Vafo has ambitious expansion plans

For his efforts in developing this extraordinary company, which has retained its identity as a family firm despite the rapid pace of growth, CEO Pavel Bouška, son of the company's founder Frantisek Bouška, received the PET Personality of the Year Award at last year's International Pet Conference in Budapest.The company, which employs almost 400 people, is now one of the leading pet food manufacturers in Europe. It has ambitious expansion plans for the next few years; after focusing on growth into Asia in recent years, the Vafo Group aims to extend its reach to Latin America and South Africa in the future. It also considers the USA an interesting future market. Another of the company's objectives is to strengthen the group's synergy effects between Vafo and the two firms Allco Heimtierbedarf in Germany and Prima Pet Premium in Finland, which were acquired in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The Vafo Group is able to turn out a complete range of pet food products for dogs and cats, featuring dry and wet food, treats, supplements and raw food products.
There is also a wide variety of specific formula options such as grain-free, natural, bio-based, monoprotein, novel and niche ingredients and low-grain concepts. The company also produces a wide range of products for small animals.
This diversity makes Vafo an interesting producer of private labels for international retail groups. In fact, the company's private-label business now accounts for 25 per cent of its overall turnover. As a result, it exhibited at the PLMA's "World of Private Label" trade show in Amsterdam for the first time this year. Vafo Praha regards the organic field, in which it has achieved certification, as having particular potential.

Vafo Praha's main brand Brit celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. To this end it has built a new plant, the seventh of the company group with the biggest capacity so far, in the south of the Czech Republic. Here it will use thermal-twin technology, which is as yet only in limited use in the pet product industry, to turn the fresh meat into croquettes. The results can be seen for themselves: palatability and digestibility are significantly higher than for the previous food, the protein content is ten per cent higher and 30 per cent fewer vitamins are lost due to the gentle production process. A new treat factory will open up in 2020 in Estonia.