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Indian consumers prefer to buy in smaller packs, their pet’s food, says Satinder Singh, Managing Director with Royal Canin (India), giving an insight into the behaviour of pet-owners.
Catering to this demand for smaller packs and as a possible precursor to manufacturing from here in future, the French manufacturer and supplier of cat and dog food has set up a Rs 100 crore, high-end packaging facility in Bhiwandi (Maharashtra).
Standards
And while this may bring cheer to local pet owners, Singh further flags the need for stringent standards for the domestic pet food industry; not just to protect the health of the pet, but also develop India as an export hub for companies, Singh told businessline.
Mapping local buying patterns, he said: “About 85 percent of packs (sold here) are less than 1.2 kg – Indian consumers prefer to buy in smaller packs.” But when pet food packs are imported from the western world, they are not in line with local needs, he said.
The packaging centre, opened this April, gives RC the ability to be more flexible – repackaging in small packs from 200 gm to 4 kg, he said. Since these are premium products, he said, consumers buy small packs, more frequently or try with a small pack and then upgrade. This also helps improve “fill rates” and service the local needs of the market, when demand fluctuates, he added.
Globally, RC is part of the Mars group, and started its India operations (2007).
The packaging centre is “the first foot print of putting up a manufacturing centre,” Singh said, adding that it would depend on building the scale of operations and sourcing quality raw materials. RC in India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of France-based RC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mars.
Export hub
Touching on a critical point in making India an export hub for pet food, Singh said, manufacturing standards need to be in place for the local pet food industry, and it should be made mandatory. Imported products are regulated in global markets, but if local standards are not enforced on domestic pet food producers, he said, it was bad for the health of the pets, and the industry. The industry is in fact, taking this up with the Government, he added.
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