Thread by @aakriti_bhalla

When @Nestle (which is amongst top 2 pet food makers globally) decided to introduce its pet food in India, the India unit - @NestleIndia was not as convinced.

4 years down the lane, market has dramatically changed and Nestlé India now sees an opportunity too hard to miss. A 🧵:

What changed? The pandemic.

#Pethumanisation was a trend already building up but with the devastations caused by this covid, emotional reasons - such as changing family dynamics, need for companionship as well as practical ones - hybrid work mode, led to surge in pet adoption.

Larger corporations like Nestlé and Emami want to be part of the ecosystem. Even startups in the space like Wiggles, Heads Up for Tails, etc are seeing VC investments.

But Nestlé India has a hard task cut out for it. Its biggest competitor in India, Mars Inc, which sells Pedigree, Whiskas, has been in India from 2000s.

Another big competition the co sees is @DroolsIndia, owned by Indian Broiler Group, which has been present since 2010

While Mars’ Pedigree is seeing market space reduce over time (as Indian consumers find affordable and quality alternatives), Drools is occupying more and more shelf space.

For @NestleIndia - both @MarsGlobal (its global rival) + IB Group (a homegrown major) are big competition.

@DroolsIndia CEO Shashank Sinha told @MorningContext that Indian consumer is not like a consumer in U.S. or Europe.

More on the competition can be best explained through market data from @Euromonitor. GFX by @arkgrafix

@MorningContext team did a deep-dive into the Rs 4000 cr #petfood sector in India to find out more about the churn.

Edits - @ashokraaj @PRINCE0879
constant guide - @Harveen_A
Graphics - @arkgrafix and Illustration - Rajat Baran

themorningcontext.com/business/nestl…