Page 70 - PET worldwide issue 02/2022

Suppliers

Company founder Mark Zimmer-
mann (pictured with his dog Kylie)
is responsible within the company
for product design, among other
things.

Hotspot for innovation

The Swiss firm Curli, a specialist in high-quality dog harnesses,
has probably been one of the more remarkable discoveries
in the international pet sector in recent years. The company
has now gained recognition with the PET worldwide Product of

the Year Award for 2021/2022.

Curli AG is the brainchild of two Curli is Roland Primus, whose to control a dog. Curli only aims
real outdoor market experts, main focus is strategy and the to offer harnesses, therefore, that
both with a background in win- processes required to implement combine excellent quality with in-
ter sports. They came up with it. The inspiration for creating the novative features and ergonomic
the idea of applying their exten- company, however, is reported to design on the basis of extensive
sive knowledge of functional al- have come from Mark Zimmer- field studies carried out with
pine sports gear to harnesses mann’s dog Kylie. dogs of every shape and size.
for dogs. One of the two is com- A dynamic company oper- The company emphasises that
pany founder Mark Zimmer- ated according to lean princi- all of its products are subjected
mann. He established the firm in ples, Curli is based in Cham in to a stringent in-house research
2010 and is responsible among the canton of Zug. It employs just and development process based
Roland Primus focuses mainly on
the strategy and the processes other things for product design. eight staff and knows that any- on the latest veterinary findings.
required to implement this. The second driving force behind one engaged in mountain pur- Each new design is tested by the
suits or walking has to be able company’s own panel, which in-
to rely 100 per cent on the gear cludes a number of dogs. This
they take with them. “It is this re- helps to ensure the perfect fit for
liance that sets Curli products any breed. “We work very hard to
apart from the others,” is the find the correct sizes, as this is
company’s confident assertion. critically important,” explains Fe-
lix Freiinger, marketing and sales
Designed in Switzerland coordinator at Curli. “A well-fitting
For the Swiss dog accessory spe- harness is not only more comfort-
cialist, a well-made harness is able for the dog, because it slips
the safest and most friendly way and chafes less, but it also helps

70 PET worldwide 2|2022

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