Ln March 8, Sophie Wincker had a privileged exchange with Gabriel Attal. There was talk of the nutrition of the Prime Minister's dog (Volta). The young woman, co-founder and general director of the company Ultra Premium Direct, invited to the Hôtel Matignon like a hundred other entrepreneurs as part of International Women's Rights Day, was playing here on velvet.
Her company, created in Agen with her husband Matthieu and whose credo is the manufacture and sale of quality food for dogs and cats, has once again joined the ranking of champions of…
Ln March 8, Sophie Wincker had a privileged exchange with Gabriel Attal. There was talk of the nutrition of the Prime Minister's dog (Volta). The young woman, co-founder and general director of the company Ultra Premium Direct, invited to the Hôtel Matignon like a hundred other entrepreneurs as part of International Women's Rights Day, was playing here on velvet.
Her company, created in Agen with her husband Matthieu and whose credo is the manufacture and sale of quality food for dogs and cats, once again this year included the ranking of growth champions produced by the newspaper “Les Échos” . And this for the fourth consecutive year. It could also still feature, as has been the case since 2021, in the promotion of French Tech Next 40/120, a support program dedicated to the 120 most successful French startups. A performance for a company which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year and whose double-digit annual growth (+45% in 2023 with a turnover of 55 million euros) traces the trajectory of a success story.
The story began when Matthieu Wincker had to order grain-free kibble in the United States for his dog suffering from digestive disorders.
Archives Thierr-David Vidal/SO
“At the start, there were five of us,” says Matthieu Wincker, president of Ultra Premium Direct. The company currently has 180 employees (including around twenty in Bordeaux) and aims to recruit 70 people in 2024 through the extension of its production site at the Agropole Agenaise from June (5,000 additional square meters, or 13,000 square meters in total) for an investment of 6 million euros. Former executive at Danone, then commercial director at Vico and France Prune before taking a shareholding in Cadum, Matthieu Wincker had entrepreneurial desires. “The sale of the latter to L'Oréal allowed me to have the necessary means to embark on this adventure. » Having fallen in love with Lot-et-Garonne, with his family during his stay at France Prune, Matthieu Wincker decided to settle there and to germinate, in this fertile land, an idea he had a few years previously.
Little or no cereal
“With us, dogs and cats are members of the family,” explains this native of Hérault. A few years ago, our dog suffered from digestive problems. I did a lot of research and had to order grain-free kibble in the United States, a country in which this trend called “grainfree” has strongly developed. I was surprised by the lack of offer in Europe. I kept that in the back of my mind and when we launched, we developed a range of premium products of the same type. »
Ultra Premium Direct is one of the leading French players in petfood, food for dogs and cats.
Pixabay
Ultra Premium Direct, one of the leading French players in petfood, animal food, has thus developed, according to its own design, a range of healthy and premium kibbles for dogs and cats, with little or no cereals (the benefit of which is nutritive would be negligible), in particular by offering a coating based on salmon oil rich in omega-6, the benefits of which for the benefit of the animal are multiple.
Furthermore, the Wincker couple breaks the codes of the sector by offering a direct sales offer. In short, a short circuit. “The basic principle is to do without resellers to sell quality products at the right price,” confirms Matthieu Wincker. Internet sales with a subscription-based offer become the credo of Ultra Premium Direct. Marketing means to build an image and a network (800 breeders today fly the flag of the Agen brand) are being used. And it works. Today, the company, which develops around forty references (kibbles, wet food, snacks and treats, hygiene and health products), has 250,000 customers including 110,000 subscribers.
Objective 100 stores
“The objective is to double this volume by 2028.” Today, four engineers work to produce the brand's products. “Our customers are people concerned about the health of their animals. They consider them as elements of the family unit. The first thing they look at before buying a food product is its composition, the second is the price. “. The growth of Ultra Premium Direct has not gone unnoticed in the economic community.
Matthieu Wincker, president of Ultra Premium Direct, is targeting 100 million turnover by 2025.
ArcHives Thierry David/SO
In 2018, a first investment fund, Otium, acquired a stake, then Eurazeo became a majority shareholder in 2021. Enough to give the company the means to achieve its ambitions and to establish a network of stores in France. “We are aiming for 100 stores within five years. » Ultra Premium Direct today has eight stores in Agen, Pau, Montauban, Toulouse, Caen, Rennes, Collégien, in Seine-et-Marne, and Bordeaux-Mérignac and has scheduled ten openings in 2024. Ultra Premium is targeting 100 million of turnover in 2025.
