Family began company in 2008 that has over 50 patents, manufactures and exports drugs and veterinary products
CALGARY — Making a cattle bolus doesn’t sound a lot like making a box of chocolates.
But it is, Canada’s Solvet discovered.
“Bolus manufacturing is a lot like chocolate manufacturing,” said a hygienically cloaked Anders Olson, a product manager with Canadian veterinary pharmaceutical company Solvet, which was founded by his parents Merle and Barbara.
“We have been seriously poaching tons of chocolatiers to bring our bolus (manufacturing) to where it is now.”
That’s just one of the many things learned by the Olson family as it developed the 2008 startup company based on a few good ideas and patents and built it into a national player and pharmaceutical exporter.
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“They started a major pharmaceutical company in their retirement,” said company chief executive officer Lionel Gibbs, as he described Solvet’s foundations to a group of international agricultural journalists. Merle and Barbara were scientists at the University of Calgary frustrated by all the solutions being left on the laboratory table.
“A lot of the great research and ideas never ended up getting commercialized,” said Gibbs.
The Olsons imagined building a company focused on Western Canada and perhaps grossing $1 million per year. Today they’re hitting the $30 million mark, have over 50 patents, manufacture drugs and veterinary products, distribute foreign pharmaceuticals within Canada, and export their own manufactured products to the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
A big recent hit for the company has been its lidocaine-infused elastrator bands, which can be used for painless castration or tail removal.
The company manufactures a range of products in its Calgary factory, which is a sterile facility following Health Canada pharmaceutical rules.
It employs more than 80 people and contains specialized equipment and unique rooms for specific operations, including explosion-proof rooms.
Its bolus business has become a major part of the Solvet business. Various types provide pain relief and fight coccidiosis.
Solvet now exports more boluses than are used within Canada.
Merle, a veterinary expert, discovered the bolus-chocolate connection when exploring the chemistry needed for successful bolus production. The processes and treatment required have more similarities than most would realize.
