate Commission Structure: Creators can earn between $3-$4 per sale, allowing top influencers to quickly accumulate large earnings through viral content.

The Power of TikTok in E-Commerce

TikTok is the perfect recipe for creators sharing relatable, nearly unedited, content that shows real-world use cases of daily pain points in people’s lives and how these products eliminate them.

Most of the content is very low cost to produce and is only 30-60 seconds long, which can bring in 5-6 figures for a creator if done right.

🤔 THE PET INDUSTRY IS DOING GREAT BUT ALSO GETTING WORSE?

According to business research, the pet industry saw a 16% increase in it's economic contribution from 2022 to 2023 (just a small $303 billion impact).

Additionally, weekly sales of pet care products through the first part of 2024 was growing 3x faster than any other consumer good category.

That's good, right?

At first glance, yes, but some experts are worried about a few warning signs they are seeing in the market:

The Pandemic Boom

A LOT of people bought pets and spent money on those pets during the pandemic.

According to Statista, 70% of households had a pet in 2020, which is an all time high.

That high ownership % predictably drove revenue in the industry, which almost doubled from 2019 to now:

But as the pandemic receded, pet companies found that customers who previously wanted better products, started to cut spending on premium products.

Since demand exploded, the supply change saw a huge amount of issues rushing to meet that demand.

That meant that brands tried to stock up, saw delays, and now that demand has slowed, are stuck with excess supply.

The most recent household ownership percentage is at 66%, so it seems that many owners have gave up their pets.

Inflation and Cutting Back

Rising inflation makes everyday life more expensive.

So not only has the % of ownership dropped, but consumers are continuing to look for savings on the products they regularly buy.

The American Pet Products Association surveyed 10k pet owners recently and 19% said they would be spending less on their pets this year compared to years prior.

When running the same survey in 2020 that number was only 9%.

We can also see the change in spending when looking at premium food vs. basic.

From 2018-2020 premium food outsold basic, but that has flipped where basic food now outsells premium.

Rough Waters for Companies

We had an unsustainable boom that is subsiding along with inflation (or "petflation" if you will 😆) and a decrease in spending.

When you put those two things back to back, we have a lot of companies that tried to ride the growth wave and are now crashing down into the spending cuts.

They are over-invested or overextended and could be hit pretty hard if we see any sort of recession or additional slow down.

Is It All Doom and Gloom?

We don't think so.

We think that these are just the ebbs and flows that you always see in business.

We are pretty confident that the pet industry will continue to grow over time, driven by the "humanization" we are seeing more and more with pets.

Here are some recent industry stats we think help paint that picture (via Exploding Topics):

• Pet industry spending has increased by 115% since 2011

• Millennials are the largest pet-owning demographic at 32%

• Millennials are 3x more likely to be pet owners than parents

• Wearable pet technology products are forecasted to generate $4.6 billion in revenue by 2027

DOGGYDEX™

Winner 🏆: DOGGYDEX

Proudly introducing the DoggyDex™, an index comprised of 10 publicly traded companies whose primary focus is the dog/pet industry.

List of tickers used can be found at the very bottom of the newsletter.

The yellow line-plot in the chart represents these companies above (DoggyDex™) and their combined performance against both the S&P 500 and Bitcoin on a weekly basis.

Pawformance is measured by % gains & losses.

• 🛒 Bulldog grocery shopping: AI is getting scary good…this generative AI video of a bulldog in a tank top, bucket hat, and gym shorts perusing the fruit aisle is hilarious.

• 😢 Man cries over new puppy: Watch this dad get emotional after being surprised with a new puppy from his granddaughter after recently losing his best pup, Mika.

• 💗 Ecuador got its first dental assistant dog: A dentist office in Ecuador has now employed, Aldo, a dental assistant dog who helps comfort kids while getting their teeth cleaned.

A REALLY GOOD DOG

• $CHWY - Chewy: E-commerce platform for pet supplies

• $IDXX - Idexx Labs: Vet point of care instruments and vet software

• $FRPT - Fresh Pet: Pet food company

• $PETQ - PetIQ: Pet health products and medicines

• $PETS - PetMeds: Online pet pharmacy

• $ZTS - Zoetis: World's largest producer of meds and vaccines for pets and livestock

• $TRUP - Trupanion: Pet insurance company

• $WOOF - Petco Health & Wellness co.: Pet health & wellness company

• $BARK - BarkBox: Subscription service providing dog products, services, and experiences

• $PET - Wag! Group Co.: Tech platform that allows pet owners to connect with industry professionals for services such as, walking, training, etc.