If Jamina had a single passion, it would be for animals. So, it's fantastic that she can incorporate this passion into her job – and it is unmistakably clear from the work she does. The projects she takes on demonstrate her creative perspective, she considers every angle, and the results are always innovative. She has proven this both as an employee at saturn petcare and now as the head of her own dog food brand.
The start of a career as a product developer
It all started with her unsolicited application to saturn petcare. The result: a specially created position in the area of process technology! Thinking creatively, researching new technologies, and, above all, trying out a lot of things – these were her new areas of responsibility as a product developer. The goal was to make saturn petcare's products even better and more innovative. The development process always started small: "We first asked ourselves: how would we make the product in the kitchen at home?" as Jamina put it, looking back at the beginning of her time at saturn petcare. "We experimented until we got the result we wanted and the new principle could be transferred to the large production facilities."
Starting up her own business
Product development didn't stay on Jamina's desk after work. One thing she realized: Meat is not an endless resource. That's how Jamina came up with the idea for BugBell – the "dog food with a lot of buzz." So what was special about it? The only animal protein source is insects! After long, extensive development, Jamina founded the unusual startup in January 2021 together with Arne Mües and a private investor. And dogs love it! "In our tests, spontaneous acceptance is around 90 percent. It is us humans who have problems with it." In addition to resource scarcity and flavor, animal health also plays a key role: Many dogs suffer from various forms of food intolerance and need alternative products. For this, BugBell is the ideal solution, because insects rarely, if ever, trigger allergies.
Strong cooperation
Although Jamina initially left the heristo Group with the idea, the close relationship continued even after her employment in the Group, and in May 2022, animonda became the majority owner of Jamina's company. Her new startup has especially benefited from strategic partnerships with numerous contacts in the industry and the network arising from these. "With the help of animonda, we have strong in-store product placement in pet stores – at Fressnapf, for one. This is important for us, because other than our social-media and online presence and appearances at exhibitions, we have not been able to do much advertising so far. We are very happy to have animonda as a partner at our side," Jamina explained.
This career path just goes to show that extraordinary career paths are possible in the heristo Group, and that opportunities for innovative ideas and new business fields are developing even outside our existing companies.
