Focus on independent pet supplies retailers

In spite of the difficult financial situation in some European countries, the family firm based in Südlohn, Westphalia, has succeeded in increasing its sales by 8 per cent in the pet food segment in the first eight months of this year. “In Scandinavia in particular, and also in the Benelux countries and France, we have been able to strengthen our market position significantly,” explains managing director Dr Jürgen Wigger. Exports account for 46 per cent of Bewital’s overall sales, and the company currently supplies 48 countries outside its home market of Germany. It has gained a strong footing especially in southern Europe. Bewital’s export strategy envisages working with one distributor in each destination country and maintaining a close relationship based on trust. This distributor looks after the local customers in the retail trade. With the exception of Spain, where speciality retailers are supplied from a wholesale warehouse in Madrid, the company’s distributors receive their goods from the company’s headquarters in Südlohn. The warehouses used previously in Italy (close to Parma) and in France (near Paris) were closed recently. Jürgen Wigger states that Bewital focuses its attention chiefly on independent retailers, because these guarantee competent advice to their customers. The company offers a comprehensive package of support measures to strengthen its distribution partners in the market. This package comprises advertising aids of all kinds as well as in-depth training locally. To protect customers, Bewital distributes its products to chains only on a very limited scale. It only works with online shops if they are operated by existing speciality retail businesses. Focus on super-premium The pet food manufacturer offers its customers a manageable, clearly organised range in all price segments. The focus is on the super-premium segment, however, which is covered by the brands “Belcando” for dogs and “Leonardo” for cats. In countries where pet food products are marketed by veterinary surgeons, the special food brand “aniVital” is also recording growth. All products are manufactured by Bewital in its own plant at the firm’s headquarters. The foods are geared to the natural diet of the pet and contain a particularly high proportion of animal proteins (up to 90 per cent of the total protein). Bewital emphasises that nearly all of the raw materials used are of German origin. As a medium-sized producer, the company prefers to work with smaller suppliers…