An invitation from Royal Canin

Royal Canin opened its doors to teams from specialist pet retailers, including Animed, PetPlanet, PetShop.co.uk, and VioVet, for a two-day pet symposium at the company's headquarters. The guests had exclusive access to the state-of-the-art facilities in Aimargues. They toured the factory and R&D centre and saw first-hand how the Royal Canin diets are created and tested for palatability in the company's kennel and cattery facility.
The complimentary trip also included interactive scientific sessions delivered by experts on a range of topics, including allergens, breed-specific nutrition, health issues, wet feeding and pet food quality and safety.
Following a successful pilot last year, the symposium has been expanded and developed to give more retailers the chance to experience Royal Canin and build their knowledge of nutrition.
May Philpott, sales and marketing director at Royal Canin, summarised the event: "The specialist pet trade is extremely important to Royal Canin and this symposium reflects the value we place on nurturing future growth with our retailer partners. The symposium was a valuable opportunity for us to get to know them better, build stronger long-term relationships and ensure a strong future for the specialist pet trade."

Eugene Breus, head of e-commerce at Animed, said: "It's been an amazing opportunity for the team to be invited and see at first hand all the behind-the-scenes scientific research and development. It only cements our understanding of the brand." Adam Taylor, founder of PetShop.co.uk, said: "I was particularly impressed. Royal Canin has been a key partner in helping PetShop.co.uk grow to be one of the UK's largest online pet shops." Verity Beaton, marketing manager of VioVet, said: "It's so important for VioVet to keep our knowledge and expertise on pet nutrition up to date and the Royal Canin pet symposium is the perfect opportunity."

"The pet symposium provided an opportunity for competing companies to come together to help build a better world for pets. The feedback we have received has been fantastic," said Clare Hemmings, scientific communications manager at Royal Canin, who created the symposium.