Aller Petfood | Russia
The company that catalysed the Russian pet industry When Danish company Aller Petfood decided to expand into Russia, they went on to turn the pet food market upside down. PETS International arranged an interview with CEO Henriette Bylling to hear about then and now.
Family business
99 years ago, the Bylling family bought the ancient Aller mill on the Danish mainland, where they started to produce food under the name Aller. After multiple expansions into different niches, the company started to produce pet food in 1979.
Challenges: past and present
Fifteen years ago, Aller Petfood entered the Russian pet market with a mission: to introduce the concept of private labels. As this was something completely new, the process required much effort. But both pet parents and pets gradually got used to consuming private label products. Aller had a monopoly for a while, although Henriette Bylling realised that things would change. So she kept raising the bar and preparing her team for future competitors. It was only after approximately ten years that the competitive situation changed, but Aller continued to have the largest market share.
Not only did competition change over time. The challenges facing the company in Russia have changed as well.
When Aller started there, it had difficulty sourcing quality raw materials and training suppliers to high standards. The challenge now involves coping with substantial and continual changes to government regulations.
Product partnership
Aller aims to be more than just a product. That is why it supports its customers throughout the development process and beyond. It can adapt its service level to customers’ needs by ensuring constant availability and on-time delivery. It will even go as far as sharing its knowledge, whether it is pet food expertise or market intelligence. Henriette Bylling sees the way forward in b-to-b as partnerships rather than the traditionally hierarchical buyer-supplier relationships.
When Aller meets Amazon?
Henriette Bylling says that online shopping is still small in Russia, so the impact of Amazon, Yandex, Ozon and Wildberry is not yet apparent. The company’s intelligent thinking combined with a century-old business instinct has enabled them to become and, for now, remain the Russian private label market leader.