NFNatcane — Interview

You've probably already heard of NFNatcane and its high-quality products at very competitive prices, for feeding our four-legged furry friends.

NFNatcane is an already well-established canine feeding company, with high-quality products, fair prices and good customer service, which has become a benchmark company.

Selling a good, quality product alone isn't enough these days — you also need to know each dog's/breed's nutritional needs and properly advise customers so they get the most suitable kibble for their pet.

Many years of study and work with dogs from different areas of the canine world, plus nutrition, have given NFNatcane more than enough experience to work out the best food for each dog.

That's why NFNatcane offers every visitor on its website a form where they can enter their dog's details, and their technicians, experts in canine nutrition and deeply familiar with their formulas, will reply. The NFNatcane team will assess the details and recommend the most suitable food for your dog.

Every dog is different — even within the same breed, the climate where they live, physical wear from work, age, exercise or walks, and even the dog's own temperament can shape their nutritional needs.

From puppy kibbles with every nutrient they might need, to Senior dog kibbles with chondroprotectants for their joints, not forgetting the more specific kibbles for working dogs, dogs with intolerances, puppies and so on, NFNatcane offers a wide range of kibbles you can see on their website.

We carried out a personalised interview with NFNatcane, with plenty of questions we're sure will interest you, which you can see below. A company that answers its customers' questions with no reservations is a company you can trust.

– INTERVIEW WITH NFNATCANE –

How and When Did the Idea of Creating NFNatcane Come About?

We've been professionals in the canine world for more than 16 years, in professional training and official courses across various areas, all of them within the canine field, alongside a dog school, working groups, competition and preparing working dogs for security, detection and assistance roles, and 6 years now with our own brand.

We're also qualified technicians in veterinary nutrition and veterinary dietetics. We've always been very demanding about our own dogs' food, and we chose to make a strong investment in our own formulas, tailored to what we were looking for and, as a result, what a great many dog owners were looking for too.

We have a rule: we never bring a product to market that hasn't been tried by our trusted dogs for at least 6 months (more than 50 dogs of different characteristics, always including dogs with more sensitive digestion and dogs with intolerances). A period during which we carefully monitor every factor.

If we're not sure a product meets the success rates we set for these trials, that product doesn't go to market, and we work on putting together another one to meet the specific goal we're after.

We consider part of it to be the formulation, where we share a single philosophy, and another part to be the practical side, where the product has to actually work. There are plenty of factors that can stop a product with an interesting formulation from working, which is why every one of our products goes through the full testing phase.

The goal we set ourselves at NFNatcane is asking what formulation we'd need if we had a dog allergic to wheat or maize, another dog with bacterial overgrowth in the gut flora, another who struggles to eat, another who struggles to gain weight, another who gains weight too fast, another who needs to strengthen their immune system after going through an illness, another with hip dysplasia, another with malabsorption syndrome, another intolerant to any grain, another as a working dog, and so on…

Our large number of students has actually let us come across dogs with these very different characteristics up close and personally. And from there, as I say, we got to work, very gradually and taking care over the details, on everything this process needed.

The first phase is putting the formula together, alongside vet nutritionists who are experts in the field and highly experienced in the sector. The second is manufacturing it so it can go through the testing phase. The third, as I say, is seeing the product works at a very high rate, exceeding 85% in sensitive dogs (assimilable, digestible, palatable, healthy appearance, coat shine, proper stools, low allergy risk and so on).

We'd be out of touch with reality if we expected a single product to work in 100% of dogs, because that's impossible — which is why we look for different products within the same base.

What Experience and Training Do You Have in the Pet Field?

Exactly, both are essential, and together, since separately one usually isn't enough. Experience and training. On training, a great deal and very varied — let me sum it up a little.

Veterinary dietetics and nutrition, accreditation from the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police for training canine handlers, FCI canine instructor, professional dog trainer, trainer of trainers, canine behaviourist, advanced training technician, accredited ANACP lecturer, C.C.E. evaluating judge, and plenty of specialist training across different areas of canine training (therapy, security, IPO, mondioring and other sporting disciplines).

As for experience, 16 years teaching official and professional courses, all of them within the canine world, across different fields (substance detection, search, security, obedience, sporting disciplines, behaviour modification and so on), training more than 3,000 students, and more than 500 at a professional level (State Security Forces, private security and professional trainers), with more than 6,000 hours taught. As well as being a contributor to media outlets such as RTVE as a canine behaviour expert.

In other words, we know both sides — pet nutrition and food, and each dog's real needs at any given moment.

What's NFNatcane's Philosophy?

Commercially speaking, as we said, an attractive formulation can get the customer to try it, but let's not kid ourselves — if the product doesn't work with great success, there logically won't be any continuity. As we said, getting the product to work can only be achieved through trials on different dogs with different characteristics.

In terms of canine feeding, our goal is short- and long-term health. For that long-term care, we consider it essential to use natural ingredients of the highest quality available, and to steer clear of artificial preservatives, colourings or flavourings.

For that long-term care it's also essential to include top-quality ingredients, with raw materials that cost more financially but that, without doubt, offer a far greater benefit in the short and long term. Medium- or low-quality protein and an excessive percentage of carbohydrate can cause serious, increasingly common health conditions in our dogs over the long term.

For those short-term results, we consider it essential to include ingredients and processes that support digestibility and absorption, alongside the quality of those ingredients.

To that end we also include ingredients in our formulas that come from companies that only manufacture food for human consumption.

What Benefits Do the End Consumer and Their Pet Get From Making This Kibble in Spain?

It's obvious that any consumer, of any product in any sector, is the one who bears the cost of the product and every direct and indirect expense that product involves. In the sector we work in, without doubt, transport is one of the main factors shaping the RRP. The main one after the product itself, but not the only one.

Expensive advertising, packaging designed to appeal to the customer (not the dog), a distributor network and storage across many locations are other factors that also affect the RRP. Our goal is to invest in quality, which is what will allow continuity, alongside making sure the customer doesn't pay "inflated" amounts that keep middlemen happy (temporarily) but not the consumer.

With our brand, highly functional packaging that keeps the product and its properties intact, direct sales or sales through large quantities at points of sale that share our quality + price = continuity philosophy, and centralised logistics with direct sales, let us focus our efforts on the product's quality.

Expensive advertising will get plenty of people to try the product, but as we said, if that means cutting your investment in quality or inflating the price, it won't allow continuity, our main goal. We prefer slower channels that, in our view, are more reliable, such as word of mouth, sped up nowadays by the internet and social media.

The response has been excellent, and that's let us improve even further and put together new, improved formulas. In short, our motto is "what you and your dog were looking for", referring to everything covered in this section.

And of course, today we're very happy with the result, and that lets us access better supply and transport rates, in turn letting us improve and create new formulas with no impact on the customer's wallet.

Broadly Speaking, What Do NFNatcane Products Have in Common?

Our customers often mention a reduction in the volume and frequency of their dog's stools. Product absorption is fundamental, since if it's not right, the dog won't get the benefits sought from that product. Without doubt the quality of the raw materials, the balance in their formulas and specific elements for this task all play a part.

Broadly speaking, digestibility is our main focus. This involves using highly digestible raw materials from the outset and combining them to create as many synergies as possible. And of course probiotics, prebiotics and other nutraceuticals that maintain proper gut ecology. All of this is perhaps less visible in terms of formulation, but we consider it essential to the product's functionality.

On another note, we take great care over intolerances. The ingredients included and how they're processed reduce the risks in this area. We also believe NFNatcane, overall, is high in palatability, thanks to its ingredients, their quality, how they're applied, how they're combined, and the always-natural flavourings included.

NFNatcane Offers a Diverse Range — What Is Each Product Aiming For?

All our products share the same philosophy, but they do genuinely differ to cover each dog's needs. Fortunately, these days consumers have far more information available when it comes to feeding their dog, and are aware that every dog needs different nutritional characteristics.

We have grain-free and meat-free products for dogs with intolerances. Specific products bringing together digestibility and energy, for the profile of dogs who need to regain weight without needing to eat large amounts that would affect digestibility or pose risks such as gastric torsion.

Products where the carbohydrate percentage is minimal, which, alongside being made with no grains, is recommended by numerous vets in cases involving an illness closely tied to the state of the immune system. Products standing out for their balance in percentages, ingredients and calories, with protein from combined sources that look after health. Products with 100% hydrolysed meat and fish protein to reduce intolerances and improve digestibility.

Lower-calorie products for dogs who, because of their metabolism, surgery or other factors, tend to gain weight. Products that especially look after coat and skin, for show-ring dogs or dogs with poorer coat quality or ongoing moulting problems.

High-energy products for dogs living under greater physical wear from being outdoors or because of their work. And of course several products for the specific care of puppies, where feeding and proper development go hand in hand.

Another aspect we take care over in every product is the shape and size of the kibble piece, based on the average size of the dogs each reference is aimed at.

What Can You Tell Us About Protein at NFNatcane?

Protein is vitally important for a dog. It's essential for the immune system, body structure, growth, development, bones, muscles, organs and so on.

In our formulas, animal protein always takes centre stage. We make sure it's of high biological value and highly digestible. Salmon, tuna, chub mackerel, chicken, turkey, lamb, beef and egg all appear in significant percentages in our formulas for their biological value and digestibility, with processes that support digestion and lower the risk of intolerances.

In the Gourmet range, 100% of the meat and fish protein is hydrolysed, which reduces intolerances and also supports digestibility.

And Carbohydrates?

For this we use legumes and potato in our grain-free formulas, and brown rice as a grain alongside legumes in the others. For this purpose we avoid unbalanced ingredients and forms of grain with a high glycaemic index or that affect the product's digestibility.

We also look for balance — both potato and rice are highly digestible ingredients, but we don't include products where the percentage of a single ingredient is disproportionate to the whole, since in our view that would do more harm than good.

We don't include high percentages of carbohydrate in any formula, bearing in mind, among many other factors, that diabetes is sadly one of the fastest-growing illnesses in dogs today.

What Feeding Table Do You Recommend?

If we only went by the dog's body weight to set recommended amounts, we'd be overlooking the most important factors in setting a proper feeding guide.

To give an example: a calm Labrador living at home, low activity, neutered, weighing 30 kg. And on the other hand, a Belgian Malinois living in a garden, in low temperatures, always alert and active and barking at outside stimuli, also 30 kg — the calorie needs of the two could triple from one to the other. So simply going by weight means we'll either get it wrong or give ranges so broad they'd make no sense or confuse the owner.

We tend to link the word "exercise" to walk time, and associate that walk time as the only factor involved in calorie needs.

In our view, this outlook differs from reality. Energy needs can vary because of outside factors, metabolism, stress, the level and type of exercise, whether where they sleep is calm or on alert, breed, ambient temperature, how well they absorb that product, surgery, anxiety, dogs with phobias and so on… and can even vary in the same animal across different seasons.

Adapting to each case becomes necessary if we want to control their weight and physical condition, making the right changes to their daily food ration. To cover a need for a moderate boost to their energy needs, you'll simply need to increase the animal's daily ration, and the reverse if the energy supply needs reducing.

In cases where the dog's energy needs call for a large, not moderate, change, whether downward or upward, in that case we should switch the product we're giving them for another with characteristics more suited to them. The metabolisable energy of each product, which NFNatcane always states, is a key factor in setting the right amount.

At NFNatcane, the quality of the raw materials, combined with the digestibility and absorption of the food, means that, under normal conditions, less is needed than the current market average.

Taking into account the average characteristics of the dog profile each product is aimed at, we suggest a starting amount for each reference, needing afterwards, as we say, to adjust the amount for each dog, aiming for their ideal weight.

You Offer a Free Test for Customers on Your Website — Tell Us About This Service.

Indeed — it's a test where the customer explains their dog's characteristics, routines, activity, preferences, intolerances, weak points and so on…

It lets us carry out a personalised assessment, as experts in veterinary nutrition, to match the right product to the dog, assessing intolerances, digestibility, calories, nutritional needs and so on…

It's a service we consider very practical, to avoid choosing a product that, even if it's good quality, might not suit their dog. As we explained, our products share a single line, but there are very notable differences between each reference, and the test lets us achieve a very high success rate for each product with each dog.

And apparently the idea must have gone down well with other companies in the sector, since they've added it to their websites with the same description (product test).

…Following On From That Last Comment, We Were Going to Ask You — Are You Aware That More Than One Company Is Trying to Look Like You, With Similar Names… Very Similar Visibility, Website and So On?

Well, people trying to look like you always means you're on the right track. In reality, though, we stay focused on our own work, and we make the most of our experience in the sector, carrying on putting together our own formulas, our own studies, our own investments and improving on every front. That's what takes up all our time.

As I mentioned earlier, having continuity isn't a matter of copying descriptions or looking similar in image, among other things. For that continuity, the only thing that matters is that the products are good quality, specific and functional on every level, alongside, of course, good management and service, strong investment, and not resting on our laurels so we can keep improving, as well as plenty of experience and standing out from other brands.

What Does NFNatcane Stand Out for Compared to Other Brands?

Although it's true that fortunately there are high-quality brands on the market these days, we believe NFNatcane stands out for the quality, diversity and specialisation of its products.

We don't stop at an attractive formulation or a commercial product — we dig deeper, first-hand, as experts in the canine world, into how functional the product actually is. We're very demanding with every one of our products. We know perfectly well the results each product gets in each dog profile, which lets us advise our customers very reliably.

On another note, our goal is the end customer, and that's what our policy explained here is based on — the personalised service through the recommended-product-choice test, as experts in veterinary nutrition, and the priority of investing in the product itself, avoiding other expenses that would be passed on to our customers, arriving in this way at an unbeatable value for money.

As I explained earlier, being on both sides — knowing every aspect of pets deeply, as well as nutrition and pet food production, and the day-to-day results across every kind of dog — lets us avoid getting it wrong.

Another point is that we don't rest on our laurels — we keep carrying out studies and adding new formulas, and improving on many fronts. On other matters not related to the formulation itself, we keep improving too. For example, we've changed our website to one that's more intuitive, faster and easier to use, and soon we'll have an app for even greater customer convenience.

Is It Possible to Try NFNatcane Kibble Without Having to Buy a Whole Large Sack?

Indeed — they have a 4 kg format available.

Do You Have Any New Products in Mind?

Indeed — we're always researching and studying products to add, which in many cases our own customers ask us for. Right now we're studying a formulation for dogs with kidney problems, and another new formula in the Gourmet fish range beneficial for various aspects.

On another note, we're also studying another cat formula. We currently already have our "Cats Health" formula, which is giving excellent results.

For Those Not Using NFNatcane, Any Advice/Comment?

For those using a quality product that looks after their dog's health in the short and long term, whose results in their dogs are positive, and who feel they're paying for what's genuinely inside the kibble sack — I only have to say to keep using that product.

For those still looking for a product meeting all these characteristics, I invite you to take our free test on our website, so we can recommend the NFNatcane reference we think would best suit your dog's needs.

• NFNatcane's Official Website

Here at Soyunperro.com we'd like to thank the whole NFNatcane team for their time and dedication with us, as well as their willingness to take part in the interview and answer all our questions. Not forgetting the samples they sent us so we could check the quality of their kibble with our own dogs. Great work that will surely be a big help to plenty of readers.