As the culture of treating pets like humans, known as "Pethumanization," spreads, the food industry is diving into the pet food business to diversify its revenue.
Recently, there has been an increased demand for "human-grade" products made from ingredients that can also be consumed by humans, including pet food and nutritional supplements. In response, the food industry is continuously launching products that emphasize nutritional components.
On the 10th, the U.S. market research firm specializing in food, beverages, and consumer goods, Innova Market Insights, announced the "2025 Food Trends," also introducing trends related to pet food. The trends identified for this year include "personalized nutrition," "plant-based foods," and "gut health," applicable to both human and pet food.
According to Innova Market Insights, balanced food and beverage products for both humans and pets are sold worldwide by age group. The digestive health of pets is one of the primary concerns for their guardians. From 2019 to 2023, the average annual growth rate (CAGR) of pet food containing prebiotics or probiotics was 22%.
Additionally, among the pet food sold on the market, the proportion of products containing plant-based proteins reaches 52%. According to NielsenIQ, the market for products containing plant-based proteins has grown at an average annual rate of 7.8% over the past four years.
In Korea, products emphasizing nutritional components are being launched one after another. With high interest in "human-grade" products, it is characteristic that one can verify whether good ingredients have been used.
Nongshim recently launched three nutritional supplement products through its "Petitude" brand. Each product is designed to help with joint, eye, and intestinal health. They use functional ingredients recognized by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and ingredients and content are transparently indicated for each product.
Dae Sang Pet Life has targeted the niche market of pet health food. Their pet food brand, Dr. nuto, released "Daily Chicken Breast" at the end of last year, for pets that need protein nutritional supplementation. It is a snack made from 100% domestically sourced chicken that is safe for human consumption and classified as human-grade.
Pulmuone also introduced "Vegetable Tofu Snack" for dogs, which is made using tofu, a representative food product of Pulmuone.
According to the "Pet Trend Report 2024" released by Open Survey last August, the average monthly expenditure for dog and cat guardians is estimated at 160,500 won and 132,200 won, respectively. Both dog and cat guardians indicated that their main expenditure items include food, snacks, functional nutritional supplements, and health foods. Among dog guardians, 76.8%, and among cat guardians, 86% responded this way.
The expenditure for functional nutritional supplements and health foods is estimated at an average of 69,900 won for dogs and 63,800 won for cats. The data showed that the highest amounts are being spent on comprehensive nutritional supplements, joint nutritional supplements, dental nutritional supplements, and gut nutritional supplements.
As the market expands, there are also movements from companies that had closed their pet food businesses to re-enter.
CJ CheilJedang is reviewing the business potential of developing amino acids (animal proteins) to be included in pet food through an in-house venture.
CJ CheilJedang entered the pet food business in 2013 but withdrew in 2019 after failing to achieve significant results. An industry insider noted, "The atmosphere around the time CJ CheilJedang exited the pet-related business is very different from now." It has been said that the market has matured significantly in recent years.
According to the report titled "The Coming Era of Pet Economy 2.0, Pet Business Trends and New Opportunities" released by Samjeong KPMG, global investment in pet corporations is expected to reach $2.87 billion in 2023, an approximate ninefold increase compared to $326 million a decade ago in 2013.