Nestlé (Thai), a leading consumer goods manufacturer and marketer, has invested 6 billion baht in expanding its manufacturing facilities in response to the growing demand for pet care products.
“The pet food market has been continuously growing since the Covid-19 pandemic as people have more time for their pets since some of them are working from home,” said Victor Seah, chairman and chief executive of Nestlé Indochina.
Pet food products offer great potential for growth due a confluence of trends, including demand for premium products, the humanisation of pets, rising disposable incomes, and a growing focus on pet health.
Moreover, the firm also discovered that these days pet owners are more sophisticated in terms of their pet food choices.
There is an increased demand for premium and nutritious pet food products as more people now treat their pets like members of the family, which is known as the “humanisation of pets”, according to ttb analytics, the research arm of TMBThanachart Bank (ttb).
This trend persists among both long-term pet owners who have changed the way they take care of their pets and among new pet owners. As a result, the per pet cost of caring for a pet has increased significantly.
Ttb analytics estimates that the cost of pet care as a family member per pet would be around 41,100 baht per year, with 22,500 baht of this spent on pet food.
Ttb analytics forecasts that the growing “pet humanisation” trend will benefit the pet food market and animal care services.
Thailand’s pet market is expected to be worth 75 billion baht this year, up 12.4% from 2023, with the pet food market set to be worth 44.6 billion, says ttb analytics.
In response to the growing demand for pet care, Nestle has increased its production capacity with an investment of around 6 billion baht to expand its manufacturing facilities from 2021 to 2026.