“Speciality trade will grow at the cost of the food retailers“

Sales Director Erik Lambrecht.
PET in Europe:  Versele Laga has extended its product range significantly in recent years and is now operating in the market as supplier of a full range in the pet food segment. Has your concept of being able to offer the speciality trade everything from a single source of supply worked?
Erik Lambrecht: As the supplier of a range of pet food for virtually all pets, including pigeons, horses and farm animals, we are noticing more and more frequently that the speciality trade is looking harder to find suppliers from which it can order a wider range of products. This trend has been triggered chiefly by the following factors: an attempt to minimize freight costs, achieving carriage-free deliveries more easily, order centralization etc. We have therefore determined a strategy for ourselves that is based on three important pillars:
• We are continuing to work on widening and renewing our range so as to be able to offer the widest assortment of food possible. It is important in this regard that we also produce everything ourselves. Furthermore, we are developing new concepts, mainly in the field of small packs, in order thus to offer an equivalent alternative to other important market players.
• We are remaining loyal to the speciality trade.
• Our logistical set-up is being refined such that every speciality trade client can obtain our products effortlessly. To this end, we have created a new logistics system in Germany, for example, with which we can supply every specialist dealer in Germany.
PET in Europe:  A few things have changed regarding the packaging design of the company’s products. What’s the latest situation with regard to this?
Erik Lambrecht: The renewal of our packaging is likewise being undertaken in various stages. We have thus worked through different phases:
1st phase: All our premium products of the “Prestige” brand for birds and rodents have been updated. We are now employing the latest techniques, i.e. reclosable quatro-seal-packages featuring attractive photographs of real animals.
2nd phase: All our standard “Prestige” products for birds and rodents have been updated and now come in stand-up pouches that incorporate “fresh pack” technology. We are using five-colour packaging in this market segment too, with a separate image for each type of animal. The packs also have a window, enabling the quality food to be seen by the customer. In addition to this innovation we are retaining the plastic film packaging, which we are…