In September 2024, China's pet food export volume was 25,600 tons, with a year-on-year growth of +5.47%; the export value reached 0.124 billion USD, reflecting a year-on-year increase of +11.04%. The export volume and value of pet food have maintained rapid year-on-year growth this year, and in September, they continued to grow year-on-year due to last year's low base effect.
According to reports from Zhizhong Finance APP, Donghai Securities has released a research report stating that product premiumization and differentiation are trends in the industry. Pet food companies with first-mover advantages and scale effects are expected to benefit directly. In recent years, the number of pets in the country has continued to grow, and pet consumer behavior has shown high-quality development. Regarding exports, the overseas destocking has ended, and since the beginning of this year, China's pet food exports have maintained rapid year-on-year growth. Domestically, the pet food performance data for the november 11 shopping festival-related is remarkable, and the industry continues to experience rapid growth. With the advancement of domestic pet food substitutes, domestic pet food brands have welcomed development opportunities.
The main points of Donghai Securities are as follows:
The pet food category achieved new achievements during the november 11 shopping festival-related.
As of November 13, 2024, various e-commerce platforms have gradually released the results of the pet category during the november 11 shopping festival-related. According to data from Star Map, the total online sales of pet food during the november 11 shopping festival-related in 2024 reached 5.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.92%. According to reports from various platforms, Tmall's pet division had 9 pet brands surpassing 100 million yuan in transactions during this year's entire november 11 shopping festival-related period, and 1,340 pet brands doubled their transaction volumes year-on-year, with the pet food category achieving new honors, leading the overall growth rate year-on-year. JD.com's pet division during the entire november 11 shopping festival-related period saw a year-on-year growth of over 37% in a million single products, and the number of stores doubling their transaction volumes year-on-year grew over 56%. On October 14, the opening day of the november 11 shopping festival-related, pet business transaction volume increased by over 2.1 times year-on-year. Throughout the november 11 shopping festival-related, online sales in the pet category achieved comprehensive growth, with all brands showing impressive growth rates.
The popularity of baked pet food remains strong, with functional foods gaining consumer favor.
Baked cat food locks in nutrients through low-temperature baking, and its high meat content meets cats' natural dietary needs. Its crunchy texture is easy to digest, and its low oil and low salt content is beneficial for health, making it favored by a large number of domestic consumers. E-commerce data shows that the popularity of baked pet food has not diminished; according to JD.com's entire november 11 shopping festival-related data, sales of baked cat food increased by 147% year-on-year, maintaining a high growth trend. With the health-conscious and meticulous trends in pet raising, various functional foods are also beginning to gain popularity. According to JD.com's entire november 11 shopping festival-related data, sales of urinary function cat food increased by 137% year-on-year, while low-fat cat food for weight control saw an increase of 326% year-on-year, and functional cat snacks saw an increase of 287% year-on-year.
Consumer attention to pet health is steadily increasing, with urinary issues and obesity becoming some of the most common health problems for pets. Therefore, specialized functional food is expected to open new pathways and create differentiated competition with conventional staple food. At the same time, with the rise in elderly dogs, pet food suitable for older dogs has become favored by consumers, making the elderly pet market a potential new blue ocean. It is believed that in the future, staple food categories that are healthy, easy to feed, and minimally processed will continue to attract consumer interest.
The domestic leaders are quite strong, and competition remains fierce.
From the rankings of pet food brands and stores published by various e-commerce platforms for the november 11 shopping festival-related, on Tmall, the transaction brand ranking shows that Guibao Pet's Maifudi occupies the top three in its subdivision category; Flecagt ranks first in cat staple food. Yantai China Pet Foods' Wanpi, Toptrees, and ZEAL occupy fifth, ninth, and fourth place respectively in cat snacks and dog snacks. Petpal Pet Nutrition Technology's Jueyan ranks second in dog snacks. In the overall transaction brand ranking of jd.com, Guibao Pet's Maifudi ranks second in cat staple food, while all other subdivisions rank first. Yantai China Pet Foods' Wanpi ranks in the top five for both cat snacks and dog snacks; ZEAL dog snacks rank fourth. Petpal Pet Nutrition Technology's Jueyan ranks second in dog snacks.
Among domestic brands, the strong continue to dominate. According to data released by various brands, Guibao Pet's own brand has surpassed 0.67 billion yuan in online sales, a 65% year-on-year increase, with Flecagt surpassing 0.2 billion yuan in online sales, a 190% year-on-year increase; the Maifudi barf series surpassed 79 million yuan, a 150% increase, and the goat milk meat series surpassed 20 million yuan, while the dual-mix food series surpassed 35 million yuan. Petpal Pet Nutrition Technology's Jueyan brand has online sales exceeding 42.5 million yuan, more than a 70% growth compared to last year's november 11 shopping festival-related.
In September 2024, the volume and value of pet food exports continued to grow year-on-year.
In September 2024, China's pet food export volume was 0.0256 million tons, a year-on-year increase of +5.47%; export value was 0.124 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of +11.04%. The volume and value of pet food exports have maintained rapid growth year-on-year this year, with September maintaining year-on-year growth under last year's low base impact. With the end of inventory reduction overseas, China's pet food exports are steadily increasing.
Investment advice
It is recommended to pay attention to Guibao Pet (31498.SZ), Yantai China Pet Foods (002891.SZ), and Petpal Pet Nutrition Technology (300673.SZ).
Risk warning: risks of raw material price fluctuations, risks related to pet food safety, and risks of ineffective promotion of private label brands.
