About us

We are Riverwood

Johnson Petfoods is the name of the company behind Riverwood. The company was founded in 2010 by John Sars, an animal lover through and through.

Before John started his own company, he worked for many years as an international sales manager in the pet industry. Although this work gave him a large international network, he continued to dream of starting his own company so that 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, as Jeroen (John's son) is now also co-owner of the company.

The beginning

In 2009, John decided to take the plunge into entrepreneurship, and on 31 December of that year, the company was officially established.

From a bedroom converted into an office, the adventure began with the import of the first brand of dog food. Although he did not yet have any customers, he purchased his first truckload of dog food (which is quite a lot) and set to work. John visited pet shops throughout the Netherlands and steadily built up a nationwide dealer network. After the first hundred shops had become customers, Gerty was hired as the first sales representative.

Grow, grow and grow some more

The company continued to grow and the network of sales outlets expanded. More sales representatives were hired, an office staff was added, as well as a marketing department, and we moved to a spacious office building on Saffierborch in Rosmalen. Two more brands of pet food were added so that even more dogs and cats could benefit from healthy nutrition. But despite all the great products, shops (and pet owners) continued to ask for even better recipes and even better nutrition for their dogs and cats.

At international trade fairs, our team visited all the stands selling pet food, but we couldn't find the quality our customers were asking for. Under the motto: ‘Then we'll develop it ourselves,’ on Sunday 1 June 2014 (the last day of the InterZoo trade fair), on the terrace of the Schindlerhof hotel in Nuremberg, Germany, the idea for our own brand, Riverwood, was born.

The development of Riverwood

The development of Riverwood involved a whole process. ‘We took a close look at products that were already on the market to see what we could do better or differently. We also listened carefully to the needs and interests of consumers and nutritionists,’ says John. ‘We weighed, tested and discussed all the top ingredients from good dog and cat foods.’

In the end, we only used the very best of nature in Riverwood. The result? High meat percentages, no grains or gluten, but fresh fruit and vegetables and 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, tasty food.

Bricks & Clicks

When Riverwood was launched in September 2016, its products were only available at high-end pet shops. This was a conscious choice, as these shops offer a wider range of services and expert advice. After rapid (and significant) growth, an online brand store was needed to meet the increasing (international) demand for our products.

Our retail partners and distributors are supplied from our own warehouse in Hedel, where trucks come and go. The video on the right gives a nice impression of our warehouse.

FD Gazelle Award (10x)

The FD Gazelle Award is a prestigious award presented by Het Financieele Dagblad to fast-growing companies. In 2024, we received this wonderful award for the tenth time, and we are extremely 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 internationally renowned proves that our vision and approach are working. ‘Our products are now also available in countries such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria and Finland, something we are very proud of. However, we are still growing and hope to make more and more pets and their owners happy worldwide!’

You can find us at all major international trade fairs, sometimes as visitors, but often as exhibitors. Here is a photo of our first stand at Interzoo in Nuremberg, Germany (2018 edition).

Donations to charities

Johnson Petfoods cares deeply about animal welfare. That is why we regularly donate food (with transport damage, for example) to charities. These include food banks for pets, shelters and animal rescue centres. This way, we avoid waste and help owners (and animals) who, for whatever reason, are temporarily less well off.