Cat-Gato Cat tree growth & innovation

Jul 4, 2005

History

Cat-Gato began with the production of cat trees in Brussels. Since Belgium is a rather small country, the company quickly felt the need to expand its market and product range. They progressively developed sewn products such as baskets and cushions for cats and dogs, wooden products such as rabbit burrows, birdhouses and feeders as well as doghouses.

Today it is the main manufacturer of cat trees in Europe and one of the major producers of sewn products. The company has 250 partners, and delivers its products mainly to most of the European countries but also to the United States, Japan, Korea and Australia. Since the entry of Czech Republic into the EU, the company has begun to develop new relationships with smaller distributors or supermarkets for which the customising was a big break for business.

Customers find advantages in having the option of buying many different items from one supplier. They save on transport costs, delivery time and can manage their supplies more easily.

Path to growth and innovation

The company stays ahead of its competitors by continuously updating and thus keeping its range competitive, anticipating market trends. After the well-known success of the cat design products, the company developed a "Foot" collection of cat trees for the Euro 2004 with round houses and a football-oriented design. Today, the market for cat trees is oriented more toward sophisticated products using new materials and designs. This offers further growth opportunities and a new range of wooden models was introduced at the interzoo exhibition.

With the sewn products, the main focus lies on the design of the fabrics. Freelance designers develop exclusive fabrics that follow international interior trends. The company has also been successful in developing products in fur with many designs such as cats, dogs, pawprints, etc.

Private label and support to customers

Cat-Gato produces only a few articles under its own brand name. "There are not many manufacturers of non-food pet items which have been successful in own-product branding and the successful ones must invest a great deal and these efforts do not always prove to be profitable," according to the managing director, Olivier Janssens. "We prefer to invest in the development of new products and to increase our competitive edge. These are the points that encourage our customers to make their decisions."

As such, the company mainly produces products for private labels. For 2 or 3 years now, distributors are starting to demand more and more marketing efforts for products produced under their own names. The company also supports their customer's strategy by designing models exclusively for them. Today, approximately 30% of the range has been developed exclusively for specific customers. The company's strength lies in this flexibility to be able to adapt to all of its customers' wishes.

For further information: info@cat-gato.com