The blue wine from Spain has the label with a man holding two glasses of wine –one in each hand. The face is that of a dog, perhaps showing the irreverence to the human species or suggesting that you must be a dog to drink the wine or a mere love for dogs by the promoters. But a new start-up in Denver, Colorado has actually come up with a wine that is meant for cats (and soon for dogs as well) although it is not blue in colour and has no alcohol.
CEO of the Denver-based company Brandon Zavala introduced 2 variants Pinot Meow and MosCATo last November but has recently come out with the improved version that got tremendous boost after Jimmy Fallon mentioned it on Tuesday night in his TV Chat Show. The company has also been invited to the 2-day Pet event CatCon in Los Angeles starting today (June 25).
The liquid is actually a blend of organic catnip and beets. They have a white and red blend, to satisfy sophisticated cat palates. The wine comes in 2 sizes- the 50 mL single serving portion sells for $5 (Rs. 340) and the 250 mL sells at a better value-for-money $12. A holiday version in a glass bottle is currently out of stock.
Last Thursday, an online Article post about the wine for kitties went viral and the coverage has quadrupled their sales in about three days, Zavala said. They are even pre-ordered but he concedes the product is simple to make and he hopes to catch up with back orders quickly.
The wine started as a joke with friends on a trip. On his return, he started to develop it seriously. Working in the pet food industry, he saw the niche for the product. The small mention at Fallon has kept Zavala busy with radio interviews all over the U.S. and a live-feed interview for an Australian morning TV show, even though it won’t be available for export.
As to cats' reactions to the blends, ‘most are really positive, but of course some cats don't like it. But most of the cats go nuts after drinking it’, he said. Plenty of cat owners have taken videos of cats acting drunk (thanks to catnips in the ingredients).
At CatCon, Zavala will announce new drinks including White Kittendel (take-off on the name for white Zinfandel) for kittens using a catnip alternative herb valerian. The company is also working on a dog wine. Snuffle dog beer was introduced in Europe last year but this is apparently the first time that the dog wine would be introduced.
There might not be a huge market for these ‘wines’ in India yet but since it is alcohol free, it will draw lower import duties as it might come in the food category though the basic price may not come down for a while. It does not need a rocket science to make the wine and we may soon have some pet lovers sprinting to the drawing board and come out with similar products under the ‘Make in India’ umbrella.
For a short video presentation click:
https://www.youtube.com
Subhash Arora
www.catconla.com |