Playing it safe

Cats as test eaters for dog snack manufacturer

Sigrid Populorum and Production Manager Georg Heimbucher (left) lead the 15-strong team at Landkost in Freistadt.(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Landkost GmbH, stock.adobe.com)

Based in Freistadt, Landkost is conquering the pet world with dog snacks and chews. The bosses Sigrid Populorum and Georg Heimbucher, who run the small company in the Greisinger Group, reveal what is important for the products and where they now want to grow.

The development in recent years has been very steep. We want to keep it that way," says Sigrid Populorum. Since February, she and Georg Heimbucher have been running Landkost GmbH in Freistadt, which has made a name for itself as a manufacturer of dog snacks and chews and acts as a producer for various retailers' own brands.

The path seems to be working. Between 2020 and 2023, the company, which is part of the Greisinger Group, doubled its turnover. The company is now increasingly looking for customers abroad: Germany is the most important market, "but we are not limited to Europe," emphasizes Populorum. Mühlviertel products are even being sold in Australia.

Back at the Interzoo trade fair for the first time in years
The company's appearance at the Interzoo trade fair in Nuremberg, where it was back for the first time in many years, paid off: "We gained customers there that we are already supplying - it went extremely quickly."

How does Landkost score? "We make sure that we reduce the odor level of all products as much as possible," says Heimbucher. The development team also relies on feedback from cats. What does that look like? "If cats like our snacks, then dogs will anyway," says Populorum.