Tatrapet-With a branded and private label programme

Tatrapet began as a small retail shop in 1988. Once Czechoslovakia became part of Western Europe, a demand arose on the part of the independent pet shops to buy western products. However, at that time, pet products were too expensive for the locals. For this very reason, Tatrapet began its own production of food in the early 1990s, primarily for birds and small animals. Soon thereafter it appeared that this was the right decision, and a short time after that, it automated its mixing process for seeds as well as its packaging process.

In addition to this, Tatra's location has a 300-year tradition in the leather treatment and manufacturing industry. Tatrapet expanded its business to include the automated production of its own leather products, which expanded later to also include nylon products.

Today, Tatrapet is one of the leading pet trade and manufacturing companies in the Slovakian market.

Because Tatrapet has his own production facility with 10 staff members, added to the fact that it acts as a distributor, the company is able to provide its clients with a full range of pet products. In total, Tatrapet's range comprises over 2000 products. These products cover every pet segment from aquarium products to small animal products, including, of course, a full range of dog and cat products.

By the mid-1990s, the well-known hyper- and supermarkets began building their outlets in Slovakia as well. Tatrapet discovered their need for Private Label products, and began developing a pet private label programme. In 1996 they supplied the first supermarkets with this programme. Today it supplies pet product ranges to companies such as Carrefour, Tesco, Bila, Delvita, Baumax, etc.

Their success in this private label approach is demonstrated by their relationship with Tesco for more than 8 years.

In spite of these advances, Tatrapet will never forget the independent pet shops which they still supply.

Two years ago, they started Tatrapet CZ in the Czech market. At present, they are already successful in cooperations with companies such as : Carrefour, Makro and Hornbach. It would appear that the experience Tatrapet gained in the Solvakian market has been applied quite successfully so far.

The reason behind these long and reliable relationships is that they are offering a concept in service.

Part of this service concept does of course involve the packaging of the private label products. This means that Tatrapet is in charge of the entire packaging process from design, printing and finally the physical packaging of the products. If necessary, Tatrapet makes use of external expertise as well. For products to be shipped abroad, the artwork is first sent to the country involved to print the packaging locally.

In addition to the packaging, the company also handles all aspects of the product presentation. Upon request, it can offer the range in special displays, adding new products to them on a regular basis, etc.

Just as with many other countries at the moment, the Slovakian and Czech market are also experiencing growth in pet private label products as well. Tatrapet is discovering that at this stage the market position of private label in the dog and cat food segment is experiencing rapid growth. Lately, however, other trends have surfaced indicating that private label in the other pet segments is growing as well such as cat litter, bird food, dog snacks, etc.

Selling to Super/hypermarkets does mean that Tatrapet will have to react as quickly a possible to the demand in the market. This means continual innovation; quality is also very important in this respect which was the primary motivation behind obtaining the ISO 9001:2000 certification.

Tatrapet's ambitions do not stop at the borders of these countries; the company also has strong ambitions for further growth, and at the moment, they are preparing to open an additional branch in Poland.

For further information:

www.tatrapet.sk

PETS International Magazine ISSUE 4-2004