"The years of easy growth are behind us"

All of the major pet industry reports show continued growth and nearly all of the national retailers report year-on-year same-store sales growth. So yes, another good year. However, it appears that growth is slowing, certainly in some categories, and I would rather classify 2015 as a year of continued growth and change. On the positive side I believe it was a good year as the industry continues to provide higher levels of nutrition, new designs in hard goods and true innovations in pet treats. On the positive or negative side, depending on your point of view, is the continued growth in e-commerce. This is in line with other consumer product industries and offers enhanced value to the pet owner, value being a fundamental platform for continued growth, especially as disposable income falls. I think that the years of easy growth are behind us and not ahead of us.

Overall we are satisfied. Hagen is trying to evolve from its historical speciality-oriented sales mix to an offering that cuts across our historical speciality offering and onto dog and cat - both hard goods and consumables. And we are trying to do this as organically as possible. The satisfaction comes from making major strides forward with some key launches in 2015. For sure, this is slower and more difficult than putting the Hagen brand and logo on all our offerings and leaving it at that. We had to take some difficult decisions as well, and get out of some businesses that were no longer profitable for the company. That is also a longer term benefit but a good thing as well.

There were more than a few! Most importantly 2015 represented our 60th year of business operation and to get this far and remain a privately owned family business is something we are very proud of. We were absolutely thrilled with the introduction of Vesper, our line of premium cat furniture and how well it has been received, especially in the US market. We also launched a new Canadian-made pet food in Canada, called Nutrience Sub Zero, an innovative and high-quality addition to our pet food brand. We will launch Sub Zero in the European market in 2016, look for it at Interzoo. We also have taken a hard look at our overall SKU count, brand offer, inventory positions and operating platforms. I am most proud of our German management team as they produce positive…