Improved animal hygiene

Located on the South Shore of Montreal/Canada, only two kilometres from the Port of Montreal, are the production and research facilities of the cat litter manufacturer Intersand. Whereas many manufacturers in the pet product industry seek to have a number of lines as far as product development is concerned, Intersand has concentrated on just one product since its inception in 1992: cat litter. "Our goal is to improve and simplify animal hygiene through innovation." This is the company's declared mission, and to back up this claim the company has recently added a new manufacturing facility for the production of speciality pro­ducts to better serve its European clients and to support its ongoing expansion in the US market. Intersand has specialised in the production of clay-based litters and says it has developed the sodium bentonite clumping clay litter market both in Canada and overseas. "We use only a very high-grade clay, pure Wyoming sodium bentonite, that is not available elsewhere in the world," says the company. This should help to penetrate markets internationally.New littersThe most recent entry into the clay litter category is the product Odourlock, a litter with an exclusive patented technology that offers 40-day odour control for both urine and faeces, and one of the lowest dust levels, according to the company. Just recently the company also launched a natural, organic pea-fibre-based cat litter called Ecolife. "This is in response to a growing demand by consumers for a natural alternative to traditional litter but also one that delivers against key consumer needs like odour control and low dust levels," says Intersand. In addition to quality, the Canadian company focuses primarily on innovation. "Our research and development team has enabled us to integrate unique technologies into our cat litter that further enhance its performance." Its extensive research is yielding success and the company, which has more than 70 full-time employees, now exports its products to over 30 countries worldwide. "In terms of future expansion we are looking to penetrate the US market further as well as developing markets with high growth rates such as the Asian market."Some of the highest growth is in emerging markets like Russia, Asia and Latin America, whereas several of the western European countries are more mature with lower but still positive growth rates, according to Intersand.