Sales prospects in eastern Europe

1  How do you assess the situation for exporting to the Czech Republic from your company's viewpoint?
2  What importance does your company attach to exporting to the Czech Republic?
3  What is your opinion of the pet product market generally in the Czech Republic?  Is it growing, stagnating or in decline?
4  What is the competition situation like in the Czech pet supplies market?
1  We consider the climate for exports to the Czech Republic to be stable and have even found that the trend towards exports is growing slightly.2  For Hagen, the Czech market is extremely important. This is also due in particular to the very strong presence of Placˇek in the retail trade in the Czech Republic.3  I believe that the pet supplies market will generally grow there in the future.4  As in all eastern markets, the competition situation in the Czech Republic is very strong. It is very useful for us, however, that we are working exclusively with a strong partner like Placˇek in the Czech Republic.
Klaus Reimüller, Export Manager, Hagen Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG

1  The pet supplies market in the Czech Republic seems to be quite tough at the moment and business is not great there.2 It is not a very big market for us, but we do believe there is a lot of potential to grow and improve our business in the Czech Republic.3  For us the pet care market in the Czech Republic has declined in the past two years.4  From my point of view, there is a lot of competition in the Czech Republic and the Czech market is fairly price-sensitive.
John Henshilwood, Europe General Manager, Rogz

 

1  Ferplast has always considered the eastern European countries a strategic market for its business development. The Czech Republic is the most important and developed of these countries. This is one of the reasons that led us ten years ago to open a production unit in neighbouring Slovakia.2  In recent years the Czech pet market has developed extensively, not only in the main towns but also in the smaller ones around the country. We have seen growth both in term of volume but mainly in terms of organisation. We work with some important pet chains, which have established a good quality standard in the…