Savita Bhattacharya has a favourite boarding canter for her 4 year Labrador – Gypsy. She says “whenever I travel out of station for work I drop her to My DOGGIE dog Boarding centre”. For working professionals like her, it was impossible to have a pet a couple of years back. Many a pet parents face the problem of keeping them in a safe and secure place when they travel for work or take vacation.
India has seen an increase in pet population due to ecosystem for pets being built such as boarding centre, pet friendly hotels, quality vet hospitals and dog walkers.
The world went into turmoil during Pandemic; no one was immuned to it, however, this proved a boon to pet industry. During the lock down people had to stay in-door and they needed company, a friend who does not complain but who loves them unconditionally. Pets fitted well into this requirements like sugar in milk. Pet adoption increased and that translated into more pets finding homes.
The Indian Pet Industry is of expected to reach US$ 533 million by 2022-23 with that estimate it would reach US$ 1000 million plus by 2026 at the annual growth rate of 22.15% CAGR. Out of this about 80% is pet food according to Bonafide Research.
Pet Food
Pet parents were spending more time with their pets and had more time to cuddle them. Cookiing for the family and then for the pet dog was not really an interesting hobby and tended to be tedious; the alternative was either packed or fresh dog food. As Ganesh Ramani, MD Mars Petcare says “We are sure that calorie conversion has seen significant increase primarily because a lot of pet parents were spending a significant amount of time at home with the pets so they were indulging even more, feeding them with right nutrition, and treats etc. has gone up”
Pet food companies had never seen such surge in demand. A few had stocks, others try to bring in new stocks and Indian manufacturers worked around challenges to bridge the gap. Importers faced logistic disruptions and staff worked in extremely tough situations. According to Bharat Pittie Director Orange Pet Nutrition “2021 for the pet industry has been very exciting, it’s been a phenomenal year of growth for us because one of the main reasons was we sell a good amount of brands which has now been established in the market; a lot of pet parents love our brands. We saw huge growth in terms of demand for our brands”
Indian Pet food market is made of 80% imported brands. Pedigree, Iams, Arden Grange, Taste of the Wild, Acana, Orijen, Farmina, Purina, Fish for Dogs, Royal Canin and many more international brands are available.
Pet Treats:
Treats for pets have also gained traction. Compared to three years back there are more made in India pet treats in the market now.
Happy Puppy has hemp based treats; Dogsee Chew has natural treats, Jerkies from Doggie Dabbas, HUFT dog treats and Just Dogs Snackers to name a few.
Vivaldis is producing unique treats infused with hemp and multivitamin.
The appetite for pet products in India is ever growing which indicates sale of more pet products and an increase in pet population.
Fresh food for dogs are gaining market share. This trend dovetailed an increased awareness in natural and preservation free food for pets.
Pet Grooming
Papa Pawsome, Captain Zack, Basel have high quality shampoos, paw balms and perfumes. Indian brands are giving tough competitions to global brands with quality products and aggressive marketing plans. Products are available in stores and online. The pet shampoo and conditioner market is set to cross Rs 300 Cr by 2025-26
Grooming parlours, for pets, are on the rise and a few experienced-certified groomers are offering grooming courses. Petsburgh Grooming Salon and Academy, Mumbai and Fuzzy Wuzzy, Bengaluru train people to groom dogs and cats from basic to advanced level courses. In addition, there are few onsite grooming facilities available. Flying Fur has grooming vans that travels to customer’s location to groom pets.
Groomers have an important role to play as they are the second most point of contact for pet parents after vets. Dr Mohit Lalvani, Founder and CEO, Captain Zack echoed the importance of grommers “I think groomers have become as big an influencer as vets, right? Vets are now called upon for medical treatment ; people go them for cure of ailments; and I think grooming is more like prevention because indeed prevention is better than cure”.
Pets are allowed on bed and sofas so pet parents take special care to keep them healthy and clean. This shift in human behaviour has fuelled sale of grooming products and growth of grooming parlous business.
Pet Accessories
Clothings and accessories for dogs and cats are available in different sizes and styles. Trained fashion designers have ventured into the business of accessories for pets. Most of them have affinity for pets or are pet parents themselves. They know how to make classy as well as comfortable clothings for pets. Fluffy’s Collection is based out of Mumbai and does an excellent collection of regular wares as well as special occasion clothings and accessories. Kitty and Woof Gangs from Delhi is selling their products through e-commerce and retail channels. Pet parents want to give everything that a human parent is wearing or enjoying such as cake for birthday etc.
Pet accessories market is pegged at US$ 106 Million by 2024-25 according to Bonafide Research.
Pet humanisations has impacted the growth of all sections of pet industry positively.
Healthcare and Veterinary Service
DCC Dogs, Cats Companion, Max Vet, Crown Vet, Cessna Lifeline Vet and CGS are vet hospitals.
DCC is the wholly own subsidiary of Japanese Chain of vet hospitals in Gurgaon, Delhi NCR. Max Vet is run by three generation veterinarians. Crownvet was started in 2016 in Mumbai by Pratapsinh Gaekwad. Cessna Life is the brain child of Dr Pawan Kumar operating out of Bangalore. CGS Hospital is a unit of CGS Charitable Trust. All of them except CGS and DCC have branches in other parts of India.
Pet parents have access to quality vet service. With state of the art facilities they are able to diagnose, prognosis then treat. To support the growth of veterinary practise new and existing pharma companies are bringing best in class medicines.
Regional vet associations such as WASAVA Indian chapters, Pet Practitioners Association of Mumbai, Pet Practitioners Association of Bangalore have played important roles in upskilling vets. These associations have been conducting Continuous Education Programmes to impart latest training and techniques to vets.
Indian Pet Retail Shops
Just Dogs and Heads Up for Tails have multiple stores across India. They are omni channel stores offering a unique and seamless experience to customers. Besides there are many stores having five to ten outlets. This segment is witnessing a lot of activities and it will get more competitive.
India is at the sweet spot and at the cusp of major take off. Market indicators are pointing at the right direction. Pet entrepreneurs are coming up with innovative products to address pet parents’ needs. The Indian Pet Market is the right place to be for selling you brands or sourcing products.
*Fair Director India International Pet Trade Fair (IIPTF), info@iiptf.in
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