Vadigran | Belgium

When Vadigran was founded in 1955, it specialised in grain mixtures for birds and small animals. Today, the company sells 6,000 pet products in 40 countries. The third generation is at the helm – PETS International interviewed Samuel Van Lathem, the new CEO.

Introducing the new generation

When the family business’ sales manager left in 2016, Samuel’s mother asked him whether he was interested in the position. Samuel joined the company with a recently acquired MSc in Applied Economic Sciences. Later, he became its CCO and has now been appointed CEO.

Yana, Samuel’s sister, studied Sinology at the KU university in Leuven and lived in China for a year. Back in Belgium, she took a MSc in Applied Economics and started her career as a purchaser for the Colruyt Group. In 2015, she joined Vadigran as a raw materials buyer. Today, Yana is CHO, responsible for human resources.

Ambitions and challenges

When the second generation took over the company in 1993, they shifted the focus towards the distribution of products for most pets. Now, private labels are on the rise as the consolidation of retailers continues. The future market will be dominated by private labels and strong consumer brands.

“To deal with this consolidation, we have to move the company from ‘reactive generalist’ into ‘focused specialist’,” Samuel says. This will involve backwards integration: for production and product design. “We are gradually turning our production company into a private label specialist for pet food. The distribution entity will become a product innovator, focusing on strong consumer brands.”

This change is also a challenge. “How do we focus on one thing without neglecting 90% of our annual income?” Samuel adds. “To solve this, we plan to split the company into smaller specialists, each with a different focus and strategy. It will be a big organisational challenge in terms of infrastructure and culture.”

Staying connected with pet parents

“A pet parent is responsible for all aspects of their pet’s life – from food to exercise,” Samuel says. “Many companies already focus on what is good for the pet and the pet parents, forgetting about their responsibility for the environment. Although some products are labelled ‘eco-friendly’, a lot of this is just ‘green washing’ without thinking through product design. We want to add sustainability to the pet parents’ responsibility.”

 

Future milestones

• 2020 New leaders, new strategy. Turning a generalist into several specialists with one mission: ‘Creating a more sustainable pet lifestyle’.
• 2021 Launch of new sustainability brands. No new products that do not meet sustainability requirements. Field force expanded to Germany and the Netherlands.
• 2025 70% of turnover is ecologically-based. European market leader in sustainable pet products.
• 2030 100% of turnover is ecologically-based. World market leader in sustainable pet products.