Maxime shares pet retail expertise with EntrePETneurship Academy

Maxime launches EntrePETneurship Academy, an educational program for pet entrepreneurs.

Maxime, the retail pet food brand of Pilmico Animal and Nutrition Corporation (Pilmico), shares its expertise not just in raising pets but also in pet care retail management through Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy. 

Known for its premium dog and cat food, Maxime goes beyond its expertise in formulating high-quality products by providing an educational program open to pet store owners and aspiring pet entrepreneurs for free. Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy aims to strengthen and empower pet care retail owners in their business journey to ensure their current and future financial success. Through programs such as this, Maxime is closer to its goal of becoming a true Partner in Pethood, as part of a greater vision of becoming the go-to brand for pet-related products. 

Blessie Zarzuela, National Sales Manager of Maxime, shares that this project intends for the betterment of pet entrepreneurs. “There are a lot of opportunities to improve ways of working and professionalize the way they do things at the store level, and that inspired us to launch Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy. We want to guide pet store owners and help them elevate their business practices. We want to encourage them to think like an EntrePETneur.  And as their Partners in Pethood, we aim to provide them with social media content to help them get there,” she said.

Starting March 5, pet retail owners can join Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy Facebook group at https://bit.ly/MaximeEntrepetneurshipAcademy where they can access all the available lectures and programs. 

Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy has programs designed to equip pet business owners with the right tools and skills that fit the needs of a highly competitive market. Lectures on pet care overview, visual merchandising,  inventory management, and more can be accessed in their Facebook group for free. Apart from the bite-size learning videos from field experts, Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy will also conduct sharing sessions with existing and successful pet shop or veterinary clinic owners where they can discuss their best practices, industry updates, and more. 

Alongside the online lectures and learning resources, participants can also get exclusive coaching and mentoring from successful pet entrepreneurs. Blessie Zarzuela hopes that the program would help not just the pet retailers but the pet industry as well. “It is our hope that the program would help bring more consumers to the category. We want our retailers to provide an excellent consumer shopping experience,” she said.

Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy is now open to pet retail owners who want to elevate their business with up-to-date information on the pet care industry and learn more about its best practices. 
For more information, you may visit: https://bit.ly/MaximeEntrepetneurshipAcademy

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is the Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy, and who is it designed for?
Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy is a free educational program created specifically for pet store owners and aspiring pet entrepreneurs. It goes beyond product expertise to address the business management side of running a pet care retail operation – covering topics such as pet care overview, visual merchandising, inventory management, and industry best practices. The program is accessible through a dedicated Facebook group, making it openly available to any pet retail owner who wants to upgrade their business knowledge, improve their store-level operations, and stay current with developments in the competitive pet care industry.

Q2. What specific learning resources and formats does the program provide to participants?
The program offers multiple learning formats to accommodate different participant needs. Bite-sized learning videos from field experts cover practical retail topics including pet care overview, visual merchandising, and inventory management. Sharing sessions with existing and successful pet shop and veterinary clinic owners provide real-world context, allowing participants to learn directly from established practitioners about their best practices and approaches to common business challenges. Participants also gain access to exclusive one-on-one coaching and mentoring from successful pet entrepreneurs – a level of personalized guidance rarely available to independent pet retailers through a free public program.

Q3. Why did Maxime identify a need to launch a business education program for pet retailers?
The inspiration behind the program was the recognition that many pet store owners had significant room to improve how they operate at the store level – not in terms of their passion for animals but in terms of professional business practices. The pet care retail market is described as highly competitive, and owners who lack formal retail management training or business operations knowledge are at a structural disadvantage. The program was conceived as a way to close that gap by professionalizing how pet entrepreneurs think about and manage their businesses, helping them deliver a better consumer shopping experience.

Q4. What is the broader strategic vision behind Maxime launching an educational program rather than simply selling pet food products?
The program reflects Maxime’s positioning as a “Partner in Pethood” – a brand identity that extends its relationship with the pet industry well beyond product transactions. By investing in the long-term commercial success of pet retailers, Maxime builds deeper loyalty among its distribution channel, raises the overall quality of pet retail in the Philippines, and creates conditions in which more consumers are drawn into the pet care category. The stated goal is for retailers to provide excellent consumer shopping experiences – an outcome that benefits pet owners, retailers, and Maxime as a brand with shared interest in growing the category.

Q5. What are the key takeaways for pet entrepreneurs considering joining Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy?
Three points stand out. First, the program is free and accessible – enrollment requires only joining the Maxime EntrePETneurship Academy Facebook group, removing financial barriers that typically prevent small retailers from accessing professional business training. Second, it offers a genuinely multi-layered learning experience – combining self-paced video content, peer-to-peer sharing sessions with established practitioners, and personalized coaching, which together provide both theoretical grounding and practical application. Third, participation positions pet entrepreneurs to benefit from Maxime’s social media content support, meaning the value extends beyond education into active business development assistance within the competitive pet care retail environment.