Article published in the Pet News Leaders Forum, Written by Thomas Oakley-Newell

New products, a major rebrand, and international expansion, has given Linda Goldspink-Lord, founder of Poseidon Animal Health plenty to do over the past year.

It has been a busy year for Poseidon Animal Health and its Founder Linda Goldspink-Lord. The company rebranded in order to better represent its growing range of products that now cover both equine and canine health, and with the hope to continue that expansion into other species.

“We’re operating in an increasingly competitive market, and we’re responding with new products and launches to ensure we are giving our customers the best possible gut health supplements for their animals,” explains Goldspink-Lord.

The launch of Poseidon Animal Health’s canine supplement Digestive K9 was a major highlight for the company and Goldspink-Lord.

“It was inspired by the success of our equine range of products for horses. As owners of dogs and horses ourselves, we were keen to also help our dogs to also enjoy the gift of true health with great gut health foundations.”

“The gut truly is the foundation for everything - when you get the gut right, you build good foundations for overall health.” – Linda Goldspink-Lord, Founder, Poseidon Animal Health

Following on from that, there are also plans to release more products in both the canine and equine range including functional treats such as dog dental chews with gut-friendly ingredients, and the company recently released a new equine product for horses in the racing industry.

This rapid business growth, while certainly positive, comes with its own challenges.

“We’ve had to grow our team, scale our market research, respond to growing demand, and expand our customer service channels. We’ve focused on working closely with retailers and providing point of sale training to their staff, so that they have a good awareness and understanding of our products.”

As there is still plenty of work to be done around increasing the awareness and understanding of animal gut health among Australian horse and dog owners, Goldspink-Lord says this provides the opportunity for Poseidon Animal Health to be part of the education and, underpinned by scientific research, empower dog and horse owners on how best to take care of their animal’s gut health.

“This includes helping people understand the new ingredients coming to market – for example talking about postbiotics and why they’re beneficial. Our Digestive K9 already has postbiotics in it, so we’re ahead of the curve on this locally in Australia. It’s something we’re seeing a lot in overseas products, and it’s backed by international research as an important element for gut health.”

Looking overseas, Goldspink-Lord says Poseidon Animal Health is focused on expanding internationally including growing its export market in Asia and preparing to launch its products in the US.

“We will be exploring options around production onshore in new markets and working with locally based experts to help us educate new markets and audiences.”

At the same time, Goldspink-Lord recognises the importance of its Australian retailers, and how important the point-of-sale team is in delivering great experiences to customers.

“We’re excited to offer more opportunities for teams to have training in understanding our products and giving them opportunities to learn and provide exceptional customer service at that critical point of sale.”

Poseidon Animal Health will continue to bring out more innovative, evidence-based products to support the gut health of animals.

“The gut truly is the foundation for everything – when you get the gut right, you build good foundations for overall health. It’s an essential health building block and is about helping our animals to thrive and live their best lives.”