2022 saw the comeback of two major pet food events in the APAC region: Pet Fair SEA held in Bangkok, Thailand from Oct 26th to 28th and Pet fair Asia, held in Shenzhen in China from Nov 3rd to 6th.
These tradeshows gave visitors from more than 60 countries the opportunity to discover how trends like humanization, nutrition & health, as well as the emergence of innovative processes and new ingredients, are shaping the APAC pet food market.

 

APAC as the market with the most potential has seen a fast market growth rate over the years. Indeed, the APAC pet population is still rising rapidly, and the prepared food rate is increasing.

According to 2022 market data, the total pet food volume in APAC is 3,718 KT with a growth rate of 6.1%, and the value is 19,400 M€, with a growth rate of 8.8%.

 

All these positive numbers gave huge confidence in the APAC pet food market.

 

Welcoming around 6,000 visitors from the pet food industry, Pet Fair SEA 2022 was the first tradeshow for the B2B pet industry to take place in Thailand after three long years of waiting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

After cancellation in 2021 and postponement in August 2022, Pet Fair ASIA also finally opened in November 2022 in Shenzhen, gathering more than 120,000 visitors.

 

As a result of visiting the Pet Fairs, combined with the general market trends, we can summarize four major trends that will drive the Asian pet food market in the coming years.

 

 

Humanization

 

Humanization is a continuously emerging trend in APAC for different countries. It is easy to find the brands with human style food claiming “human grade ingredients” to attract pet owners who care for their pets as family members.

 

Another big trend is to establish premium positioning in the market.

 

 

 

Nutrition and health

 

Nutrition and health-oriented function claims are still the main streams of the market.

 

Pet owners regard pets as one of their family members.

 

To expand the lifetime they spend together, pet owners are always willing to purchase pet food with nutrition and health function claims to improve their pets’ health. Digestion, immunity, urinary, and skin & coat health are hot claims for most products.

 

 

 

Light processing

 

More pet owners are showing their preference for alternative light processing in pet food production.

 

Freeze-dried is commonly applied to many treats to preserve the ingredient nutrition. Many treats are using the freeze-dried format and even serve it together with dry pet food.

 

Low-temperature baked pet food is another popular trend.

 

 

 

Innovative ingredients and alternative protein

 

Many companies were showcasing products with innovative ingredients and alternative protein.

 

Exotic protein was a huge trend at Pet Fair ASIA as various new animal protein sources such as pigeon, emu, venison, and rabbit were displayed. Edible birds’ nest for pets was a highlight ingredient at the tradeshow to demonstrate the super-premium market for pet food.

 

While in SEA, insect protein was particularly highlighted during Pet Fair SEA as a sustainable protein source and to support companies’ CSR strategies.

 

 

 

Despite the ongoing inflation surge that directly affects the pet care industry, there are still many emerging and innovative trends in the APAC pet food market, which is a positive sign for a big recovery after 3 years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

We are looking forward to discovering new innovations at the next tradeshows!