Dongwon F&B Enters US Pet Food Market... Exports Nutri Plan

Wet Cat Food to Enter 70,000 Stores in the U.S.
Annual Sales Expected to Reach 30 Billion KRW
Achievement in the 10th Year Since Launching 'Nutri Plan'

Dongwon F&B is officially exporting K-pet food to the United States.

On the 18th, Dongwon F&B announced that it began exporting its pet food specialty brand Nutri Plan to the U.S. starting this month. The export items are six types of wet cans for cats, which will be stocked in more than 70,000 distribution chains including supermarkets and pet shops across the U.S., as well as online malls. The company expects to record approximately 30 billion KRW in local sales annually.

This export is significant as it marks the company's first entry into the U.S., the largest market in the global pet food industry. The company stated, "It is a noteworthy achievement to have re-exported to the U.S. with our own brand in a domestic pet food market led by foreign brands such as Nestl? and Purina Mars," adding, "This is a remarkable accomplishment achieved 10 years after launching Nutri Plan in 2014."

The reason Dongwon F&B is recognized in the pet food market is due to its technology and quality. Based on the technology accumulated from producing Korea’s representative tuna cans, Dongwon F&B has been exporting wet cans for cats to Japan for over 30 years since 1991. Dongwon F&B’s wet cans for cats boast fresh quality by using freshly caught tuna that is steamed and cooked before being immediately canned. They are highly palatable and rich in taurine. Currently, these products are exported to more than 10 countries including Japan, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, with a cumulative domestic and international sales volume of approximately 700 million units.

According to the Food Industry Statistical Information (FIS) from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), the global pet food market is estimated to have grown at an average annual rate of 3.1% from $81.3 billion (about 118 trillion KRW) in 2019 to $91.8 billion (about 133 trillion KRW) in 2023. Among this, the U.S. accounts for about 40% of the global market.

Dongwon F&B is expanding its product lineup beyond cat food by recently increasing production facilities for dog food. The company aims to expand exports worldwide to countries including the U.S., Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Russia, targeting annual sales of 200 billion KRW in the pet food sector by 2027.