Thailand, an established exporter of pet food, and South Korea, a rising one, both reported strong export numbers for January-September 2022.
Thailand’s pet food exports’ year-on-year growth during the first nine months of 2022 has been so impressive that its ministry of commerce believes it can soon take over Germany (No. 1) and the United States (No. 2) as world leaders in the field.
Thailand’s pet food exports grew 34.4% during the said period to bring in revenues of 74.97 billion Thai baht. A big chunk of that (65.27 billion baht) comes from dog and cat food exports, and the rest for other kinds of animals (9.7 billion baht).
Thailand is currently the world’s third largest pet food exporter, mostly catering to the mid- and high-range sectors of the markets. Its biggest foreign markets are the U.S., Italy and Japan. Thailand’s pet food exports have continuously performed well over the last three years.
In 2021, Thailand’s pet food export value of more than 65 billion baht was due to a 27% growth from the year before, according to the Thai Pet Food Trade Association (TPFA).
Speaking at the recent Pet Fair Southeast Asia 2022 in Bangkok, Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said, “With continued support from the government and close cooperation between the ministry and the Thai Pet Food Trade Association [TPFA], I am confident that soon Thailand will take the lead and become the world’s biggest pet food exporter.”
Meanwhile, South Korea finds its pet food exports growing by 56% on-year through September to set a new record, data from the Korea Customs Service shows.
Customs reported that outbound shipments of pet products reached $116 million up until September 2022, surpassing $111 million posted for all of 2021. The customs office said cat and dog food products accounted for $61 million and $47 million, respectively. Other goods, including leashes and clothes, accounted for $8 million.
South Korea’s pet food exports primarily went to Japan which imported $4.5 million (39%), followed by Thailand with $1.7 million and Australia with $1.5 million.
The customs office said South Korea’s imports of other pet products also grew from January to September 2022 with 17% on-year valued at $291 million.
Alma Buelva is a journalist from the Philippines. When she’s not writing about business and technology, she devotes her time to taking care of animals and writing about them, too.