Course set for further expansion

"The stores are doing well. We have increased our number of customers again by over 30 per cent this year". André Muller, managing director of Sera France, expresses satisfaction at the company's growth. Since space had gradually become too limited at the existing premises for Sera's various activities, the company decided to extend the existing logistics centre, which supplies to the pet product trade throughout France, to include a further hall. The company's head office now has a large seminar room, which amongst other things hosts the company's ambitious training programme for specialist retailers, and a huge pond layout immediately in front of the building.
The head office of Sera France has been extended considerably.
At the official opening of the new building section, Sera's proprietor Josef Ravnak stressed the company's solidarity with the pet trade. Ravnak continues to rule out definitively any move into the food retailing sector. The Sera boss made it abundantly clear to business associates, employees, and local representatives of politics and industry that this view will not change in the future either. Josef Ravnak expressed his appreciation for the close working relationship with André Muller and presented him with a picture bearing the company emblem as a token of his thanks.
Two generations at a glance: (from right) Josef Ravnak, André Muller, Tatiana Samsa (daughter of Josef Ravnak), Laetitia and Frank Muller (daughter-in-law and son of André Muller).
André Muller imported the first lyophilised food for exotic fish under the Sera brand name from Germany as long ago as 1971. Owing to the high level of interest shown by customers, the passionate fish-keeping enthusiast decided to set up a wholesaling business covering the whole of France. 20 years ago, Josef Ravnak and André Muller then opened Sera France with six employees. Two years later, in February 1994, the rapidly expanding company moved its head office to the Colmar industrial zone and erected a new 1 200 m² building there. Sera France now employs 23 staff. Its logistics centre now has a storage capacity equivalent to over 3.5 km in shelving length. The construction of a production plant at the headquarters in Colmar is also being contemplated for future years.
The company's success is attributable primarily to the Muller family's passion for fish-keeping: André Muller's wife Monique, who has run the L'Exotique specialist aquatics business for 25 years, has been managing the logistics…