Family-owned company, Small Pet Select changes its packaging to encourage the ‘consumer to interact with all six panels of the box,’ as it aims to elevate its brand to a ‘premium level.’

The company provides farm fresh essentials for your small pet, such as rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, and more. One of its main products is Timothy Hay, and each bundle of hay is hand-selected from farms in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

Small Pet Select’s ship cases have traditionally served the purpose of simply transporting product to consumers’ doorstep. Now according to the company its ship cases tell a story.  What was once an understated box is now a highly decorated, interactive brand with colours, graphics, and messaging that enhances the customer experience.  

The packaging transformation has taken place because of digital printing produced on the Domino X630i at Independent 2 in Louisville, Kentucky USA.

Product buyer at Small Pet Select, Josh Price stated, ‘We are located in Louisville, Kentucky with a 46,000 square foot facility, and all of our products are sourced in the Pacific Northwest, which has the best product and the best climate for growing our Timothy Hay.

‘It’s also packaged in a 100% biodegradable breathable box which is recyclable and good for the planet.’

Devin Danehy, sales partner at Independent 2 discussed the history of the partnership with Small Pet Select stating, ‘It started out as a couple of die cut boxes, some simple RSC’s, and to date they probably have somewhere between 30 to 40 different SKUs and 95% of them are all off of our Domino.’

Finn MacDonald, president of Independent 2 continued, ‘Our vision was relatively simple. Diversify from brown box but do it in a way that would deliver consistent value and quality to our customers. When Domino came out with the X630i single-pass aqueous based digital press, we said ‘that’s it’.’

Mr Price described the ‘beauty of digital printing’ and the reason behind the change in packaging. He said, ‘We are able to change and adapt on the fly. With the new art of digital printing, we are able to use many different colours and tell many different stories and change out on a frequent basis.

‘If we want to run different themed boxes, we can certainly run those now at a much faster pace than using flexo in the past, and it has really elevated our business to the next level.’

Mr Danehy added, ‘Independent 2 likes to be in front of the marketplace and with customers like Small Pet Select, we’re able to raise the bar and stay ahead of the game.’

To conclude on the project Mr Price commented, ‘Independent 2 is more than a partner.  They’re very fast, quick, and responsive to any needs that we might have.  We take great pride in the products that we bring to market, and we take great pride in the packaging that we use to bring those products to market.’

Small Pet Select was nominated in last year’s 2023 Digital Labels & Packaging Awards for the category ‘Application excellence – secondary packaging’ because of its work with Independent II and its use of the Domino X630i to produce corrugated packaging.

To get involved in this year’s 2024 awards apply by the 12 April though our entry form.