"Precesion is born from observation"

"Health nutrition is a territory with unlimited scientific and exceptional economic potential," says Alain Guillemin, the president of Royal Canin, enthusiastically. The dynamic development of the French pet food manufacturer proves that he has a point: in a few short years Royal Canin has become a leading company in the pet food sector, with anticipated sales of € 1 055 mio this year, 85 per cent of which derives from operations outside France, and seven production plants. And another three factories are likely to come on-stream in the next year in the UK, Canada and Poland. The fact that 85 per cent of its overall sales comes from products that have only been on the market for two years or less demonstrates just how innovative the company is. Virtually no other pet food manufacturer invests as much in research and development as Royal Canin. In recent years the company has brought out over 3 000 publications establishing the scientific principles for the Health Nutrition concept."Let your food be your first medicine," is the adage attributed to Hippocrates around 400 BC, and Royal Canin has applied the knowledge of the Greek physician to pet nutrition. An animal must be fed in the manner that its constitution, lifestyle and environment demand, is the short, simple yet coherent message of the company. When Royal Canin brought the "Size" range for dogs out on the market, the size and life stage of the dog had already been taken into consideration in its development. The Health Nutrition concept is now based on four parameters: age, activity level, physiological state and size/breed.With its motto "Knowledge and Respect" Royal Canin has embarked on a mission to concentrate all its resources exclusively on constantly improving its knowledge of the brand's only real clients, dogs and cats. At an international conference at the company's headquarters in Aimargues at the start of June, scientists from the company explained how the Health Nutrition concept is implemented logically with reference to examples, and presented current trends in dog care.Franck Haymann, editor-in-chief of the Internet magazine Aniwa.com, sees the dog world as fully in motion. At the moment pure breeds account for less than 10 per cent of the global dog population, he stated. In den USA, the number of pedigree dogs is estimated at approx. 13 mio out of a total of around 58 mio. In France, 1.5 mio are purebred out of a total of 8.5 mio dogs, while in the UK there are 2.5 mio pedigree…