"The market is showing healthy development"

Download: "The market is showing healthy development" (pdf file)Pet in Europe: How has the European market for pet care and health products developed at Beaphar this year?Daan Aa:The European market for pet health care products is still developing excellently. In 2006 Beaphar saw a further increase in the turnover of especially veterinary medicines of 12 per cent. The major reason for this was a greater focus on the lines in the company itself and the changing regulation in Europe. The earlier competition with natural products is slowly disappearing from the market with the arrival of the Biocide Directive in the European Union. This trend will continue, leading to a much clearer choice for the consumer in the end. Beaphar focused strongly last year on small animal, bird and reptile medicines. The introduction of our new line of reptile medicines has been very successful, and the response from the market is also positive. We look continuously for products that solve the major health problems of any pet animal type. We are also seeing that this part of the market shows healthy development and attracts extra interest from retailers, since it is this part of the market that makes any retailer a specialist.Pet in Europe: Do you see any differences between individual European countries for your company in particular?Daan Aa:Of course there are still large differences between the European countries. Any law needs to be changed into local laws within a few years, but the speed at which this happens is different per country. The mentioned Biocide Directive for instance is a European law, but the interpretation and timing differs according to country. When looking at product lines we see the usual differences per country depending on the companies that are active locally. If we look at the market as a whole, the differences between the countries are minimal. Only the brands are different, but the products offered are usually the same. There are of course always niche products that sell very well in one country and almost nothing in another. Usually this depends on cultural differences. We try to focus as much as possible on the cultural differences in each country and adapt our products to the local market.Pet in Europe: Which product segment is Beaphar concentrating on this year?Daan Aa:For 2007 Beaphar will focus on its new line of reptile products and also on sales of our new line of premium small animal food "Care +". We have always used a strategy of replacing…