An Italian success story

In the 1950s, when Rinaldo Franco was established, the pet sector was still small and insignificant. The company was founded in 1956 in Milan by Rinaldo Franco and his capital partner Victor Bali, who was working in the tools field. Rinaldo Franco started travelling far and wide in Italy as sole sales agent to let shops know about the company's products. And a brand new group of customers began to emerge almost from nothing: the pet sector was effectively yet to be created. It was during these early years that Rinaldo Franco met someone who would prove very important both for his professional and his personal life: his wife Lina.As pet shop keepers began to show confidence in the new company and to ask for its products, Rinaldo Franco began to invest in imports by paying visits to specialised trade exhibitions worldwide in order to find innovative items. Meanwhile, the sales force grew in number. In the mid-sixties Rinaldo Franco increased in size and moved to new premises. Sales continued to grow, and more and more exclusive foreign products and brands were acquired. In 1977, Claudio Franco, one of Rinaldo Franco's sons, entered the company, bringing with him a wave of innovation and enthusiasm. He helped change the manual accounting system to a computerised system. In the same period the "Best Friend" and "Record" lines were launched, and both were also distributed to the large-scale retail trade. In the nineties Rinaldo Franco's other son, Dan Rinaldo, decided to join the company too. Now the Franco family owned 100 per cent of the company, and the external partner was paid off. The "Best Friend" brand continued to expand to include more products, and a dedicated sales force was used to market it. The line now included aquatic products as well as products for birds and rodents. And the company moved once again to another, bigger, office.Nowadays the company distributes 55 per cent of its production to retailers and 45 per cent to the large-scale retail trade. 60 per cent of the assortment comprises non-food products for dogs and cats, 25 per cent products for fish and turtles, and 15 per cent products for birds and rodents.Looking back, the Franco family believes that the development of its company provides confirmation of the principle that you can achieve success if you believe in yourself. "The company strongly believed - and still does - in fair trading, seriousness, integrity, a good customer service and careful cultivation of its image. And it…