Polish producer to launch new cat food pouches amid demand

Poland’s Animal Island is preparing to add four new flavors to its bestselling range of wet cat food pouches which are largely driving the producer’s expansion in its domestic market, according to a senior company representative.

"Wet cat food pouches are our bestseller, we have sold hundreds of thousands of units of this product," Anna Derkacz, the product development manager and executive board member of Animal Island, told Petfoodindustry.com.

"With consumers showing a very strong demand for this product line, we want to roll out new flavors by the end of this year. They are already in production, and we will introduce them to the market in the coming months. These pouches are selling in large volumes in both the business-to-consumer and business-to-business channels," she said.

The current wet cat food range in pouches includes chicken, beef, white fish, and turkey variants.

The pet food company’s product portfolio comprises wet and dry dog food, wet cat food, and Animal Island is currently working on adding dry cat food to its range, according to Derkacz.

As part of efforts to promote its new products, Animal Island took part in this year’s edition of the PetExpo industry show in Łódź, in Poland’s central part. The show took place between September 13 and 15.

Derkacz said that, in addition to the Polish market, the company is also interested in expanding its foothold abroad.

"We have exported our products to destinations such as Hong Kong, and we are using our participation in various European pet food industry shows to discuss cooperation with foreign partners,” according to the company representative.

Serbian pet food producers boost foreign sales

Serbia’s pet food exports are on the rise, with local manufacturers reporting that foreign sales of their pet food reached a record high level in 2023.

Last year, Serbian manufacturers exported some 64,956 tons of pet food, according to data obtained by local news magazine NIN.

"In 2023, Serbia’s total exports of food for dogs and cats was worth €207.9 million [US$230.4 million]. In comparison with the year 2022, in terms of quantities, a growth of 21.5% was reported, which was accompanied by an increase in the value of exports by as much as 43.7%," said Jasna Stevanović, a senior adviser at the Association of Stockbreeding and Livestock Product Processing at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia.

Until 2015, Serbia was a net importer of pet food. But since then, export sales have rapidly grown. The country's 2023 exports of pet food were roughly 1500% higher than the level reported for 2003.

Stevanović said that Serbia's pet food is exported to more than 40 foreign markets. In addition to various member states of the European Union, of which Serbia is not a part, this includes countries in North America, South America, and Asia, among others.

Ukraine’s MHP to invest $44 million in new Croatian pet food plant

Ukrainian group MHP has unveiled plans to allocate some €40 million (US$44.3 million) to its project to launch a new pet food factory in Croatia.

Under the plan, the investment is to create some 200 new jobs, local news site SEENews.com reported. The factory will be located close to Croatia’s capital Zagreb. In the same area, MHP’s offshoot Perutnina Ptuj, a poultry meat producer, operates its facilities. This will provide the designed pet food plant with easy access to such meat.

In the first phase of the investment, the new factory will be enabled to make some 20,000 tons of wet pet food per year. By 2028, the Croatian factory’s capacity is to be increased to some 35,000 tons.