Malaysia Pet Market Insights
Malaysian pet food market is projected to register a CAGR of 6.2% during 2021 – 2026 (Mordor Intelligence, 2021)
There are currently 6 million dogs and 5 million cats in Malaysia, however, the ownership of dogs are at 398,000 and cats are at 658,000 in 2019, this shows that owning cats are more popular in the country. (followed by fish which is 15% of pet population in Malaysia and birds at 6%).
Key Market Trends
Rise In Pet Humanization
Pet humanization is on the rise in the pet owner community, led by the changing of pet owner demographic from baby boomers to millennials and changing attitudes toward pet ownership. Food safety and nutritional needs are becoming a major concern for pet owners leading to the willingness to spend more on quality products. With the growing middle-class and higher amount of disposable income, many pet owners now spend more on higher quality products, leading to the growth of certain pet food segments such as healthy treats, specialty pet foods, and other premium options (Mordor Intelligence, 2021)
Increase in e-Commerce Sales
Online sales of pet food is increasing for the past few years, in 2020, it occupied 24.7% of pet food market share in Malaysia. This is due to the convenience and the wide range of products. The unreliability of local goods has forced the consumers to depend on imported goods which are made available via e-commerce space like Lazada and Shopee.
Malaysia Pet Retail Market Size
In 2020, Malaysian pet food market size was US$204.5 million, an increase of CAGR of 5.5% from 2016 which was US$165.1 million. The projected market size for 2025 is US$280.4 million. All pet food category contributed to the growth with more than half of the market was made up of cat food at 61.2%, followed by dog food at 31.8%.
Pet Food Company Shares in Malaysia
In 2019, more than 70% of pet food purchases were made from the top five companies: Mars Inc., Nestle SA, Choroen Pokphand Group, Powerpets Food Sdn Bhd, and Colgate-Palmolive Co.
Powerpets Food Sdn Bhd shows the highest growth rate during 2015 – 2019 period at 6.0% followed by Charoen Pokphand Group at 1.8%, at the same time, international companies are showing negative and stable rates during the same time.
Whiskas and Pedigree by Mars Inc. still remain at the top of the market with retail sales value at US$21.5 and US$20.8 million respectively in 2019. Smartheart (CP Group) showed a steady growth over the 5 years with a growth rate of 8.7% (US$17.2 million in 2019).
Pet Food Market Segmentation
Dog Food
From 2016 to 2020, dog food sales increased, from US$52.8 million to US$65.1 million, with a CAGR of 5.4%. Dry dog food accounted for 85.6% of total dog food sales in 2020.
Premium-priced dry dog food was the key contributor of overall dog food value sales. Premium-priced dry dog food, which represented 50.4% of total dry dog food sales in 2020, had the strongest growth from 2016 to 2020 among all categories. Rising prices of imported dog food brands encouraging many pet owners to downgrade from premium wet dog food to premium dry dog food and even some economy dog food brands in order to control expenses (Euromonitor, 2020). Premium-priced dry dog food is expected to continue to grow from 2021 to 2025 as its demand is boosted by growing interest in optimum nutrition (Euromonitor, 2020).
Cat Food
Cat food grew at a CAGR of 8.6% from 2016 to 2020. Dry cat food accounted for 66.0% of the cat food sales in 2020 with a CAGR of 12.0% from 2016 to 2020. Economy dry cat food had the highest growth in the dry food category and is forecast to take the lead (CAGR of 13.5%) from 2021 to 2025. According to Euromonitor, “innovation is helping to sustain growth within premium dry cat food, with better nutrition and veterinary care resulting in Malaysia’s cat population living ever-longer” (Euromonitor, 2020).
Cat treats and mixers recorded a CAGR of 23.0% from 2016 to 2020. This increase is boosted by cat owners’ rising demand for indulgent treats and bonding opportunities (Euromonitor, 2020).
Malaysian Pet Product Distribution Channel
In 2020, grocery retailers (52.7%) and non-store retailing such as e-commerce (18.6%) sold most of the pet products in Malaysia. As pet shops and pet superstores become increasingly competitive and hypermarkets and supermarkets impose high listing fees for distribution (Euromonitor, 2020), e-commerce won share from them with a CAGR of 56.5% from 2016 to 2020. Although the store-based retailers still dominated market, they show a steady decline for the last 5 years, while e-commerce channels are showing a sharp increase. This may mean that within the next decade, the online channels will dominate the market.
