ORLANDO — When Ernie Els and his wife attended the 2023 Global Pet Expo in Orlando, Liezl, a self-described dog nut, kept returning to his wife with other four-legged friends in her arms and, with her best puppy-dog eyes , asked about bringing that rescue home.
“Third time the dog’s in the car,” said Ernie, giving new meaning to his nickname The Big Easy.
Els had a dog named Hogan when she was a child in South Africa and since marrying Liezl has added breeds such as Great Danes, Labradors, St. Bernards, Labradoodles and Frenchies in their various homes in England, South Africa and the US But being dog people doesn’t Begin to explain what Els does at a global gathering of the pet industry and marketing Ernie Els Champion Pet Treats.
“People were laughing at me like what are you doing?” Els said. “I feel like there’s something there.”
In fact, there is. According to the American Pet Product Association, the pet food industry in North America dominates 37 percent of the global pet food market and is growing at a compound annual rate of 4.4 percent. By 2021, pet foods and snacks will record the highest sales, reaching $50 billion, and growing at a faster rate than any other pet care category. As consumers’ appetite for premium treats and snack products for human consumption increases, this has filtered down to the pet treat industry. More than ever, pets are seen as part of the family and pet owners want to feed their animals high-quality pet food.
Ernie Els at a booth for Ernie Els Pet Products. (Courtesy Ernie Els)
How Els got into this business partnership dates back to the 2019 Els for Autism Pro-Am, where he played in a fundraiser with friends Sheldon Gollub and Bill Deutsch. Gollub distributes private-label pet treats while Deutsch is a wine importer, distributor and owner of the Yellow Tail and Josh wine labels. (Deutsch’s son Peter partnered with Jim Nantz on The Calling wine label.)
Gollub always wanted to have a brand for his pets and asked Els if she would be interested in attaching her name to it. Els and his business manager did their homework and found that this was a thriving business and put together a business partnership originally under the name Ernie Els Champion Training Treats. They realized the opportunity could be bigger than just treats and renamed the company and the website Ernie Els Pet Products. Launched in November 2019, the pet treats were tested being sold in California by Kroger stores under the Ralph’s label when COVID-19 hit. They struggled to get supplies from their distributor but a bigger obstacle for the new startup was Gollub’s death. In 2021, Mark Segal, Gollub’s son-in-law, called Els and Deutsch and said he still believed there was a good business opportunity within the philanthropy and they agreed to move forward.
“The pet industry is bigger than the baby industry,” Segal said. “A very small piece of it is a big business.”
They launched the all-natural dog treat, which comes in a variety of flavors such as chicken and beef jerky and requires refrigeration upon opening, at the 2023 PGA Merchandise Show. Pro shops display it in steel range buckets and it is available online at Chewy.com, the company website (ErnieElsPetProducts.com), and at retailers such as Harris Teeter. Also available is a licky mat with putting green, leashes and collars in four patterns. Celebrity endorsers in the space include Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer, and model Kathy Ireland was behind the previous effort.
“It’s like our wine,” says Els, who started his eponymous wine label 20 years ago in South Africa’s Stellenbosch region. “If you have bad wine, people remember you as a brand with bad wine, so your name hits. Fortunately, we have a good winemaker, got a good setup there and the wine have a following around the world. I was like, ‘Well, these (dog treats) better be good.’ We think it’s great because I can see how our dogs respond.”
Actually, Els is pursuing a different business sector but he noted that there is more connection than meets the eye.
“Almost every single golfer I meet, they all have dogs,” Els said. “You see them walking dogs around golf courses all the time. Maybe not so much in the US because you know the HOA rules, but in England, South Africa, Scotland, you see St. Andrews after play the Open, people are walking their dogs after the ceremony.
It’s not just about the pet business but raising awareness for the Els Autism Foundation. On the back of the bags is a message to the foundation and a link to the website. A portion of the proceeds support individuals and families living with autism spectrum disorder, a cause close to Els’ heart.
“It’s a business that pays it forward,” Segal said. “I want to make Ernie the Paul Newman of pets.”
