Leading Pet Product Manufacturer Worldwise Wins 2015 Pet Insight Vanguard Award for Cat Toy Category

2015 Vanguard Awards: Recognizing key category leaders that are bringing retailers and distributors innovative new products, merchandising concepts and strong overall partnerships.

Cat toy companies are working to promore cats' mental and physical stimulation. Toys are an effective means to not only occupy pets, but also for pet owners to bond with their cats.

Each retail channel has its own benefits, said Aimee Diskin of Worldwise. "Mass gives some quanity of scale and lots of visibility whereas specialty and independents allow us to more closely react to trends and modify the business," Diskin said. "Furthermore, the Pet specialty channel allows us a great opportunity to educate the consumer."

Electronic toys are driving a lot of the growth at this point, anything that attracts the cat to the toy and relieves boredom, Diskin added. "People continue to view cats as members of the family which bodes well for toys in general given it is an easy way to spoil your cat that doesn't involve food," she said.

Consumers want better products at the right price, Diskin said. "At Worldwise, quality is the foundation of every product we release, regardless of brand," she said. "All toys we offer are tested to child safety standards, which is not something anyone else in the industry is doing."

Historically, many cat toys have lacked innovation and struggle to encourage interactive play, which is key for both bonding and exercise, said Neil Werde of Quaker. "With Quaker's ever expanding SuperCat product collection, Quaker set out to take cat toy innovation to the next level – offering high quality, patented microencapsulation, bright colors, and space efficient solutions that encourage stimulation and connectivity," Werde said.

Ethical Products is focusing on launching electronic items, interactive toys, new materials, line extensions to great selling items and lasers, said Jonathan Zelinger said. "We are focusign on interactive toys because they promote bonding between pet and owners," Zelinger said.

We use a variety of techniques to help educate consumers and drive sales including a color-coded needs system on our packaging, Diskin said. "This educates consumers about their cats needs, helps drive multiple purchases and provides an easy-to-shop merchandising solution for stores," she said.