Pet industry experts who are sharing their view on the today’s pet industry

Luciano Ponza, Commercial Director, Ferplast (Italy)

Luciano has a long track record in international sales. In 1997 he joined Ferplast (Italy), as Commercial Director. 

For over 50 years Ferplast has been the leading international company in pet accessories in the most broader sense. They are operating with 3 production plants in Europe and 10 branches spread over the world.

Karolina Capova, Head of Product Development, Vafo Group (Czech Republic)

Karolina has 20 years of experience in the international pet industry, from within the Vafo Group. 

Her career developed over the years within the company. Today she is responsible for the product development and R&D.

In 25 years, Vafo group developed into the leading European premium pet food producer. They produce under their own label and private label, which include dry & wet food, snacks and supplements.

To stay close to their clients they are operating with 4 branches spread over Europe.

Matthieu Haurit, CEO Zolux Group (France)

Matthieu joined the Zolux Group in 1999, as international sales manager, In 2010 he became the CEO of the group. 

For over 80 years the Zolux Group is specialised in creating pet speciality brands. Their mission is guided by 4 fundamental values: respect, honesty, sustainable development and protection of animal welfare. They have 9 distribution platforms across Europe, which serve over 55 countries. 

Bill Sherk, CEO MiracleCorp Products (USA)

He started his career in the investment banking. In 1999 he joined Miracle Corp as CEO. 

For over 32 years they are a major producer of own labels and private labels. With these brands they are covering a wide variety from food to snacks, and from care to collars and leashes. They ship all over the world to a wide variety of customers and distribution channels. 

Marlou Mulders, Marketing & Sales Director, Prins Petfood (The Netherlands)

With her passion for pets Marlou is already working 10 years for Prins Petfoods as Director Sales & Marketing. 

For over 50 years Prins Petfoods is producing 100% natural dog and cat food. They strive to guide the consumer during every phase of the animal’s life in optimising the welfare of the pet through their natural products, advice and inspiration. To accomplish this ambition they have a pet experience center and a lot of education and training facilities.

Monica Ferrigno, owner of the design studio Ildoppiosegno (Italy)

Monica is industrial designer by profession. After she worked for several design teams she decided to start her own design studio in 2008.

She founded the Ildoppiosegno Design Studio in Milan together with Carlo Dameno. The name Ildoppiosegno  is literally meaning: “double sign”. It underlines their activities namely: to do research towards trends, materials and technologies as well as production and concept design. 

Since 2011, many of their clients belonging to the pet market. The knowledge they gathered over the years about the behaviour of pets and their owners led to publishing a book in 2018. This book gives insight in physical and attitude aspects of the pet and the owner. It also shows how materials and design can be fine-tuned into pretty and easy to use products.

Moderated by

Corine van Winden, CEO of PETS International (The Netherlands)

Corine started her career in the finance industry. In 2002 she joined PETS International of which she became the owner in 2012.

For over 30 years PETS International is the leading global B2B marketing communication platform in the pet industry with an attractive mix of offline and online marketing communication tools. Their network consists of a large and singular high-quality customer base.