Page 15 - PET worldwide issue 1/2021

Pet stores were permitted to stay
open, but had to implement a
variety of hygiene measures.

substantially greater challenges pet retailer Fressnapf indicates
than merely an uninterrupted that its growth significantly
supply chain. exceeded forecasts and the
growth of the previous year, with
Relevance to the sys- double-digit sales. Although the
tem a key factor retail group got off to a slower
The coronavirus reared its ugly start due to the pandemic, it had
head worldwide. To get a grip opened seven new stores in Ger-
on the pandemic, store closures many by the end of September.
were ordered. Pets get hungry, In Europe, Fressnapf opened as
however, and following days of many as 28 new stores.
uncertainty, it became clear that By the end of the year, it was
pet stores could remain open vir- crystal clear that online shops
tually everywhere. were seeing double-digit growth The appointments
In the USA, Petco was pro- rates in some cases. Zooplus merry-go-round in 2020
moting its so-called kerbside increased its sales in the first
pick-up by stressing that this nine months of the year by 18 Michel Picandet was appointed executive vice-president and head
service “helps to protect health per cent, for example, and by the of Tomra Food. He joined the company on 1 January.
and safety of all clients while end was assuming turnover of Peter Oswald, previously CEO of the packaging manufacturer
Mondi, stepped down from this position and from the adminis-
minimising social exposure up to 2.14 bn euros for 2020 as
by ordering online and getting a whole. trative board of Mondi on 31 March.
your items hand-delivered to Simon Dunne was appointed market director for the Irish division
your car”. The Plaček Group in Dynamic player activity of Royal Canin UK & Ireland.
the Czech Republic, Slovakia To judge by acquisitions and sell- Dr Matthias Bauer took over as head of the customer experience
and other Eastern European offs, it could almost be believed business unit at the Fressnapf Group on 1 May, thus joining the
group’s management team.
countries confirmed along that developments on the manu-
with Tom & Co. in Belgium and facturing front were entirely unaf- Dr Johannes Steegmann became part of the management of the
France that click & collect had fected by the pandemic. United Fressnapf Group on 1 August, when he formed the new management
been developed into a key tool Petfood kicked off the spree on 10 team of Fressnapf Holding SE jointly with Dr Hans-Jörg Gidlewitz.
for supplying its clients with January 2020 when the interna- Brian Sharoff, president of the Private Label Manufacturers As-
sociation (PLMA) since 1981, passed away on 23 May following
pet products. In Italy, consum- tional dog and cat food producer
a short illness.
ers wanted to know more than acquired Italian company Effeffe
ever where to get the cheapest Petfood. On 27 January, the ac- Florian Welz, chief commercial officer (CCO) of Zooplus AG, left
pet products, as discovered by quisition of Cardinal Laboratories the company on 13 July “at his own request and by amicable mu-
the Italian edition of the price was completed by Whitebridge Pet tual consent,” according to the online retailer.
comparison portal Idealo. One Brands, a maker of natural and Jan Soumar joined Trouw Nutrition’s Pet Team Europe as pet re-
gional business development manager for western and central
of the UK’s biggest online pet minimally processed pet foods,
eastern Europe.
supplies retailers, Petshop. treats and supplements. On 1
co.uk, tripled its staff to cope April Purina acquired UK natural Jakub Majer was appointed to the position of CEO at Vafo Praha. He
with growing demand from pet pet food maker Lily’s Kitchen. Two previously worked at the Czech pet food company as head of sales.
owners across the UK during weeks later, United Petfood ac- Annet Palamba, general manager of Hill’s Benelux, succeeded
the coronavirus pandemic. quired the Iams Netherlands pet Mechthild Exner-Herforth from Mars Petcare Europe as president
of the European pet food industry association FEDIAF.
A large number of bricks- food facility. On 6 May, United Pet-
and-mortar pet retailers can food entered the fray again when Ikdeep Singh was appointed as regional president of Mars Pet
look back with satisfaction on it signed a letter of intent for the Nutrition North America. He joined the company on 31 August
how coronavirus year 2020 acquisition of Jonker Petfood in and replaced Mark Johnson.
panned out. Europe’s leading the Netherlands. Martin H. Nesbitt was appointed to the Chewy board of directors.

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