A family affair

Around 100 representatives from 26 partner firms in 24 countries accepted the invitation to the sixth event of this kind, thereby setting a record for the number of participants. Partners from Belarus attended for the first time. Trixie Germany was represented by the entire management team, comprising Bonnik Hansen, Volker Haak and Dirk Jessen along with export manager Boy Tadsen and other staff members. Boy Tadsen opened the event with an address in which he said that exports were becoming increasingly important for Trixie. At present, growth in the export market was substantially outstripping growth in the company’s traditional domestic market of Germany. At the end of this year, almost half of all the company’s sales would be generated by the export markets. The start of direct marketing in France in June 2009, with a team of six field sales staff, had also gone successfully. “We see a lot of potential yet in the French market,” said Boy Tadsen. A first-rate host Trixie has worked with the Czech wholesaler Jiri Trnka for around 20 years. He organised the “Come Together” in Prague with his import manager Hana Podborska and introduced his company Askino, which he established in 1998 and which has since grown into one of the foremost wholesale companies in the Czech Republic. Its brand portfolio includes Animonda, Flexi and Trixie as well as the Italian firms Monge and Marchioro, Harrison of Canada and Nederma from the Netherlands. Askino supplies around 600 pet stores in the Czech Republic from its three warehouses in Prague, Brno and Ostrava and has five field sales staff to look after its customers. A new warehouse was recently acquired to the east of Prague to replace the one that was badly damaged in the floods in 2002. The company also owns five pet stores trading under the name Pet-Star. A visit from Alicante Trixie España is a relatively recent addition to Trixie’s group of export partners. Javier Peral’s company was created in July 2008 and delivers to approximately 3 000 customers all over Spain. In his talk he said that Trixie had now become the biggest accessories brand in Spain. Other brands in his range included Quiko (Germany) and I-Marc (USA). 14 employees travel the length and breadth of the Spanish mainland, while a further 20 work in the head office and warehouse. Marketing manager Juan Ángel Esparza held the audience’s interest with an insight into the comprehensive PR strategy in the form of newspaper reports, advertising campaigns…