Spaniards with tradition

When Vicente Ferrándiz Sánchez-Beato, commercial director of the Spanish pet food manufacturer Supercanto, is asked about the situation in the Spanish pet supplies market, his response tends to be pessimistic: “The recent trend in the Spanish market is downward or at best stagnant.” According to Sánchez-Beato, this situation is not solely due to people being short of money in times of global recession, but rather to the huge competition in the Spanish pet supplies market and also to the fact that many people don’t want pets now because they don’t have time for them. This view should be heeded all the more because Supercanto has been operating successfully in the Spanish market since 1975. Based in the Catalan capital Barcelona, the company produces and markets various pet food products exclusively for the Spanish market and also manufactures different private label products for companies throughout Europe. The company’s flagship products in Spain include the branded bird food line “Supercanto Restaurador del Canto”. “This range leads the market in Spain and consists of a mixture of high-quality seeds and a vitamin complex that is intended to improve the song of caged birds,” explains Sánchez-Beato, outlining the advantages of the product line. The company’s next biggest line comprises around 50 different treats for dogs, cats and small mammals in a wide variety of flavours such as cheese, salmon, chicken or even chocolate, along with a large selection of chew bones. Sánchez-Beato explains the heavy concentration on the treat segment as follows: “These products have experienced a very strong upward trend in the market in recent months. This may be connected to the fact that the sale of these products promises large profit margins for the trade.” So that its products not only achieve high profit margins but also conform in their composition to the latest guidelines, Supercanto has become affiliated to the Asociación Nacional de Fabricantes de Alimentos para Animales de Compañía (ANFAAC), the association of pet food manufacturers in Spain. As well as representing the economic interests of affiliated manufacturers, the association has stringent regulations relating to the quality of the ingredients used in pet food manufacture. Always looking for new customers The Spanish manufacturer, which employs 15 people in its head office in the Catalan capital, doesn’t intend to rest on its achievements, however. “We attach great importance at our company to constantly…