Royal Canin is a French manufacturer of cat and dog food. A subsidiary of

Mars, Incorporated Mars, Incorporated is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services, with US$40 billion in annual sales in 2021. Mars was ranked as the fourth-largest pri ...

, the company also undertakes research into the formulation and testing of breed and symptom specific nutritional requirements of dogs and cats. The company was established by French

veterinary surgeon Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/urogenital/ ...

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. After importing an extruder from the United States, 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 2001.

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 Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;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 The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for ...

associations; television advertising was used to promote the product, something which was not being undertaken by competitors. Historical photo of Jean Cathary pictured left in 1967

Historical photo of Jean Cathary pictured left in 1967

Production steadily increased and in 1970, the company was incorporated as "Royal Canin S. A."; a larger factory was opened in

Aimargues Aimargues () is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. The town of Aimargues may have Roman origins and is situated beside the river Vidourle on the floodplain of the Rhône. Traditionally it has been an agricultural and wine-produ ...

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. 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. 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. 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 franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

. The additional revenue raised provided the funding to buy Crown Pet Foods in 1999 and the James Wellbeloved brand in 2000. The bank sold its holding in the company to

in July 2001 for in excess of one and a half billion

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s. The majority of this payment, almost ninety–three percent, was for "goodwill". The

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

only agreed to the takeover by Mars if Royal Canin disposed of some assets to Agrolimen, a Spanish company. Royal Canin was removed from the stock exchange listing after the take over by Mars. In March 2004, Royal Canin acquired the US and Canadian veterinary-grade food brands IVD, Medi–Cal and Techni–Cal from Del Monte Foods for $82.5 million. The company was one of the many brands affected by the 2007 pet food recalls. As at 30 April 2012, the FDA had reported no subsequent Class I, II, or III recalls by Royal Canin. By 2008, as much as eighty percent of Royal Canin's one and a half billion euro revenue was generated from sales outside France. The number of staff employed worldwide was around four thousand five hundred.

Research

Royal Canin bases the production of its feeds on scientific research and set up its first research centre in St-Nolff in 1973; a subsequent research centre was established in Missouri in the late 1980s, and a research facility was also opened in Brazil. Products are tested on a "

focus group A focus group is a group interview involving a small number of demographically similar people or participants who have other common traits/experiences. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are ...

" of 80 cats and 250 dogs. Daniel Cloche was one of the scientists who first worked at the company's French research facility and was described as "one of the pioneers in researching bone–related disorders and diseases among dogs". Research indicated bone problems in large dogs could be dietary, so different recipes were developed to specifically address this. In 1980, Royal Canin brought out a new feed called AGR, especially for puppies categorised as large breeds. At that time, the company also turned its attention towards producing cat foods to suit specific dietary requirements. Henri Lagarde was chairman of the company during the 1990s, and drove the implementation three core policies. Firstly, the physiology and biology of pets should be studied to increase the company's knowledge base. Secondly, all products had to address specific needs; this was further endorsed by the Research and Development section having mandatory instructions that "no veterinarian or university should be able to refute any of Royal Canin's nutritional arguments". Finally, animals and their nutritional requirements were to be treated with "knowledge and respect" rather than being humanised. The company theme became "knowledge and respect".

Veterinary and peer-reviewed journals

With the help of academics, the company also produces

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

s about dog and cat breeds, which have been translated into fifteen languages. There are also books on breeding, nutrition and publications aimed at breeders and veterinary surgeons. Royal Canin also published the scientific quarterly titled ''FOCUS'' which was circulated to in excess of seventy thousand veterinarians worldwide in eleven different languages. ''FOCUS'' is now called ''Veterinary Focus'' magazine. This is in addition to the one thousand four hundred fifty veterinary literatures produced for the

Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition The Waltham Petcare Science Institute is the science hub for Mars Petcare, owned by Mars, Incorporated located at Waltham on the Wolds, Leicestershire, United Kingdom. Waltham conducts scientific research into pet care and animal nutrition (for ...

Recruitment of specialists and sponsorships

In 1994, Lagarde was determined the company should be seen as dealing with "specialists". He insisted that the word "traditional" must never be used and the word was removed from every document and company computer file being replaced by "specialist" instead. There are teams of trained veterinary technicians to help and advise breeders and other professionals. The company coined a new description for its teams of trained sales staff as "cynotechnicians", who were already well established and passionate about the canine world; some were show judges or had gained an international reputation for their breeding skills. The company also sponsors and participates in thousands of cat and dog shows each year. The company withdrew from sponsoring the UK Contest of Champions event in 2009 but was quoted as stating it was increasing its sponsorship of dog shows. In 2013,

Four Paws Four Paws (stylized FOUR PAWS) is a global animal welfare organisation based in Vienna, Austria. The organisation is focusing on gradually improving the living conditions of animals under direct human influence, by revealing suffering, rescuing ...

, an international animal welfare group, accused Royal Canin of sponsoring events that included illegal

bear-baiting Bear-baiting is a blood sport in which a chained bear and one or more dogs are forced to fight one another. It may also involve pitting a bear against another animal. History Europe Great Britain Bear-baiting was very popular from the 12th ...

in Ukraine. The company confirmed the allegations and promised to take action to put an end to its sponsorship of such events. Subsequently, the company made a commitment to support the rescue of bears used and began negotiations with the group to determine a detailed project plan.

Factories

Royal Canin's head office is in

, southern France. There are twelve production facilities worldwide, in addition to Aimargues including at

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the ...

in northern France;

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

; Descalvado, Brazil; and González Catán, near

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Argentina. The plant located in

Rolla, Missouri Rolla () is a city in, and the county seat of, Phelps County, Missouri, United States. The population in the 2020 United States Census was 19,943. Rolla is located approximately midway between St. Louis and Springfield along I-44. The Rolla ...

, produces only dry pet feeds. Royal Canin was fined for "violating the Clean Water Act" in 2005 at this site. In 2004, production facilities at

Dmitrov Dmitrov ( rus, Дмитров, p=ˈdmʲitrəf) is a town and the administrative center of Dmitrovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to the north of Moscow on the Yakhroma River and the Moscow Canal. Population: History Dmitrov ...

, near

Moscow, Russia Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million r ...

, opened. Royal Canin committed twelve million euros in the construction of the factory and anticipated annual production of twenty–two thousand tons a year. The Polish government announced construction was to start in February 2006 on a fifty million euro factory in Niepołomice, Poland, which would provide employment for in excess of one hundred fifty staff. At the time of the announcement, it was described as "the ninth and most modern of all of those which belong to the company"; this was because of the laboratory that was to be included in the design. The company's first UK facility, at

Castle Cary Castle Cary () is a market town and civil parish in south Somerset, England, north west of Wincanton and south of Shepton Mallet, at the foot of Lodge Hill and on the River Cary, a tributary of the Parrett. History The word Cary derives fr ...

, near

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

, opened in December 2007, two years later than expected. Annual production was expected to be two thousand tons, employing eighty staff. Although objections were raised by some local residents, others welcomed the facility. The

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and en ...

received complaints of an "unbearable smell" after production started. The company installed carbon filters and a new condenser at a cost of a million pounds in attempts to address the problem. In 2008, the company invested seventy–three million dollars in the construction of a factory at

Guelph, Ontario Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

, Canada. A factory at

North Sioux City, South Dakota North Sioux City is a city in Union County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 3,042 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Sioux City, IA- NE-SD Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The southern tip of this land between the Mi ...

, USA, was originally purchased by Mars in 2007 and worked under the Mars Petcare brand. This was then re-branded to Royal Canin in 2011, where it manufactures both wet and dry pet food. Royal Canin's twelfth production facility was fully built at the end of 2009 and is located in

Shanghai, China Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. 2016 saw the addition of

Fremont, Nebraska Fremont is a city and county seat of Dodge County in the eastern portion of the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. The population was 27,141 at the 2020 census. Fremont is the home of Midland University. History From the 1830 ...

and in 2017

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropoli ...

. A new plant has been opened in 2017 in South Korea in Gimje, North Jeolla Province.

Notes

References

Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Cat food brands Dog food brands Mars brands Companies formerly listed on the Paris Bourse French companies established in 1968 French brands