(Curious) How is Fitch doing?

[Black_Inky_Eyes]

This thread is just me being nosy so yeah.

I've heard that Fitch prices are going up and the quality is declining in certain bags where you would either get a normal high-quality bag or quite a dusty one but the thing is I got these from a thread years ago so I'm just wondering how they're doing as they used to be a REALLY popular brand but now I see people looking for alternatives. I've personally never used it but can anyone else give an updated report?

[Jeir]

It's nearly doubled in price in the past year (£21.99 for 20kg last Jan, £35 now), which alone has made me consider looking for other options to see what the best deal is, when it's time for me to get a new hamster.

As for quality...that 20kg bag was quite dusty (and I think caused some issues for my hamsters), while last bag I got (£17.80 for 10kg bag last August) wasn't as dusty but still more so than my hamsters were used to, and had the usual hard cardboard pieces in it I had to pick out.

[alpacassei]

I haven’t used it in a year but the last bag I bought was dustier than carefresh

[cypher]

The price has gone up quite a lot but other than that no problems for me, quality has been fine & I've never had a bag that was dusty.

[Pebbles82]

I have never had a bag that is dusty either. Never had any issues with it at all and the quality is absolutely fine. I got a 10kg bag recently. The 10kg bag has gone up from £17 to £22 so not double the price. The 20kg bag has gone up a lot - from about £22 to £35. A 10g bag lasts me about 6 months though so I still think it works out reasonable.

Sometimes it will be less white and other times it will be pure white. I queried this once and the manufacturers said it depends what type of paper they've been recycling at that time - when it is less white it is slightly less soft - but it is absolutely fine and still the only dust-free bedding I've found that's a good texture.

Very occasionally you hear of someone who has had a bad bag - but in the 3 or 4 years I've been on here that has been quite rare. It's great bedding as far as I'm concerned and hamsters really like it. Shame the price has gone up but it didn't have a price rise for a long time.

[Fluffagrams]

I'd noticed reduced availability of Fitch in early 2017 so I started buying Megazorb instead and decided that I'd only use Fitch for maternity and hospital cages so that the bags I was able to get hold of would last longer. I'd noticed a slight decline in quality but it still did the job but when I bought my last bag to set up Cora's maternity cage in 2017, I was so disappointed in the quality that I just didn't feel happy to let Cora have her babies on it. It was not only dusty but it was really quite rough. I'd contacted Fitch to let them know but let's just say that their customer service left a lot to be desired.

I am not the only one who has found their prices to have risen rather a lot and I know that people have had issues sourcing the larger bags too which I think has led to some people looking to source alternatives. I now use Kaytee Clean and Cozy in my hospital and maternity cages and that suits us fine but I know that there are others who find that Fitch is still the best option for them and their hamsters.