Pet care business Group55 is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
The private label contract manufacturer, which specialises in pet care, personal care and home care products and also owns the Animology brand, was founded by Stephen Turner in 1999 with just £700, beginning as a purely ecommerce business. Group55’s first successes in the pet industry came from selling ultrasonic bark control devices and pest control products online.
In 2010, the company launched its first pet care brand, Animology, taking inspiration from the human, personal care market
Turner recalled: “Our early success in the pet space made me fall in love in the industry, I knew that I wanted to continue building our business in the space, and I wanted to work on something that enhanced the joy people get from their pets.
“At the time, all the pet shampoos on shelf followed the same pattern and they all looked like each other. We launched our sleek black tubes and bottles with bold colour accents and functional products with fun names, like ‘Stink Bomb’, ‘Dogs Body’ and ‘Puppy Love’ to disrupt the category and attract pet owners in a way that resonated with how they shop for their own beauty products.”
As Animology grew, pet retailers and other pet brands approached Group55 to manage their own pet care ranges and the company began creating private label pet care products, eventually setting up its own manufacturing facility in 2017. Today, Animology is sold in over 50 countries internationally and Group55 manufactures a number of private label pet care brands for clients around the world, as well as personal care and home care brands.
Turner added: “We’ve been on quite a journey over the past 25 years, and it is a privilege to have been working in the pet industry for a large majority of that time, and I’d like to extend my thanks to the many people and retailers in the industry that have been part of our journey so far.
“We have always put the wellbeing of pets at the forefront of what we do and are champions in the space for compliance with regulations, which is why we continue to be the manufacturer of choice for so many pet brands.”
