Amid a rising demand for its products, Polish pet food producer Dogs Plate has moved its production activities to a new facility in Poznań, on the west side of the country.
Monika Sankowska, the production manager at Dogs Plate, told Petfoodindustry.com that the customers’ increasing “interest in our products has forced us to significantly ramp up production, so this is why we have changed our address.” The company moved production activities into its new, larger production facility earlier this year.
Last year, Dogs Plate introduced a number of new products to its portfolio. These included: dog food marketed under the Protein + series which features products including insect-sourced protein combined with rabbit, duck or turkey meat; renal- and hypoallergic-specialized dog food with lamb and goat meat; as well as specialized cat food with lamb, venison and rabbit meat, among others.
“We are increasing our production capacities this year which is why we have moved to a new production facility,” said Sankowska. “This production hike is related to our entire offer.”
Asked about the company’s further development plans, Sankowska said Dogs Plate is “constantly considering to export [its products], but for now, we must cover the demand of our domestic market.”
“We hope that, next year, we will be able to present ourselves in the European markets,” Sankowska added.
UK pet food producer invests to expand capacities
UK pet food maker Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN) is investing around £31 million (US$39.1 million) to implement new technologies that will to upgrade the company’s manufacturing capacities and potential product portfolio.
Based in North Yorkshire, IPN has injected more than £6 million (US$7.5 million) into the firm’s wet food factory to more than double its production capability. In addition to this, the UK business has also allocated close to £25 million (US$31.6 million) to its plant in Thirsk, in the country’s north, to raise the factory’s technical capacities, product portfolio and use of fresh ingredients, local news site thebusinessdesk.com reported.
“This valuable investment represents IPN’s core values in providing accessible, affordable nutrition,” said Anthony Stones, the pet food company’s chief operating officer.
The company posts around £200 million (US$251 million) in sales per year, and aims to exceed £500 million (US$628.5 million) worth of annual sales within the next five years.
“We’ve been developing our recipes and portfolio of brands for a century now and are constantly looking for ways to improve our offering for pet parents,” Stones said. “By investing in our technical capabilities and upstreaming our supply chain, we have better control over the quality of our recipes and greater traceability of our ingredients.”
The COO said that, at the same time, IPN is expanding the ranks of its technical team, and will launch a new laboratory. Some of the UK company’s pet food brands include Wagg and Harringtons.
New company brings raw dog food to Indian market
Indian start-up The Pet Journey is making efforts to promote raw dog food in its domestic market, introducing many local customers to the concept of raw feeding, said Sagar Badakere, the company's founder.
Badakere told local news agency Asian News International that his professional experience of more than eight years in the pet food industry brought his attention to canine health and what he describes as the numerous benefits of raw-feeding dogs.
The majority of pet owners “consider feeding their dogs a highly processed kibble diet or table scraps. The Pet Journey wants people to understand that dogs have evolved from wolves and raw food is their natural/ancestral diet,” he said.
