Plotting a healthy growth curve

In Lünen, close to Dortmund, Fresco Dog Foods GmbH produces natural dog food, BARF products and treats using regionally sourced, fresh ingredients. "Our concept is based on selling our products directly to the consumer," Reiner Hauf told PET worldwide editor Philipp Gardemin. "The combination of our online shop - launched in October 2017 - with bricks and mortar stores has proved perfect, as customers can pick up their daily needs there as well as getting to know about new products."The company now operates four of its own stores. The outlets in Hagen and Hattingen were acquisitions of existing BARF shops; a third store opened in Nordkirchen in September 2017, while the fourth in Moers was added in January 2018. "Plans are already in place for other stores to follow in the course of the year," Hauf added. 

A common feature of all the stores is that they offer the entire range manufactured by Fresco on a retail area of roughly 100 m², along with relevant accessories. Reiner Hauf and his team appreciate the direct contact and exchange of information with consumers in store, as this forms an important complement to the customer service on social networks, by e-mail and over the phone.
In addition to direct selling and its own stores, Fresco also supplies other retailers. To this end the company has set up a B2B shop and delivers to clients from its own central warehouse located in Lünen.

Top sellers in the range are the so-called dry barfing products. "This underlines the desire of consumers who want to feed their dogs healthily on the one hand, but want to fulfil this wish with the minimum of effort and without departing from their daily routine," says Reiner Hauf. The Complete Plus menus are available in beef, chicken, horse and lamb varieties. In contrast to many industrial products currently on sale, these products are neither extruded nor cold-pressed, but are instead air- and freeze-dried. The range is rounded off by a host of other products, including treats along with mineral, vitamin and oil supplements.