WBFI Member Spolight - Mike Wulf
D&D Commodities has been making wild bird food for 26 years and has been a member of the Wild Bird Feeding Institute since the early years. Former WBFI president, and board and committee member, Mike Wulf, was with D&D Commodities and WBFI for 21 years. Mike stated, “For many years, I lived and breathed WBFI like it was my second job.”
Mike said the biggest changes within the industry took place during COVID. In all the years he’s been in the industry, he’s never seen an instance where the influx of people to the hobby was so drastic.
Working in product development, Mike emphasized how radically products have evolved over the years. He said, “bird feeding started with breadcrumbs and grains, and now there are so many specialty, boutique-type products out there. D&D was one of the first to package real fruits and nuts and now so many companies are using it. Feeders and seed just continue to evolve and improve.”
Since becoming a WBFI board member in 2006 and serving in different ways for over 15 years, Mike has a lot of stories that are a testament to how much both the wild bird feeding industry and WBFI have evolved over the years. One benefit of WBFI that he and his company have utilized since the beginning and still utilize today is research. “The research on the consumers and the birds have helped D&D Commodities tremendously," Mike stated.
Mike concluded with this, “WBFI, for all the time I’ve spent with it, has been a huge benefit for our company. Being involved with research, networking, and at the front end of studies and development has paid us in dividends. It’s just like anything else in life, you get out of it what you’re willing to put into it.”
D&D Commodities has since been acquired by Central Avian/Kaytee.