Godrej Consumer Products to enter pet care business in India in FY26

New Delhi: Consumer products company Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) will enter the pet food market in fiscal year 2026 with the launch of its subsidiary Godrej Pet Care.

GCPL will invest ₹500 crore in Godrej Pet Care over the next five years, partnering with Godrej Agrovet Ltd (GAVL) for manufacturing and R&D, the company said in a filing on Wednesday. GAVL already operates in animal feed and agribusiness sectors.

The company hopes to commence manufacturing in the second half of next year and has appointed a chief operating officer to run GPC.

The pet care sector in India is a ₹5,000 crore market, with the potential for strong double-digit growth over the coming decades, GCPL said.

“… only 10% of Indians own a pet of which only 10% feed packaged food and that too only 40% of the time. Calorie conversion in India is only 4%," the company said. “China, which was remarkably similar to India 15 years ago, has 20% pet ownership with a calorie conversion of 25%. While the opportunity is clear, we believe that our right to win as a group is high,” it added. 

This move follows the trend of increasing pet ownership seen during the covid pandemic. 

As a result several companies have stepped up presence in the pet food market. In 2022, packaged foods and beverages company Nestle India acquired pet food business Purina Petcare India for an estimated  ₹125.3 crore. Purina is a pet food brand owned by Nestle globally. Purina Petcare was launched in India in 2017 as a separate entity. 

In 2022, Emami announced plans to invest in pet care startup Cannis Lupus Services India. In 2021 Mars Petcare, which sells brands such as Pedigree and Whiskas, in India had announced investments of ₹500 crore to expand capacity at its Hyderabad pet food factory. 

GCPL's consolidated revenue from operations in FY24 stood at ₹14,096.11 crore as against ₹13,315.97 crore in the previous fiscal.

On Wednesday, shares of Godrej Consumer settled at ₹1,501.10 on the BSE, up 1.48% from the previous close in a positive market.