Supplier of pet treats in Europe, Scholtus and Global Pet Products (GPP) an investment firm active in the pet industry, recently announced that GPP have made an investment in Scholtus and Jan Smulders, one of the owners of GPP, has now joined Scholtus to further strengthen its management team.
Since 2007 Scholtus has more than doubled its revenues through autonomous growth. In addition to this Scholtus accelerated its growth via the 2011 acquisition of Proline Petfood, a leading supplier of natural snacks and treats. Proline Petfood was rapidly integrated into the Scholtus operations and has grown its revenues by more than 30% in the last year.
Scholtus and GPP will now join forces, significantly strengthening the business and facilitating the next stage expansion of the firm by stepping up the pace for new product introductions, and accelerating the expansion in new markets and distribution channels.
The investment in Smulders has enabled director Eddy Nijhof to fully focus on business development, marketing and sales. Smulders has held various senior management positions in the animal nutrition industry over the past 25 years and has been responsible for the development of animal nutrition businesses in major markets globally.
“Jan has been involved as an advisor to Scholtus over the past four years and we share the same passion for continuous improvement of our products, services and organisation. Earlier this year I became convinced that with his expertise in animal nutrition and international expansion we can accelerate the growth of the last five years”, says Eddy Nijhof who remains a key shareholder in Scholtus.