Pet wholefoods in superpremium quality

It all started with a vision. In the late 1980s, Prof. Michele Pietro Ghezzo, founder of various animal welfare groups and environmental movements opposed to testing on animals, hit on the idea of developing purely vegetarian foods for dogs and cats. 15 years of research was undertaken in collaboration with the universities in Bologna and Padua to develop such a food. The initiative met with success, and in 2002 the company AMÍ s.r.l. was established to market a 100 per cent hypoallergenic vegetable dog and cat food based on the scientific findings from the research. The CEO of the Padua-based company is Emanuele Boccardo. The bold project was greeted with unanimous approval by leading scientists. "Thanks to AMÍ products, we have the option of keeping our pets healthy with no risks and without killing other animals," stressed Gianni Tamino, professor of biology at the University of Padua, a former member of the European Parliament and member of the EU's BSE commission. And Bruno Fedi, professor at La Sapienza University in Rome, made it clear that "the new vegetarian products of AMÍ do not contain harmful salts or prions - responsible for mad cow disease - and have never led to the killing of other animals. I recommend the constant consumption of AMÍ Dog and AMÍ Cat dry food: this is in line with the ethical ideas of people who respect other animals, but also keeps our pets healthy."AMÍ s.r.l. was launched with start-up capital of € 90 000. Its trading activity has been welcomed enthusiastically by several protectionist associations that have invited their members to buy its products for both ethical and health reasons. In October 2003 AMÍ introduced its products into the speciality pet product trade for the first time. AMÍ products, first established for their vegetarian aspect, have then spread at veterinary level for their hypo-allergenic features. To improve its marketing in Italy, the company concluded a corporate agreement with Camon, which distributes pet hygiene and accessory products to the Italian pet product trade. The AMÍ products are the only dog and cat food to be included in Camon's range. In addition to the two pet food lines "AMÍ Dog" and "AMÍ Cat", which fall into the super-premium segment, AMÍ now also markets "AMÍ Bone Omega 3", a vegetarian snack, and a 100 per cent biodegradable, vegetable-based cat litter called "AMÍ Sand". The company emphasizes that all its products conform to strict rules of quality, hypoallergenicity and…