Royal Canin is a French manufacturer and global supplier of cat and dog food. The company is a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated. It undertakes research into the specific nutritional needs of dogs and cats.
The company was established by French veterinary surgeon Jean Cathary, after he successfully treated a number of skin and coat conditions in pets by feeding them a cereal-based diet he prepared in his garage. He realized that nutrition was an important part of pets' health. After importing an extruder from the United States, a process used in this industry for the first time in 1956, the company was the first to manufacture dry pet food in France. Aimed primarily at breeders, production steadily increased and distribution extended further into the European market. Royal Canin was sold to the Guyomarc'h Group in 1972, and underwent a further period of expansion, especially in the area of research and development, before being purchased by the Paribas Bank in 1990. The company was floated on the French stock exchange but removed later after it was sold to Mars, Incorporated in 2002.
History
Early history
The company was established by the French veterinary surgeon Jean Cathary in 1968. He had a veterinary practice in a village in the Gard region of France and was concerned many people's pets were being presented with a variety of health problems, especially skin and coat conditions. Convinced the cause was dietary, Cathary devised a cereal–based recipe, which he prepared in an oven in his garage.
The diet successfully alleviated the problems pets were presented with, so in 1968, Cathary registered the food with the trademark “Royal Canin”. He closed his veterinary practice to concentrate on manufacturing and distributing the feed. An extruder was imported from the U.S. and Royal Canin became the first manufacturer of dry pet food in France and the first European company to use an extruder. The target market was primarily breeders and German Shepherd associations; television advertising was used to promote the product.
Production steadily increased and in 1970, the company was incorporated as "Royal Canin S. A."; a larger factory was opened in Aimargues and began distribution throughout Europe. Forty staff were employed in the annual production of five–thousand five hundred tons of feed. A subsidiary, Royal Canin Iberica, was established in Spain. In March 1972, Cathary sold the company to the Guyomarc'h Group, a much larger, family-run animal feed business founded by Jean Guyomarc’h in 1954, which specialised in livestock feed.
In 1972, Royal Canin was sold to the Guyomarc'h Group. The new ownership allowed the company to further undergo a period of expansion, especially in the area of research and development. A second factory was inaugurated in 1975 in Cambrai, France.
The period under the ownership of Guyomarc'h saw a marked expansion of the company, particularly in the area of research and development. A dedicated research centre was opened in Saint-Nolff, Brittany, during 1973. Over the ten years up to 1982 additional subsidiaries were also set up in other European countries. These included Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Germany and Denmark. Another factory was built in northern France to service sales in the countries of the north of Europe. From 1982 onwards, Royal Canin diversified its portfolio to products such as canned food and bird seed and saw its production quadruple to 200,000 tons in 10 years.
The Guyomarc'h group of companies was purchased by the Paribas Bank in 1990. Royal Canin recorded a loss in 1993; the following year the Guyomarc'h group was divided into four separate businesses, one of which remained as Royal Canin. In 1994, a new CEO was appointed and focused on 3 pillars: dry food, health through nutrition and dog-handling expertise. The bank wished to sell Royal Canin but its chairman managed to persuade it to list it on the Paris stock exchange instead, which took place in 1997. Forty–three percent of the company was floated on the stock market and it raised the company's valuation to four and half billion francs. The additional revenue raised provided the funding to buy Crown Pet Foods in 1999 and the James Wellbeloved brand in 2000.
In 1999, Guyomarc'h site was recognized and Royal Canin's activities became autonomous from the other activities of Guyomarc'h site.