Dongwon F&B has confirmed on the 10th that it has expanded its production line for dog food at its Changwon factory, which produces pet food. This move seems aimed at increasing its market share in the pet food sector as the domestic pet food market is projected to reach 8 trillion won by 2027, in addition to its existing products for cats.
According to Dongwon F&B, the newly expanded production line primarily produces container-style dog food products. Dongwon F&B aims to achieve 100 billion won in annual sales in the pet food institution sector by 2025. The expansion of the dog food production line at the Changwon factory also appears to be part of this goal. A representative from Dongwon F&B noted, "We produced container-style products containing dog food for the first time last week on the newly expanded production line," adding, "We have not yet estimated the annual production volume."
This move appears to be in response to the forecast that the pet food market will continue to grow. According to Euromonitor, the domestic pet food market was valued at 1.9814 trillion won in 2023. It is expected to increase to 2.4912 trillion won by 2028.
Dongwon F&B recognized the growth potential of the pet food market early on and launched its own brand, NutriPlan, in 2014. NutriPlan started its business focusing on cat food. In 2019, Dongwon F&B established production facilities for cat food pouches at the Changwon factory and opened a pet specialty site, Chuchu.com, in 2020. By 2022, Dongwon F&B's pet food business generated sales of 40 billion won.
Sales from pet foods, including NutriPlan from Dongwon F&B, have been cited as one of the reasons for the increase in Dongwon F&B's operating profit in the first half of the year. Dongwon F&B's operating profit for the first half of this year was reported at 78.8 billion won, an 11.2% increase compared to the same period last year. Of this, the operating profit from the pet food sector accounted for about 10%. This is why Dongwon F&B considers the pet food business a future growth driver.
However, the largest segment of the domestic pet food market is for dogs. According to Euromonitor, the domestic dog food market was valued at 1.176 trillion won in 2023. In comparison, the cat food market was valued at 805.4 billion won during the same period. Thus, the dog food market is larger by more than 370.6 billion won than that of cat food.
Keeping this in mind, Dongwon F&B is pushing to expand its business to include products for dogs in addition to its existing cat food products. Dongwon F&B also plans to establish a comprehensive product lineup that encompasses wet and dry pet food for all pets, regardless of whether they are cats or dogs.
A representative from Dongwon F&B stated, "This move is aimed at expanding the cat food business we have built over the years into a dog food business," adding, "We will pursue diversification of our pet food business portfolio."