{"id":31358,"date":"2024-02-19T21:15:07","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T12:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/?p=31358"},"modified":"2026-01-14T12:16:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T05:16:45","slug":"developing-premium-pet-food-in-thailand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/contents\/developing-premium-pet-food-in-thailand\/","title":{"rendered":"Upgrading Thai Pet Food Quality Driven by Rising Demand for Premium Products"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thai Union, a Thai seafood company, manufactures food for both people and pets. In particular, its cat food catalog looks like a menu from a Michelin-starred restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The catalog features dishes such as sashimi-style salmon topped with roe-like garnish, and juicy meatloaf served with a cream sauce. Soups include lamb soup and tuna soup. In the snack lineup, the company sells souffl\u00e9s made with carefully selected ingredients, vitamin balls served with sauce, and salmon biscuit sticks, among other items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reference:<\/strong> Thai Union, Brochure_Premium_Pet_Food<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As shown above, Thai food companies are steadily developing super-premium pet food. This trend is especially strong in super-premium products for cats. Thailand has long had abundant access to the raw materials required for pet food, and the country also has substantial manufacturing capacity. As a result, Thailand can supply not only the pet food consumed in its domestic market, but also products for consumers around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Thailand, where pet humanization accelerated during the pandemic, consumer purchasing power has risen over the past few years and demand for super-premium products has increased further. In Thailand\u2019s pet food market, it is often said that the key to success for pet food manufacturers\u2014both domestic and international\u2014is to offer premium and super-premium pet food with high nutritional value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flanders Investment and Trade has reported that premium and super-premium pet food alone accounts for as much as 25% of Thailand\u2019s pet food market, with an extremely positive outlook suggesting the market could double year after year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thailand\u2019s Domestic Pet Food Market<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Thailand\u2019s pet market is expected to grow in every aspect\u2014from the domestic pet market to pet food exports\u2014without being negatively affected by the disruption caused by COVID-19. Krungthai Bank, a state-owned banking institution, valued Thailand\u2019s pet market at 44 billion baht (USD 1.2 billion) in 2021, and stated that it could reach 66.7 billion baht (USD 1.88 billion) by 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Thai Pet Product Industries Association (TPPIA), Thailand\u2019s pet food industry has maintained annual growth of around 10% since 2011. The market expanded from 29.3 billion baht (USD 830 million) in 2017 to 32.23 billion baht (USD 910 million) in 2018, and then to 36 billion baht (USD 1.02 billion) in 2019. Nearly half of the market consists of pet food for dogs and cats, while the remaining portion is divided among various pet care products and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business analysts such as Mordor Intelligence and Research and Markets estimate that Thailand\u2019s pet food market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 5.2% to 5.43% from 2022 to 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related article<\/div>
Thailand\u2019s rapidly expanding pet food market: size and growth outlook<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Thailand as the World\u2019s No. 4 Pet Food Exporter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Since 2019, Thailand has also been the world\u2019s fourth-largest pet food exporter, following Germany, the United States, and France. In 2019, Flanders Investment and Trade reported that Thailand became the second-largest exporter of pet food to the EU after China, achieving exports worth EUR 215 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Thai Pet Food Trade Association (TPFA), Thai manufacturers\u2019 own brands account for 20% of Thailand\u2019s dog and cat food exports, while the remaining 80% consists of OEM products for major international brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Trade Centre reported that Thailand exported pet food worth a total of USD 1.65 billion in 2019. However, according to Dr. Chanintr Chalisarapong of the TPFA, Thailand\u2019s pet food exports in 2020 totaled 609,001 tons, with a value of USD 1.6 billion. In an article contributed to GlobalPets<\/em>, he stated that compared with 2019, the 2020 figures showed export volume up 13% and export unit prices up 19%. He also expressed an optimistic outlook that Thailand\u2019s pet food exports in 2021 would expand by at least 10%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further noted that when comparing exports from January to May 2021 with the same period in 2020, export unit prices had already increased by 25%, and export volume had increased by 19%. Thailand\u2019s top export destinations for pet food in 2021 were the United States, Japan, Italy, Malaysia, and Australia, in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related article<\/div>
Thailand\u2019s pet food exports are booming: FTA benefits lift the country to No. 4 worldwide<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Super-Premium Shift in Cat Food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since 2017, Thailand\u2019s pet population has increased by about 10% annually, and more than one-third of households in the country own at least one pet. According to TPPIA data, by 2020 Thailand had 14.5 million pets, including 8.9 million dogs (62%), 3.3 million cats (23%), and other types of pets (15%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One reason for this growth in pet ownership is a shift from simple pet ownership toward \u201cpet humanization,\u201d which has driven rapid development of premium and super-premium pet food. In particular, demand in Thailand has been rising more strongly for these products for cats than for dogs, as humanized cats are said to prefer these flavors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A September 2021 report on Thailand\u2019s pet food industry by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) highlights this trend and notes that an increasing number of pet food manufacturers are focusing on developing cat food with higher nutritional value and improved texture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the cat food market grew by nearly 30% between 2019 and 2021, with more wet cat food products being launched. In cat food, the ratio of dry to wet products is approximately 60% to 40%, whereas in dog food the ratio is about 80% to 20%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this way, growing demand for premium cat food is having a major impact on the entire pet food industry\u2014from technological innovation to sales. While premium pet food is generally more expensive than standard products, it is perceived as closer to \u201chuman-grade\u201d food. As more pets consume high-end pet food with a stronger focus on health, Thailand\u2019s pet food industry is gaining a new revenue structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future Challenges for Pet Food Manufacturing in Thailand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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However, it is not enough to focus only on profit. All activities related to developing high-quality pet food should evolve alongside pet nutrition science\u2014an argument made by Dr. Anton C. Beynen, Head of R&D at Vobra Special Petfoods BV in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his 2013 paper, \u201cThailand\u2019s Petfood Industry and Pet Nutrition,\u201d Dr. Beynen argues that further growth of Thailand\u2019s pet food business requires a close connection with pet nutrition science. He states that the industry must develop pet food products while taking into account issues such as market differentiation, nutrition trends, progress in product development, and shortages of raw materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also recommends training more professional pet nutrition specialists who can support Thailand\u2019s rapidly growing pet food market\u2014particularly experts who understand the role nutrition plays in the health and disease of dogs and cats. In addition, he suggests that Thai universities should incorporate pet nutrition and nutrition science more thoroughly, including promoting scientific research in pet nutrition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related article<\/div>
Thailand, a global tuna exporter, is driving a sustainable transformation in the global pet food industry<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thai Union, a Thai seafood company, manufactures food for both people and pets. In particular, its cat food catalog looks like a menu from a Michelin-starred restaurant. The catalog features dishes such as sashimi-style salmon topped with roe-like garnish, and juicy meatloaf served with a cream sauce. Soups include lamb soup and tuna soup. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":31362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sales-branding-strategy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31358"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45285,"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31358\/revisions\/45285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/first-reach.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}