Pioneers of the pet supplies business

Manuel Ferrer established his wholesale firm in 1987. At the time, his father ran a pet shop in Barcelona, which was only the second specialised shop in the big Catalan city. Manuel Ferrer was a well-established dog breeder and tropical fish importer, and brands such as Savic and Oster featured in the range of his company Iberamigo.Dog breeding brought him into contact with Helmut Grönemeyer, the German importer of IAMS and Eukanuba. Through him, Manuel Ferrer learned about the advantages of premium food and imported both brands into Spain, where they were the first and, for a long time, the only premium food in the country.

Business was brisk from this point onwards. Iams and Eukanuba were the focal point of the company, with up to 100 employees on the road across Spain to extol their virtues. In 2003, Iberamigo took on the general distribution of the Italian brand Ferplast with whom they built a lasting partner relationship. Ferrer also had a silica-gel-based cat litter, Clean Cat, in his portfolio - the first litter of its kind in Spain.

the once successful brands Iams and Eukanuba left their toll on Iberamigo too. The big cut came in 2013 and distribution in Spain ceased. The company had to let nearly all of its employees go and its fate was unfortunately doomed. After years of struggling to keep afloat, in 2016 a privately owned firm, Holapet, came to rescue a drowning company whilst leveraging on the lifetime knowledge and relationships held by Ferrer's second generation; they grew up in the pet business and know it inside out.

Lluc (CEO) and Montse Ferrer (Commercial Director) now lead Holapet, always supported by their mother Concha Aymar. The family has played to its strengths and has once again formed a dynamic wholesale business, with the trust of their long-term partners such as Ferplast. With just 15 employees, eight of whom working in the 4 000 m² warehouse, they are now supplying over 1 200 clients across mainland Spain, the Balearic and Canary Islands. Holapet's focus is to deliver to pet stores; no supermarkets are supplied. The company management is focused on developing long-term business relationships with their clients, just as is the case with their suppliers. They are particularly proud of their success of the 98 per cent delivery quota- a well followed KPI in the wholesale business - which basically entails that a fully laden truck leaves the warehouse every day.