Royal Canin India plans 3x growth on premium pet food

Royal Canin India is planning to triple its business over the next five years, treating India not as a small premium niche but as a future growth engine for pet food. India’s pet food market is expected to grow at around 12% annually, rising from about $806 million now to nearly $1.5 billion by 2030–31.

The company says it is growing at about 25% this year. But the more significant number is hidden in how Indians feed their pets.

Penetration, not share, is the real story

Packaged food accounts for only about 6% of pets’ calorie intake in India. The remaining 94% comes from home food. That means the competitive set is not just other brands. It is habit.

Royal Canin holds around 16% of the Indian pet food market by retail sales value, and roughly 80% of the super-premium segment. Yet the company is framing the next phase as category expansion rather than share defence. “We are not here to just share game, but we are here to expand the category,” Satinder Singh, general manager, Royal Canin India, told ETRetail.

Two drivers are doing the heavy lifting: premiumisation and the conversion of more pet parents to packaged nutrition.

• 6% of pet calories come from packaged food; 94% from home food.
• 400 cities is the distribution target in 18 months, up from around 200 today.
• 60:40 is the current dog-cat market mix, compared with roughly 90:10 seven to eight years ago.
• Rs 70–80 crore is the annual advertising and promotion budget, with next year’s media spend planned at three times the earlier level.

Availability and trial lower the psychological barrier

Royal Canin is investing in packaging that matches how Indian buyers actually purchase. A packaging centre converts bulk imports of roughly 700 kg into smaller packs from 200 grams to 2 kg, and another line is being added. This matters because small packs reduce the risk people feel when trying a premium product for the first time.

Distribution is following the same logic. The company currently reaches around 200 cities through seven metro distribution centres and 105 distributors in smaller markets. The plan is to double city coverage to 400 within 18 months, with tier-II and tier-III markets as important growth drivers.

The cat signal and the vet gap

Cats are changing the business. They contribute 35% of Royal Canin India’s revenue today, against 65% for dogs. The company expects a 50:50 split in five years, mirroring the market’s move from a 90:10 dog-cat mix to roughly 60:40.

Veterinary access is still thin: India has about one vet or clinic for every 15,000 pets, compared with one for 1,500 pets in Europe and one for 1,000 in the US. That makes vet, pet shop and breeder channels education-led, while online accounts for the remaining one-third of business and quick commerce roughly half of that online share.

For brand builders, the takeaway is that low penetration is a timing story. When adoption is at 6%, the brand that makes the first pack easy to find and easy to finish is the one that earns the next decade of loyalty.

Source: ETRetail.com