Food conglomerates are zeroing in on the "pet humanization" trend that treats companion animals like family and are nurturing pet food as a core business for the future. They are expanding beyond simple feed into a high value-added market that blends so-called Foodtech, such as recovery diets for senior dogs, functional prescription diets, and genome-based personalized supplements. Facing limits to growth in the domestic food market, their strategy is to use the food manufacturing know-how they have built up as a competitive edge in pet food.
According to the industry on the 22nd, Pulmuone completely reorganized its pet food business unit starting this year. It restructured its existing organization to create a New Growth Business Division and moved pet food-related departments under it. By grouping the companion animal division together with the Foodtech division and the living care division, the company aims to cultivate them intensively as future businesses.
Pulmuone has built its brand image by introducing plant-based, eco-friendly concept products such as tofu snacks and tofu nuggets for companion animals since launching the pet food brand "Amio" in 2013. Recently, it expanded consumer touchpoints into mass retail channels by entering Asung Daiso Co. A Pulmuone official said, "Last year's sales at the companion animal division increased 33% from the previous year," adding, "While sales are not large yet, we see it as a future growth engine and reorganized the pet food business accordingly."
Dongwon F&B elevated its pet food organization to a business division last year, increasing the business's weight. Recently, it also expanded feed production facilities at its Changwon plant to strengthen production capacity. Wet canned products leveraging its tuna processing technology are exported to 10 countries, including Japan and Hong Kong. Exports to the United States began in the first half of last year. They have entered more than 70,000 distribution outlets nationwide in the U.S. as well as online malls.
Harim Pet Food is pushing a "100% human grade" strategy to the forefront, based on its competitiveness in raw chicken. Human grade is the highest grade of feed made with ingredients fit for human consumption. Targeting the premium market, Harim recently launched new products such as The Real Raw Patty in line with the consumer trend favoring raw diets. A Harim official said, "The Real Raw's biggest feature is that it uses only deboned raw meat. More than 85% deboned raw meat includes fresh chicken and duck supplied by Harim Group, along with carefully selected pork and salmon," adding, "It is a product for people who want to feed their companion animals high-quality feed with a high meat content."
Daehan Flour Mills spun off a dedicated pet food organization in 2018 to establish Wooriwa Co., kicking the business into full gear. On the 13th, it established the Wooriwa Pet Food Research Institute. It invested 16 billion won to staff the institute with 13 master's and doctoral-level researchers specializing in companion animal nutrition, and will focus on developing differentiated functional products over the mid to long term.
Market growth is also lending momentum to these moves by food corporations. According to a report by the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI), the global pet food market grew from $88.4 billion (130 trillion won) in 2018 to $134.3 billion (198 trillion won) in 2024. The compound annual growth rate is 7.2%. It is expected to grow to $224.6 billion (330 trillion won) in 2032. Korea's pet food market also expanded at a compound annual rate of 10.3% over the same period to $1.6 billion (2.35 trillion won) as of 2024. However, its share of the global market remains at 1.2%.
In the end, exports are seen as the key to growth. Korea's pet food export volume increased from 6,833 tons (t) in 2018 to 63,955 t in 2024, an average annual increase of 45.2%. Despite the steep growth, the absolute size is still not large.
Food companies are jumping into the pet feed business one after another because of the structural limits of the domestic food market. An industry official said, "With population decline and aging, and intensifying competition in dining out and delivery, the processed food market has already entered a saturation phase," adding, "It is inevitable to seek new businesses to sustain sales growth. Meanwhile, as more households raise companion animals like family, consumption is upgrading beyond feed to snacks, supplements, and functional prescription diets."
A strength is that large food companies can enter this market relatively easily. They already have large-scale raw material sourcing networks, cold chain logistics infrastructure, hygiene and quality control systems, and in-house labs. Brand trust is also a weapon. Consumers place high trust in the fact that it is a "company that made food for people."
An industry official said, "Future competitiveness will come down to ingredient credibility, functionality, and whether companies secure overseas certifications," adding, "If government-level support, such as providing information on feed regulations and certification standards by country, is combined, the entire industry could grow quickly."