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Feeding On Success

staff/Jay Nolan)

Alton Smelt helps customer Chris Corkum with his bird feed at "Smelt Feed and Pet Supply". The family owned business supplies exotic animal feed for Busch Gardens and Lowry Park

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By JANIS D. FROELICH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 1, 2008

Additional Photos

EAST YBOR - When Jack Smelt first worked for a mill and feed store on the outskirts of Ybor City, the competition was heavy. About a half-dozen stores were in the area in the 1940s and '50s.

Today, the rural landscape has changed completely from when farms and backyard menageries were common. Smelt Feed and Pet Supply is the only place left in the neighborhood with food for horses, cattle and poultry.

Smelt, 78, went to work for Richards Milling in 1946. He bought out his employer in 1981 and eventually moved his feed store across the street to 4116 E. Seventh Ave. The 1985-built warehouse is stocked to the ceiling with bags of mostly pellet-shaped food for all creatures from earthworms to elephants.

His son Alton, 51, joined the business about 30 years ago. The two realized about 15 years ago that catering to the farm community wasn't the future for Smelt Feed, so they switched the emphasis from livestock. Now, about 75 percent of their business is with the zoological industry, such as Busch Gardens and Sea World, plus breeders.

"We diversified," Alton Smelt said. "It was risky at the time because exotic animals weren't so common."

"Farms used to be everywhere in Hillsborough County," added Jack Smelt, who grew up in nearby Gary, a community once known as a celery-growing region.

"It helps us now that people have the attitude about their pets, 'Don't worry about the money. Just give me the best,'" he said.

The Smelts try to do just that. Jack Smelt shows a 25-pound bag of what looks like delicious trail mix - dried fruits such as papaya and assorted nuts such as Brazil. Cockatiels and other parrots like the stuff for snacks. Another bag of seed for parrots, including cockatoos, comes with or without sunflower seeds.

A large bag of Pretty Bird appeals to birds from parakeets to parrots, Jack Smelt said, because it looks and smells like the cereal Fruit Loops. Macaws like in-the-shell walnuts and "other big nuts they can crack open with their beaks," he said.

"Our customers know what they want for their critters," Alton Smelt said.

He said feed doesn't last more than two weeks on the shelves; two tractor-trailers deliver 80,000 to 90,000 pounds of feed weekly.

Why don't places such as Busch Gardens and Lowry Park Zoo get their own stash?

Alton Smelt said it's because they offer their animals such a variety of food that they would have to order from dozens of suppliers, just like he does. Plus, Smelt offers its own brand, Taylor Made, named after Alton's 15-year-old daughter.

Lowry Park has 2,000 animals to feed, spokeswoman Rachel Nelson said. The pellet-shaped foods obtained from Smelt - for elephants it's 3-inch, grain-based cubes - contain basic nutrition. Produce and meat are added to the diet in many cases.

"It's very animal specific," Nelson said. "There's a clearinghouse where we sort all the food orders coming in."

At Smelt, experience is a big factor. Father and son, who both live in Egypt Lake, are chatty and personable.

"A man called me and asked, 'What do you feed a porcupine?'" Alton Smelt said. "I said, 'Sure, we have the feed, but why would you want a porcupine?'"

An unusual item is feed for rats and mice - pellets, not cheese blocks. The Smelts laugh as they talk about finding themselves part of the food chain because the rodents are fattened up by snake owners and then fed to their reptiles.

The Smelts have two trucks to service Florida from Naples to Ocala. But plenty of customers simply show up at their docks. The biggest seller is birdseed for the backyard. Stacks of $27 bags of black oil sunflowers stand by the door.

Alton Smelt said he hopes his 11-year-old son, Tanner, steps into the business as he did.

"It's a pleasant way to make a living," he said. "You're dealing with people who are taking care of their pets. They're usually easygoing and sincerely wanting your help."

FOR INFORMATION

For information about Smelt Feed and Pet Supply, call 1-800-827-2473 or go to www.smeltfeed.com.

VARIETY OF FOODS

Llama Feed

Exotic Bird Feed

Smelt's Own Bird Feed

Crocodilian Feed

Reporter Janis D. Froelich can be reached at (813) 835-2104 or jfroelich@tampatrib.com.

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