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The Belgian SME exists as from 2004. At that moment its first pet food was launched, mainly in Flanders. The focus has been on breeders for many years. Only the last years, and strongly the last year and a half, the focus is not only on breeders anymore, but has shifted towards resellers in Belgium and importers/distributors. This approach proves to be very successful as breeders convince puppy buyers to keep using its products. Doing so, they promote sales at the resellers. Sales went up steeply in the last year, mainly thanks to the rebranding and dynamisation of the brand.

Production, warehousing and offices have always been in Belgium and are situated near the linguistic border between the French and Dutch speaking part of Belgium.

Strategically the companies' products are available offline, in stores, and online via small web shops of its clients. To avoid price wars and protect its resellers, the SME has avoided the bigger web shops.

The products:
The pet food products of the SME have been carefully developed with the help of nutritionists, veterinarians and universities. It only uses the best high-qualitative natural ingredients to produce its stable high premium nutrition.
All its dog food varieties consist of the same base; it does not want to compromise on quality in any way, because every dog deserves the best treatment. Every variety contains:
- Chondroitin & glucosamine: to support the development and maintenance of joints and cartilage
- Salmon oil: because only the best is good enough, the company uses ‘human grade’ salmon oil. This salmon oil optimises the global health situation of the dog and specifically skin and fur, sight, immunity, etc..
- Natural antioxidants: the SME does not use any unnatural additives, it enriches its kibble with natural antioxidants, such as vitamin E and rosemary
- Prebiotics: an optimal digestion is of the utmost importance for a dog. Adding prebiotics supports the intestinal flora which will help the dog to better digest his kibble.
- Yucca Schidigera: Yucca relieves the liver by removing toxins in a natural way, it also helps to decrease odours.

The dog food range of this Belgian company is divided into 3 groups of products:
1) Heritage: developed for every size of dog throughout all life stages, these balanced and complete dog food varieties are rich in both high quality meat and multi-vitamins:
o Puppy
o Junior
o Regular rich in Chicken
o Regular rich in Lamb
o Senior
Heritage Mini: also, for dogs of small breeds, there are varieties for their full life care:
o Puppy Mini
o Regular Mini rich in Chicken
o Regular Mini rich in Fish
o Senior Mini
2) Performance: these high-performance varieties contain extra proteins and salmon oil to meet a dog’s activity and beauty needs:
o Regular Plus rich in Chicken
o Regular Plus rich in Fish
o Regular Plus rich in Lamb
o Elite
3) Care: responding to a dog’s special needs. No dog is left behind!
o Light
o Hypoallergenic (under development)

All the varieties are available in 12 kg and 3 kg. The Heritage mini line is also available in 1,5 kg.

To maintain margins and to keep it interesting to its (future) partners, the Belgian SME is looking for importers or distributors in various European countries to resell its products in their country under a distribution services agreement.
The envisaged partners need to have a network of resellers of pet food and to know how to position the products, based on quality & price & culture, into their home market. They are expected to buy products from the Belgian company, to arrange the transport and to distribute the products via their own network.
The search is not really limited, but focus is put on (Eastern) Europe.

Advantages & innovations

The companies' biggest innovation, in a market where lots of marketing stories are being made up, is that it keeps it real. It focuses on a balanced and complete diet for dogs and cats. Its range with various varieties makes it possible to respond to the needs of up to 90% of all dogs and cats: - The complete and balanced kibble is made up out of natural ingredients, with a focus on animal proteins. The right amount of carbohydrates as wel as fats, vitamins, minerals, prebiotics, etc. are present in the kibble. - Only pure products are used, there aren't any by-products in this companies' pet food. It works only with natural ingredients as for example antioxidants: vitamin E, rosemary. - No cereals in the form of barley, wheat or oats are present in its kibble. As for the advantages: - The kibble is produced in Belgium with high quality standards in both used ingredients and production facility - Compared to the direct competitors who claim to offer a similar product, this SME offers better qualitative products at a lower price. - It is looking for companies with whom it can build up partnerships, not a superficial supplier/distributor relationship - It offers a fair margin for its distributors/importers - It doesn’t offer its products online via big webshops such as ZooPlus to avoid price wars and to protect its importers/distributors - As a family business, it focuses on direct contact lines: the partners will be directly in contact with the owners/decision makers. This way of working will speed up the process and get things done faster. It is known for its response rate, flexibility and tailor made solutions. - A recent dynamisation caused the desired growth in the existing markets. This shows the attractivity of its products and their maturity to be distributed in other countries.

Stage of development

Already on the market

Partner sought

The Belgian SME is searching for partners under a distribution services agreement, who will import/distribute its products in the country they are active in. These partners need to have a network of resellers of pet food and need to know how to position the products, based on quality & price & culture, into their home market. The partners are expected to buy products from the Belgian company, to arrange the transport and to distribute the products via their own network. The selected partners will be able to count on the Flemish SME for the necessary support in marketing.