Candioli Pharma is a fourth-generation business founded in 1882. What makes Candioli different?

Many speak about putting quality first, but the evidence suggests the companies that truly care about the quality of their products are few and far between. Candioli’s main priority has consistently been to uphold the highest quality when it comes to both products and outstanding people. In the last 25 years, Candioli made a swift shift from human health to the veterinary sector, but the company’s legacy in animal health dates back to 1940 when my grandfather came up with products for his horses. Since then, our portfolio has grown very diverse and with distribution in more than 50 countries.

Candioli recently acquired UK-based Vetark. How has the acquisition complemented Candioli?

Vetark gave us an opportunity to both broaden our product portfolio and become more internationally active. We bought this small company that shared a similar value set to us: Vetark is a family-owned business founded by a veterinarian and his wife. Through this acquisition, we brought the Candioli portfolio into the UK under the Vetark brand and set up our very first international affiliate.

Among Candioli’s best-selling products are nutritional supplements for dogs and cats. Could you share some recent innovations?

Candioli has a large offer of nutritional supplements, manufacturing and selling many products under our own brand, but also partnering with MNCs who outsource their R&D and manufacturing needs to us. As a recent development, we launched a new formulation for our Florentero ACT, used for the reduction of acute intestinal absorptive disorders in dogs and cats. The formulation is unique in the EU because it contains the only live strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus authorized by the European block for companion animals. Candioli was looking for a specific additive within the probiotic sector and we found a partner who produces human probiotics; after putting together the dossier for the zootechnical additive, we managed to get the approval, which gives us and our partners a competitive advantage.

Candioli has a wide international footprint. How important are foreign markets?

We have a large network of distribution agreements with partners in 50 countries for both classical and exotic companion animals. Currently, 25% of our sales are represented by international markets, but we have ample opportunities for growth in the years to come. While in the domestic market we are already market leaders in many product categories, in other countries we have potential to register double-digit growth. The countries where we’ve seen the biggest success are typically outside of Europe; North America, Japan, Korea, and, more recently, Russia are big markets for us. We are currently in the process of becoming one of the few European pharma distributors in China and we expect the registration to be complete by August 2021.

What are Candioli’s main objectives in the next 2-3 years?

Our five-years plan is to double the size of the company, and we are putting down big investments to achieve this. First of all, we are investing heavily in our equipment and production capabilities to be able to produce higher volumes. Besides tapping into new countries, like the huge and high-growing Chinese market, we are also scanning the market for acquisitions in Europe, in order to repeat our Vetark experience and deepen our presence in key countries.

Candioli was named Italy’s best-managed company by Deloitte in 2020. What has earned Candioli this title?

The award came as a big surprise, since it was the first time we participated. However, our team exceeded in Deloitte’s six different areas of evaluation, which go beyond financial figures, to soft skills and overall vision. For many years, Candioli has placed importance on sustainability, but we have not communicated our efforts externally. For 2021, we decided to publish our first ESG report, highlighting Candioli’s involvement to the benefit of the environment and the community. I believe the award is a testimony to the whole team’s excellence over the past few years.