We are Riverwood
Johnson Petfoods is the company behind Riverwood. The company was founded in 2010 by John Sars, a true animal lover.
Before founding his own company, John worked for many years as an international sales manager in the pet industry. Although this work gave him an extensive international network, he continued to dream of starting his own company, through which he could import the best foods he encountered along the way to the Netherlands.
By the way, the name Johnson stands for John and Son. Meanwhile, Jeroen, John's son, is also a co-owner of the company.
The beginning
In 2009, John decided to take the plunge into entrepreneurship, and on December 31 of that year, the company was officially founded.
From a bedroom converted into an office, the adventure began with the import of the first dog food brand. Although he did not yet have a single customer, he bought his first truckload of dog food (and that is quite a lot) and got to work. John visited pet stores throughout the Netherlands and steadily built a nationwide dealer network. After the first hundred stores had become customers, Gerty joined the company as its first sales representative.
Grow, grow and grow some more
The company continued to grow, and the network of points of sale kept expanding. More sales representatives joined, along with an internal sales team and a marketing department, and we moved to a spacious office building on Saffierborch in Rosmalen. Two more pet food brands were added, allowing even more dogs and cats to benefit from healthy nutrition. But despite all the excellent products, the stores—and pet owners—continued asking for even better recipes and even higher-quality food for their dogs and cats.
At international trade fairs, our team visited every stand selling pet food, but we couldn’t find the quality our customers were asking for. With the motto, “Then we’ll just develop it ourselves,” the idea for our own brand, Riverwood, was born on Sunday, June 1, 2014—the final day of the Interzoo trade fair—on the terrace of the Schindlerhof Hotel in Nuremberg, Germany.
The development of Riverwood
The development of Riverwood involved a comprehensive process. “We carefully examined products already on the market to see what we could potentially do better or differently. We also listened closely to the needs and interests of consumers and nutrition experts,” says John. “We carefully weighed, tested, and discussed all the top ingredients from high-quality dog and cat foods.”
Ultimately, we used only the very best that nature has to offer in Riverwood. The result? High meat percentages, no grains or gluten, but plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, along with a rich blend of powerful herbs. With these recipes, we can bring dogs and cats as close to nature as possible, with healthy and, above all, delicious food.
Bricks & Clicks
When Riverwood was launched in September 2016, the products were available exclusively from quality specialist pet stores. This was a deliberate choice, as these stores offer a broader range of services and expert advice. Following rapid (and substantial) growth, an online brand store became essential to meet the growing (international) demand for our products.
Our retail partners and distributors are supplied from our own warehouse in Hedel, where trucks come and go throughout the day. The photo alongside gives a nice impression of our warehouse.
FD Gazelle Award (11x)
The FD Gazelle Award is a prestigious prize from Het Financieele Dagblad for fast-growing companies. In 2024, we were delighted to receive this wonderful award for the tenth time, and we are incredibly proud of that. But we are even prouder of our amazing team, because without them we would not have been able to achieve these awards.
International expansion
The fact that Riverwood is now known internationally shows that our vision and approach work. “Our products are now also available in countries such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, and Finland, which we are very proud of. However, we are far from finished and hope to make more and more pets and their owners happy worldwide!”
You can find us at all the major international trade fairs, sometimes as visitors, but often also as exhibitors. Next to this text, you can see a photo of our first stand at Interzoo in Nuremberg, Germany (2018 edition).
Donations to good causes
Johnson Petfoods cares deeply about animal welfare. That’s why we regularly donate food (for example, food damaged during transport) to good causes. These include pet food banks, animal shelters and rescue centers. This way, we waste nothing and help owners (and animals) who, for whatever reason, are temporarily having a harder time.