The standards of Veterinary Organization are our priority. Barcodes and license numbers have been issued for each item produced. This process also has been applied to small packages to reduce the likelihood of fraud in the future. The transparency that has been undertaken was a futuristic measure.
How did the MP brand name originated and who made it?
Dr. Vali: In two and a half past years, Maral and Pouya Tadbir’s business groups were combined, which made it possible to cover each other’s deficiencies. It was a step toward evolution of each brands. Pouya Tadbir is the only national distributor in the pet industry and licensed from national union of agriculture. But, the other distributor companies do not have a specific brand in their distribution baskets. So, it was about 6 years ago that we considered imports for the Pouya Tadbir Company, but due to the lack of necessary personnel in this area, we couldn’t proceed. In the course of negotiations with Maral Corporation, which is a strong importing company, we took a step in this direction. Despite the positive point of importing, Maral Group had a weakness in distribution segment, which made the merger of the two company a success. By reducing the import ways and constraint in this field, we strengthened the manufacturing sector and now producing made Pramy’s products to achieve a remarkable success.
Please introduce the rest of your associates?
Im Dr. Sahpour Kamali Moghaddam, graduated from Islamic Azad University Of Kazeroon Branch in 1998. Since the very same year, I’ve established a clinic in Shiraz, which is still active. Due to the lack of equipment and animal food in the year 2006, I contacted the Fars Meat Industry and entered the food production business and the food was delivered in volume of 3 tons per month, but due to some difficulties, I was only active in this domain until 2009. Then, in accordance with the needs of this union in the year 2006, I decided to establish the importing company of Pishgaman Maral. I had a close relationship with Dr. Vali since the early days of his career, which led to the partnership. All the current products are being produced with the best raw materials and under the supervision of domestic and foreign nutrition experts. We also hope to expand our brand. We have plans to export our products with the list of ingredients inserted on them in four languages.
Mr. MalekBoushehri, Would you please introduce yourself and tell us about the reasons of your interest to this trade?
I’m Saeed MalekBoushehri, born in 1962 and it has been more than 30 years that I’m active in this business. I was also active in the business of cosmetics and Digital audio and video equipment. But I think the pet business needs a huge investment. I can safely say that I was not interested in animals, but now I have so much affection for them that I bring them with me while traveling.
If you go back, Will you start this business again?
Boushehri: Yes, of course. Each business has its own problem, but I’m fully interested about this one.
Dr. Vali please tell us more about Pramy Brand. How did you enter the production sector and do you just produce food or you are also after producing other products?
When we entered the business in 2005, there was a need for pet food production and we were interested. But there were also some difficulties on our way, including no possibility of competing with foreign products, since the production in Iran were more expensive than the ones imported. Various production were produced several times such as chaff, hay and dried food, but did not have necessary profitability in our company. In the grand businesses, the production and distribution of these products did not make a profit and we had to remove our products from the market. This year, following the rise in the dollar price and in line with the supporting domestic goods, the production has been beneficial for us. In the year 2013, Dr. Kamali concluded a contract with a company in Shiraz, but due to the high expectations about pet industry, it failed and again correspondence was established and this time we decided to set the necessary standards ourselves. Fortunately. We succeeded in registering Pramy brand as the primary brand in cats and dogs food production. Maya Pet will be used for rodents and birds and will be released in market in 4 month. Also, the Marslopet is an equine nutrition brand that will be produce in large-scale.
Please tell us about the number of barcodes you received.
Kamali Moghadam: The barcodes are both national and internationals. We currently have 450 registered items in the barcode system. In the future, shampoos, lotions, eye drops, toothpastes and mouthwashes will be released in the market. Pads production are still in the process and our research continues till we reach the desired result. We are also negotiating with a company in this area. About the production of urine drops, it will be in the market soon with obtaining special permits from the veterinary organization as we asked for their inquiry. When it comes to obtaining a license for pets, the relevant experts that have information about the livestock and poultry are responsive to us.
Kabook Magazine is interested in challenging the brands. The question is, how do you get protein in the current market where meat prices are high and the community has a poor supply of meat? How many percent of the foods are from animal sources? And how many percent are plant-based?
Boushehri: We made connection with the people in this business since 2013. The person concerned is a producer of animal protein and poultry. The poultry protein actually used for human consumption and we do not use any waste at all. We use the parts used by the factories to produce burgers and they are human feed. In the animal protein field, we can safely say that products contain 23 to 29 percent of animal protein and do not use plant-based proteins such as soy. 2 days before the production, the meat is turn into powder and enter the production system. We also use a series of carcasses that are wasted in the slaughterhouse, which is free of disease and is provided with a veterinary stamp and transported by a refrigerator. There are not many raw materials like vitamins and amino acids inside Iran, and we have to import from countries such as South Korea and Spain. In addition, some flavors are imported from France. Also, quality fish powder is used to supply protein.
Why you don’t produce foods for animals such as rabbits or hogs?
Dr. Vali: There is a foreign brand that began to produce food since 1970, which its packages are decorated with rabbit photos. After the inquiry, it became clear that the brand accepted the rabbit as a pet and never used rabbit meat in its production. So, at the bottom of the rabbit's picture, there is this writing on the package that it does not use rabbit meat because of animal protection. We have also tried to follow this trend. We also did not import hogs, because in the face of increasing demand for hog meat, hunters go beyond the normal range, regardless of the standards. We want to avoid not normative hunting to avoid harming the environment. Since livestock breeding is for free export, it will be possible if we can connect with them and provide meat. At the beginning, we wrote to Mr. Boushehri and Kamali as a code of ethics and swore that the products would not result in illegal hunting and damage the environment. It is easy to place slaughter waste in the process of production, add it to the essential oil and flavor and to feed the animals, but after a few years of consuming that, protein deficiency will lead animals to several health problems and weaken them. And as we own pets ourselves, if they are to lose their liver or kidneys at a time, it will not be legal. The food produced should be for the benefit of the animals.
There are certain expectations from Dr. Vali’s group. The question is why is there a lot of difference between the usual packaging of the MP brand in the market and the current ones? It was expected that the packaging that was advertised get released in the market. What is the cause of this change?
Dr. Vali: Composing the current packages took three months. The quality of packaging has been tested several times. Because we did not want to back down the production, the packages developed after the production and it was not anticipated that composing them would be so time-consuming. So, 16 products out of 19 will be released with the final packaging on February 13 and the rest will be delivered after the completion of the production process. What we found in the production of domestic pet food is that each period of production varies from one another and the formula cause diarrhea in animals. So, we are trying to improve our formula.
How do you evaluate the standards of your products? Is it close to quality of foreign food?
Dr. Vali: Yes, we can compete with foreign brands. The standards of Veterinary Organization are our priority. Barcodes and license numbers have been issued for each item produced. This process also has been applied to small packages to reduce the likelihood of fraud in the future. The transparency that has been undertaken was a futuristic measure. For example, compounds are provided to the barcode organization and any change in them is not acceptable to the Ministry of Guidance. So, if there is a different in the contents and what is inscripted on the package, it will lead to fines and discretion.
What is your production capacity per hour?
Kamali Moghadam: It's necessary to talk about hardware first. A machine used to produce food is an extruder along with its accessories. It has the ability to produce 6 tons of food per hour, depending on market demand. In the field of competition, we also want to challenge manufacturers. The current market is large and the taste of the consumers has made this market bigger.
Will you accept other brands to produce for them?
Kamali Moghadam: No.
Many producers have never thought about exports. Do you consider exporting? And what's your prediction for the next few years?
Dr. Vali: since the day first that we started this business with our partners, we base our work on exports. We made connections with countries like Oman, Emirates, Slovenia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia. Due to the drop in the price of Iranian Rial and the increase of the price of dollar, we can export at a reasonable price for ourselves and a very cheap price for the countries of destination. In this regard, these countries have called for standards that need to be reviewed. We now have a 50 tons order from Iraq.
Why the pet food companies didn’t produce the pencil like complimentary food? Has Pramy Brand thought of this issue?
Dr. Vali: Pet industry is growing as an academic trade. There is also a lot of negative advertising against our work. When a dog in Lavasan has bitten a little girl in the park, we have also agreed that it was a tragic accident, but it generalized to all the dogs. For example, in comparison, it has been several years that many people got killed in the road by the cars that were domestic productions, but their factories that made them does not close. Our business is a field that requires time, but people in this business are worried about the future and investing in this domain. So there is not much hope for the future of this market. The machinery that produce pencil like complimentary foods, can produce 17 different models of them at the same time and the base is meat and poultry, so we need factories to supply these materials, but since the fear of investing in this area, this product has been neglected. We hope that in 6 month from now, we can release the complimentary foods to the market.
Do you have any surprises for the customers who visits your booth at the exhibition?
Dr. Vali: Yes, of course. First of all, we will have 1, 3 and 10kg packages for dogs in the next month and we will release packages of 500g, 2kg and 10kg for cats.
Why there is not any sample packages?
Kamali Moghadam: One of the biggest problems in the packaging unit of the factories is the packing sector, since the packages are filled in 10, 20 and 30kg, and these packages require a special device that can fill 50 grams without the human touch. It is now problematic for all manufacturing companies. Our manufacturer has promised us to add this unit. As the Pouya Tadbir and Maral Company have operated as two commercial and professional groups, the company now wants to push itself towards pet food production, so all deficiencies in the market today will be resolved. In the packing section, we also plan to print and pack the packaging at the site of the factory.
What challenges do you face producing cat food?
Dr. Vali: There are two separate sections for cat food production. Dogs are looking to fill the abdomen, but the cats are looking to enjoy the food. There is no food in the world that all the cats eat. Our cat food has now gained satisfaction from more than 70 percent of consumers, which was costly to reach this point.
Do you have any channel for receiving your customers’ reviews?
Dr. Vali: Yes, the ptdvet.com website has been active since last month and is a window to connect with manufacturers, consumers, importers and exporters. Local colleagues, such as clinics and pet shops, can log in with their personal profile on this site and easily see Excel on their mobile phone and the factors they see with the app. The voice of the customer is another important part of this website that offers public criticism.
Do you have anything to say to Kabook readers?
Dr. Vali: Thanks to the Kabook Magazine for introducing Pramy brand. The Kabook Magazine has made a good progress in the short time and is a high level and professional magazine. I would like to ask the readers to visit our website and use our products. In case of criticism, visit Dr. Vali's veterinary pharmacy in person and transfer it directly. I ask the veterinary organization to take steps and exclude this field from current fears, although if anyone is fearful for entering the field, it would be in my favor, and it will lead to more profit for me, but in the long run we will retreat from the global markets. So, investors are now required to enter this market in order to gain more healthy market competition.