# New formula for oxbow essentials adult rat food?



## kaylawise (Sep 3, 2015)

So I asked my parents to buy me some more rat food while I was working and I asked for Oxbow regal adult rat food. However they came home with Oxbow essentials adult rat food (it does not say regal.) Not only is it missing the word regal but its packaging is different.

I asked my parents why they didn't get the regal rat food and they said they asked the store manager and he said this is the new packaging for it. The ingredients on this new packaging are similar yet there are differences and that worries me.

On websites that show the new packaging, they still have the old ingredients list. You can see this on the Petsmart website and another pet website I looked at. I don't have the time to type out the ingredients on the bag my parents bought. I can say the max fiber is 2 percent lower on this new packaging. 

Is the old regal rat food going to start going away? 
Is this food good, does anyone happen to know?

Thank you.


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## bclaytonsc (Jul 11, 2016)

The Petsmart near me only has the Oxbow now that does not say regal rat on the packaging. It's what I feed my girls.. They seem to love it and do well on it, although Minnie needs to gain some weight. However, she's getting over a URI as well. 

I believe it's the new formula and packaging that will soon be the only option in stores. As far as it being better/worse than the old formula, I can't be of much help there.... I'm curious too though!


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## bclaytonsc (Jul 11, 2016)

Here's what my bag looks like.


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

That's the new packaging and the content might be slightly different but you got the right rat food.


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## Veileddreamer (Sep 21, 2015)

Can't speak as to the packaging, but can say that if you use Amazon, you can just order the standard Regal Rat kind. None of the stores near me carry it, so that's what I generally do, and it's still on Amazon at least.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

On their web site Oxbow announced new packaging recently. I think they are looking for a more standard look across their product line. The change in contents is likely just a cost savings measure. 

I once used a certain top of the line fish food once that contained something like 18 kinds of fresh seafood and it was made in the USA, amazingly when an investment group took over the company, they were able to duplicate the same nutritional information by replacing 18 types of fresh fish, crustaceans and mollusks with a single dry synthetic egg extract and import it all the way from China for the same price. The packaging remained pretty much the same, except the line "made from fresh sea food" was amended to read "new and improved" and all of those pesky and expensive natural ingredients on the reverse of the package were deleted to make room for a catchy marketing slogan. 

I've seen lots of small animal food products start out with great ingredients and high quality. Then along the way the packaging become slicker and the contents get cheaper, eventually some investment group buys them out... and the rest is history... I hope that isn't what happened here... 

caveat emptor


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## Bumble-Bee (Apr 21, 2016)

I am also curious about the formula change because I had planned on switching my girls over to it when they got older and need less protein. I hope it is still a good quality!


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

I wouldn't worry. They recently changed their packaging. It happens.

Here is an image showing the differences. The fiber hasn't changed. It seems like most of the ingredients are all the same, some are called different names on the new one and some are slightly in a different order (which means there is more/less composition)
It all seems fine to me. 










My rats are eating it and it doesnt feel like it has changed anything.




> Can't speak as to the packaging, but can say that if you use Amazon, you can just order the standard Regal Rat kind. None of the stores near me carry it, so that's what I generally do, and it's still on Amazon at least.


more likely they just have not updated the info/pics on the site. The company updated their stuff. They will likely still send you the new stuff and if not, I would be wary of its freshness.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

From the Oxbow website:

“We are excited to unveil a fresh new look for our flagship Essentials line of fortified foods,” said Melissa Ross, Director of Marketing and Education at Oxbow. “For years, our Essentials diets have set the standard in essential daily nutrition for small pets. We are thrilled to introduce packaging that reflects all the premium qualities of the food it contains.”

NEW Essentials Packaging Features
• Premium imagery that conveys family farm quality and care and contributes to a premium brand story on shelf
• New graphics clearly communicating key attributes
• Product-specific color coding to improve product identification
• Easy-to-understand feeding chart and transition guide
• Updated nutrition wheel details all components of the ideal small pet diet
• Lot and expiration date clearly printed on the bag for improved traceability and inventory tracking

For the most part the change in packaging seems to be a marketing tactic to improve brand recognition and cross sell their other products. For better or worse, it's likely to be a harbinger of an expanded product line yet to come. It's actually rather odd in that most large pet food brands are spinning off their foods into different 'premium' marketing badges... Like Purina rat chow became Mazuri. The common wisdom is that boutique brands support higher prices and drive higher profits. 

I have to be guessing that Oxbow is looking to go more mainstream, which means they are going to have to be more price competitive, This might be a good thing, but it also might mean they will have to reduce the cost of the contents. 

"Regal Rat' made sense as it produced the image of a premium brand... Regal being the operative word. "Essential" actually targets the down market in the term that this is the very least... if not only the essentials that someone can give their pet. I don't know if 'essential' is going to support their current premium pricing, it would however support a broader market appeal. 

Personally, I think Madison Avenue got this marketing strategy very wrong. They are driving Oxbow head to head with products that cost 25% as much. Basically no one is going to pay over $100,000.00 for a VW, which is why VW bought Bentley and Bugatti brands. I think it 's going to work out like the Cadillac Cimarron, which was a re-branded Chevy. Oxbow is going to have to cost reduce the product to reduce the retail price creating a quasi-premium label without premium content. Most Cimarron's were all but given away at less than the original Chevy prices to get them off the lot. Real Cadillac owners never looked at the Cimarron and Chevy buyers never shopped at Cadillac dealers. Premium rat food buyers aren't going to look at something branded 'essential' and average rat owners are going to shop price. 

I understand that the "Miller Family Farm / Oxbow Tral" marketing is't going to work across a diverse product line, but unless there's something I'm missing this re-branding, is a market share grab and is going to force Oxbow to make some fundamental changes. 

And by the way has anyone ever noticed the rat on the package? A black eyed white dumbo. Has anyone ever actually seen one? And is there a rat that looks less like an average rat than that? (not that it isn't cute...)

Stay tuned and keep reading the package.


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## kaylawise (Sep 3, 2015)

Thanks for all your input guys you answered all my questions. However I was looking around and I don't see other people talking about this change. I kind of wish they were because I've always been the kind of person sitting back and watching rather than starting the conversation. I'm just kind of surprised no one else has brought this up since oxbow is so popular.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

I emailed oxbow and asked about the change. This was their reply:










See bigger image: http://imgur.com/a/kZL2j



> And by the way has anyone ever noticed the rat on the package? A black eyed white dumbo. Has anyone ever actually seen one? And is there a rat that looks less like an average rat than that?


lol idk why that matters? I know quite alot of breeders who breed BEW. I think usually with packaging they just want something cute that might even stand out.



> Thanks for all your input guys you answered all my questions. However I was looking around and I don't see other people talking about this change. I kind of wish they were because I've always been the kind of person sitting back and watching rather than starting the conversation. I'm just kind of surprised no one else has brought this up since oxbow is so popular.


I just think most people were not worried or felt it was a big deal. I have lots and lots of pets and pet food companies change packaging all the time. There were no big differences so nothing to worry about for most of us.

It is great to start convos and ask questions though!


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

I've had some really bad experiences with tropical fish foods I did a lot of research and went out of my way to order certain high end products and suddenly I have expensive fish dying without a reason. Then I read the label and all of the high end ingredients have been replaced with potato starch and artificial color. In both of the worst cases the companies were bought out by investor groups. Some small company invested years in building a brand by selling top quality products and along comes an investor group the fills the containers with dried egg and potato flakes imported from the orient and charges me the same for it.

I'm sure they made amazing profits for a while... until they totally trashed the brand. Most of us do our homework once choose the best product we can afford and then buy the product by picking the familiar label from the shelf... It's called brand loyalty. Marketing 'experts' know this and that's why you have to be so careful and always read the contents of the package... 

You will also note that the response from Oxbow just says that changes in the contents won't have any effect on the taste or palatability of the product... they didn't say anything about the nutritional qualities of the new formula. I'm one of those people that likes to read what isn't said as much as what is. If their formula was so good. why change it? If they improved it, why not taut it? I'm not saying the product is worse, but I bet it's somehow cheaper to make.


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