Nestlé Purina Pet Care chose Malta as the location where to hold this year’s annual conference, which saw over 300 delegates visit our island to participate in sessions of team building and work shops. The conference was held at the Excelsior Hotel in Floriana over two full days – starting Wednesday 12th and ending on Friday 14th January –. During this prestigious event Nestlé Purina Pet Care presented its end-of-year results and reviewed the year gone to analyse the best practises and lessons learned in 2010. Moreover, participants were also presented with the plans that will steer the company’s course during 2011, and the reasons behind them.

The Purina Pet Care Conference in Malta was addressed among others by Dr Lucio Scaratti, General Manager, South Central Europe Nestlé Purina, who welcomed the delegates to the conference. The delegates attending comprised Regional Managers, Regional National Key Accountants, Area Heads, Country Agents and Hyper Market Specialists. These were also addressed by Mr Alfred Borg, Marketing Manager of Nestlé Malta, who informed them about the Maltese Islands, the Maltese markets, and Nestlé’s work in our country. Indeed, Nestlé has been in Malta for over a hundred years, during which it has become not only one of the most instantly recognisable brands on the island but also a market leader in all industries where it operates.

Purina Pet Care is one of the most widely known Nestlé brands sold and distributed in Malta by Wembley Stores. It comprises a number of pet care products which are market leaders worldwide. Purina is the corporate strategic and umbrella brand which signs the entire product brands portfolio of the company. It is one of six Nestlé global strategic brands worldwide and in Italy it has one of the highest awareness levels in Europe. In terms of competitive role, Nestlé Purina represents around 15% of Nestlé’s income both in the Italian market and at the European level. A spokesperson for Nestlé Purina Pet Care, organisers of the conference, described Malta as “one of our most challenging markets in this region. Malta is very important for us, and it is for this reason that we chose to hold this year’s Purina Pet Care Conference over here.”