Velda disbands its German sales team

Velda, the Dutch garden pond specialist, disbanded its sales team for Germany and Austria at the end of last year. The pet editorial team has learned of this from various speciality retail chains. The move affects Timo Mann, head of sales for Germany and Austria, and the field sales regional manager, Michael Cestnik. In response to an enquiry by pet, no reasons were offered by the head office in Enschede for this move nor any information given regarding how Velda intends to move forward in the German-speaking market.

German and Austrian speciality retailers, who mostly say that Velda had been making good progress with its products in the last year despite difficult market conditions, have reacted to the decision of the Velda head office with astonishment and in some cases also incomprehension. One possible explanation could be that the Dutch family firm intends to concentrate on its domestic market in these financially uncertain times and wants to cut its investment in foreign markets.