Pataya Food Group (PFG), the producer and marketer of Nautilus canned fish, is strengthening its pet food business by expanding the firm's new pet food brand to domestic and overseas markets including China and India this year.
According to Sudatip Kiatsrichart, executive director of PFG, the company established Remy Pet Co last year in partnership with Thonglor Pet Hospital Co to market the "Remy" premium pet food brand.
With a registered capital of 4-5 million baht, PFG and Thonglor Pet Hospital Co each hold an equal stake in Remy Pet.
Remy, which is a cat food product, is available as of this month via the online channel and at 16 branches of Thonglor Pet Hospital in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Rayong. Remy products are also scheduled to be sold in modern retail channels shortly. Pet food products for dogs will also be launched in the market in the second half of this year. This would cash in on the continued growth in demand for pet food in the country, said Ms Sudatip.
Thitipong Jiraassawakul, vice-president for business development at PFG, said the size of the market for cat food in 2022 was estimated at 10 billion baht, with average annual growth of more than 10%. Of the total market, kibble accounts for 60%, wet food accounts for 30%, while the remaining 10% is snack foods. Meanwhile, the market value of dog food was around 30 billion baht with an average growth of 6% per year. Of the total, kibble accounts for 60%,wet food accounts for 15%, while the remaining 25% represents other categories such as snacks.
"Thailand's pet food business has continued to grow, especially during Covid-19 when more people worked from home. The business of each pet food company grew by 50-60% during the pandemic. And, the growth trend has not only occurred in Thailand but worldwide," said Dr Kitika Chaisupattanakul, chief executive of Thonglor Pet Hospital.
Thailand is currently the world's third-largest export market for pet food, valued at 70 billion baht per year, behind the US and Germany.
Moreover, Thailand is the world's third-largest exporter of pet food with the export value reaching up to 70 billion baht per year, behind the US and Germany.
This is why the company is exploring the opportunity to expand Remy pet food internationally this year, starting with Vietnam as the first overseas market, she said.
"We chose Vietnam as the first country in which to expand Remy pet food products because PFG already has a representative office for canned fish there, while Thonglor Pet Hospital has already opened its first pet hospital in Ho Chi Minh, too, via a joint venture with the country's third largest animal food company," said Mr Thitipong.
"The pet food business in Vietnam remains relatively small, therefore it offers a huge opportunity to grow due to the expansion of middle-income consumers who have enough spending power to buy pet food."
