“This year hasn’t been without challenges”

How has business developed at Midwestern Pet Foods in the first eight months of this year?We're pleased with our position. Growth has been widespread across many regions and markets, certainly more widespread than in a typical year. This year hasn't been without its challenges, however. With few exceptions, the global economy continues to struggle, pressuring consumers. This has created opportunities at the lower end of the market and restricted super-premium growth. Paradoxically, despite the weak economy, the market for high-end natural pet food continues to show impressive strength.In which countries have you seen a favourable trend in sales, and in which countries a less favourable trend?We don't publicly single out individual countries. However, growth in Latin America and Australasia continues to strengthen, while markets in eastern and western Europe tend to be a bit stagnant.The introduction of the Earthborn Holistic line was a success not only in the USA, but more and more also in Europe. How has the brand been progressing in the last few months?Earthborn Holistic has enjoyed a successful introduction in many markets and its future looks very promising. However, I disagree that Earthborn Holistic has been successful in Europe to date. Frankly, it hasn't yet lived up to our expectations. We continue to be surprised by the general resistance of the European markets to embrace natural pet food. To qualify that, several markets in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East have surpassed the relative level of influence which the natural pet food market currently has in Europe. Nevertheless, we're seeing positive developments there. We remain convinced that the future of the European natural pet food market is extremely bright.To what do you attribute the good global development of the Earthborn Holistic line?The natural pet food market is growing. At the centre of this market is the continued "humanisation" of pets. Our pets are family members and we want to feed them as such. Product safety is another driving factor of the natural market. Beyond being in the right place at the right time, we're extremely proud of the Earthborn Holistic offering and its quality. Additionally, external endorsements never hurt and we've enjoyed strong reviews from influential rating services such as Whole Dog Journal and Dog Food Advisor.Speciality retailers are complaining more and more that high-quality premium brands are being marketed increasingly at low…