Customer experience
Customer Story: Vet-Concept
Customer Story: Vet-Concept
Solid process control: zero failures in more than 10 years
Tailor-made dog and cat food
Vet-Concept develops dog and cat food that is carefully adapted to the animal’s health issues, age, activity level, and breed. The company started in 1998 as a trading organization and has been producing in its own factory in Föhren, Germany since 2014. This gives Vet-Concept full control of the entire chain: from recipe development and production to distribution. Veterinarians recommend the products to their clients, who then order directly from Vet-Concept. When in-house production began, Dinnissen supplied a hammer mill and a vacuum coater. In 2017, a second line was added with the same machines, and in 2026, the third line will follow, once again equipped with a new hammer mill and vacuum coater.
Reliability as a decisive factor
For the first production line, Vet-Concept compared several suppliers. Ultimately, the choice fell on Dinnissen, because Dinnissen machines had proven to be suitable for processing raw materials with a high fat content, such as animal proteins. These are among the biggest challenges in the pet food industry. The proven reliability in handling them made the difference. Stefan Spiegel, master miller and head of production at Vet-Concept: “There have never been any issues with screen deck blockages, and the hammers last an average of 500 hours. We’ve now been working together for more than 10 years, which is a long time for a mill. Many tons have gone through our mills, and they still deliver the same consistent quality as in the beginning.”
The vacuum coater at Vet-Concept.
"Many tons have gone through our mills, and they still deliver the same consistent quality as in the beginning."
Stefan Spiegel, master miller and head of production at Vet-Concept
The hammer mill at Vet-Concept.
Growth without loss of quality
About 10 years ago, Vet-Concept produced around 8,000 tons per year. That volume has since more than doubled to over 20,000 tons. Despite this growth, output quality has remained constant. Complaints about dry food are consistently below one percent, exceptionally low in the industry. Hammer mills and vacuum coaters continue to deliver high-quality, homogeneous output every time. Stefan is also impressed with the software: “The process control is total unheimlich gut. It has never failed in any way over all these years. With other systems, you often see the PLC freeze or run into software issues. That has never happened with our Dinnissen machines in the past 10 years.”
Service that prevents downtime
For Stefan, the most important factor in the machinery sector is not only the machines themselves, but especially the support. He recalls an incident from the early years: “When we only had one hammer mill, a beater plate broke inside the machine. Since it was our only mill, production came to a complete halt. Within two days Dinnissen delivered a new rotor and everything was running again. That’s the kind of service you need.”In addition to rapid support in case of malfunctions, annual maintenance also secures continuity. Internal technicians handle daily maintenance, but the external perspective of Dinnissen engineers adds extra assurance. Small deviations are detected and corrected before they can become problems.
"We will never consider another vacuum coater than Dinnissen’s."
Stefan Spiegel, master miller and head of production at Vet-Concept
Ready for the future with new technology
The third production line, scheduled to start up in 2026, will feature a vacuum coater built to the highest hygiene standards. At the same time, Vet-Concept is exploring the option of upgrading its existing coaters with new rinsing techniques. This will make the production process easier to clean and more flexible. Stefan concludes: “We will never consider another vacuum coater than Dinnissen’s. It’s incredible how consistently and reliably they perform. The points I used to mention, such as the complicated handling of older hammer mills, have now been solved. In the latest mills the screens are removed automatically. You can clearly see that Dinnissen continues to develop.”
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