Do independents also have a vested interest to do something different though ?
Different from what? Unique brews like Kestrel or Boogie? Lots of trace elements & fancy unnecessary adjuvants? I see your point - many distributor reps will work on agronomy only and recommend widely available products so you can buy anywhere, not just their firm.
They wouldn't want pet products unless they are more commonly available ones like Cherokee, Adexar, Aviator. Having said that, Firelfy is Hutchinsons only but seems good value.