10 years of growth, change and working together

It all began alongside the Kivuton veterinary clinic. We realized that finding suitable, reliable products for their pets wasn’t always easy for our customers. We wanted to make a carefully selected range of products, backed by veterinary expertise, available to all pet owners – no matter where they lived.

What started as a simple website gradually evolved into an online store. The first orders were packed at Eläintohtori Kivuton and personally delivered to a nearby K-Market for shipping.

Three packages at a time

That’s how our journey toward hundreds of thousands of delivered orders began.

As the business grew, the online store became its own limited company, Verkkokauppa Kivuton Oy. What had started as a small operation alongside the veterinary clinic began to develop into an independent online store serving customers across Finland.

In the early years, the online store and veterinary clinic worked closely together. When things were quieter at the online store, we helped out at the clinic and also managed the clinic’s appointment bookings from the online store.

As the online store grew, the roles gradually reversed: during the busiest periods, the clinic team would step in to help pack and process orders. Collaboration and flexibility were an important part of our early journey - everyone pitched in wherever an extra pair of hands was needed most.

Order volumes began to grow rapidly. The pandemic quickly changed consumer buying habits and doubled the size of our operations. Demand for human health products in particular increased significantly.

At times, our growth outpaced our resources. We hired new employees, improved our ways of working and made some difficult prioritizations to ensure our customers’ orders were shipped on time. During the busiest periods, much of our capacity was focused on processing orders.

As the business grew, so did our need for space. Between 2020 and 2024, our warehouse space grew to as much as four times its original size. At the same time, we expanded and improved our packing area, workspaces and staff break areas to meet the needs of our growing operations.

4x more warehouse space

Our warehouse space grew to as much as four times its original size between 2020 and 2024.

During the years of rapid growth, the future direction of our company also became clearer. We decided to move away from human health products and focus our expertise and resources entirely on where it all began: the health and well-being of pets.

This strategic decision helped us build a more focused product selection and further develop our services to better meet the needs of pet owners.

We joined forces with Alvar Pet, another Finnish pet care company known for its tailored diets. Together, we began building an even more comprehensive service focused on pet health.

2025 marked a new phase of growth. We launched Finland’s first online pharmacy dedicated specifically to pet health, bringing together products that support the health and well-being of pets in one place. We also began working with veterinary clinics and expanded our operations into Sweden and the Baltic countries.

What started as an online store had grown into an international company offering more comprehensive support for pet health and well-being.

In Finland, our story now continues under the VetaPet name. The name is new, but behind it is still the same Finnish-owned online store, the same familiar team and the same mission. And since 2019, we’ve delivered nearly 700,000 orders to our customers.