How Does Cole’s Really Compare?

Terry Allen

Just wanted to share this price comparison with all of our Cole’s Wild Bird Products customers. One of our retailers, Terry Allen, who runs a small shop called For The Birds in Salem, South Carolina recently did his own comparison analysis of Cole’s Blue Ribbon Blend vs. Pennington brand, which is sold at Walmart.

Terry Allen says he always knew Cole’s offered a higher quality product, and he advised customers to try Cole’s and see the difference. But, since some customers were hesitant to spend the extra money, Terry felt the need to illustrate and demonstrate that by buying Cole’s, his customers would save money and enjoy less waste at the feeder.

So, Terry invested in a bag of Pennington’s Classic Wild Bird Feed. He carefully separated each ingredient using various strainers. He broke it down, and here’s what he found. Milo, which is listed as the first ingredient (by law ingredients are listed from the highest percentage to the lowest) and wheat, listed as the third ingredient, make up 75% of the bag.

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Here’s how milo is described on About.com. “Milo is often used as a filler in bulk commercial seed mixes, and much of the seed will be wasted. Milo has poor nutritional value and very few birds will eat it, though it is a favorite food for doves, wild turkeys and pheasants.” So, if you want to attract songbirds, filling your feeders with milo isn’t a good idea. The birds will kick it out of the feeder and leave a mess in your yard.

As you can see from the illustrations, Allen found that millet makes up 20% of the bag, and sunflower seeds make up just 5%. Again, three quarters of the bag is filled with milo and wheat .

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The last illustration is the most compelling. Allen found that you’d have to purchase four bags of Pennington’s Classic Wild Bird Feed from Walmart at a total cost of $29.68 to get the same amount of nutritional seed you are getting in one ten pound bag of Cole’s Blue Ribbon Blend at $24.00. With Cole’s you save more than $5.00. You miss out on the mess under your feeders, and you miss out on lugging around three ten pound bags. So, where’s the real value? Allen loves showing his customers what counts, and he says they keep coming back again and again for Cole’s.

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Cole’s Wild Bird Products is a family-owned company that distributes wild bird feed and suet products. The company is known for offering the highest quality products on the market. Cole’s also specializes in chili infused seed products designed to make your feeder a bird’s only “hot” spot. Cole’s started in the garage of mom and pop entrepreneurs Richard and Nancy Cole back in the early 1980’s. Today it distributes to retailers nationwide. Cole’s is located in the metro Atlanta area. For more information, visit www.coleswildbird.com