Natural products for dogs

"Focusing on the pet in its entirety" is the motto under which the French company Biogance has oriented its operations. Based in Angers, a city in north-western France, the company has been producing supplements for dogs, cats and small animals from natural ingredients since 2007. "It was important to us not to restrict ourselves simply to 'copying and pasting' existing human products for pets, but also to develop new supplements," explains Zakaria Faiq, managing director of Biogance. "So pet wellbeing rather than humanisation is the heart of our strategy." To achieve this target, Biogance has decided after three years of growth to build a completely new production facility in Angers. "Upstream of production, however, we have a very large research and development department that keeps a close eye on how the natural ingredients are combined to form a good product." 

This department will come to the fore again in 2016 when Biogance realises its extensive plans for expansion - and it has big plans for next year. "We intend to build a completely new factory in France," explains Zakaria Faiq. The new production facility should not only expand the existing production capacity but will also open up an entirely new line of business for Biogance. "Once the plant is complete, we intend to launch a production line for private label products." The company wants to secure its key customers among others as customers for this line too. "We thus want to make available to them the know-how we have accumulated over the years and help them to produce their own supplements for pets. "We thus want to become a key partner and strategic customer in the speciality channel." Completion of the factory is scheduled for next year, and this new branch of the business is expected to put the profit strategy of the company on a broader footing. 

Biogance can point to a success story spanning nine years already. "We now export our products to over 40 countries, with 50 per cent of the goods going to Europe and 50 per cent to the rest of the world. We are particularly well positioned in Asia," says Zakaria Faiq. However, the Asian market also poses special challenges, as Faiq spells out. "We often have to explain first to our customers there that products…