Tetra celebrates 70 years

Tetra was established in 1951 by Dr rer. nat. ­Ulrich Baensch, a young scientist with a deep interest in keeping tropical fish. Thanks to his enthusiasm, an inspired idea ultimately resulted in the creation of a world-leading company.

In those days it wasn't easy for Dr Baensch to keep tropical fish in his aquariums. He had to catch the food, such as water fleas, himself in streams or lakes. As this entailed a considerable amount of effort, Dr Baensch sought an alternative, less complicated option for feeding his aquarium fish. He wanted to simplify fish keeping not only for himself, but for everyone, however, and by 1952 he had already succeeded in launching the first industrially produced fish food onto the market in paste form. Driven by the motivation to perfect his first product further, he then developed the world-renowned flake food TetraMin in 1955. Its name was derived from the Greek word for four, tetra, corresponding to the number of flakes, and the word ending "min", short for "vitamin". TetraMin was an instant hit with aquarists across the globe; this revolutionary flake food in the yellow tin with a brown lid was to become the world's best-selling fish food. Dr Baensch was not complacent following the success of TetraMin, striving instead to make fish keeping a more species-specific and tangible experience, and above all to make it simpler.

In the years that followed, Tetra developed countless other products for aquariums, such as water conditioning and remedy products for fish, aquarium sets and technical equipment such as filters and heaters. Many of these products were global novelties and likewise became international successes. Tetra's success to date has been driven by a research and development department that is unique in the aquatics sector. A large team of scientists, including biologists and chemists, are responsible for product development and quality management. As well as focusing on the creation of innovative products, the company attaches particular importance to building up a relationship with its customers that is based on trust. This means knowing what its customers want, translating their requirements into new product solutions and always being on hand to dispense expert advice.