Century Pacific Food enters pet food market

Canned and processed foods maker Century Pacific Food Inc. is venturing into the pet food market to take advantage of the growing goods category.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Century Pacific said its new pet food range is housed under a newly developed brand called Goodest.

“Pet food is one of the fastest growing consumer goods categories in the Philippines and around the world. With long-term trends such as rising incomes as well as demographic trends of people staying single longer or having children later, as well as people spending more time at home due to the pandemic, we see pet ownership on the rise,” said Christopher Po, Century Pacific executive chairman.

“More Filipino households are now caring for pets and treating them as family. Moreover, the penetration of pet food is still very low in the Philippines versus our more affluent ASEAN neighbors. We expect this category to continue growing going forward,” Po said.

Century Pacific said its foray into pet food begins with an affordable cat food range.

The company said its main products are all formulated with essential nutrients and minerals cats need for their daily food intake, meeting the gold standard in pet nutrition set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

"Pet care holds a lot of promise as a category. Pet owners have now evolved into ‘fur parents.’ These are newly married couples who are delaying having children, singles living alone in their condos especially during this pandemic, or young families cultivating in their kids the values of care and responsibility. For them, pets are family and should be given the best care and nutrition possible within their reach,” said Alexander Lim, Century Pacific’s head of Innovations and general manager for Pet Food.

The company said its Goodest is now available in leading supermarket chains and online retail platforms nationwide.

Century Pacific said its entry in the pet food segment is another step towards further diversifying the company’s portfolio.

“We are always on the lookout for opportunities to expand our portfolio, whether organically or inorganically, but it needs to be purposeful,” Po said.

“In the case of pet food, we think we have found an attractive opportunity where we believe we can offer compelling value to the market. We see this as a strongly synergistic and accretive business unit that can leverage our manufacturing and brand-building know-how. We look forward to building our pet food business and are excited for the vast opportunities that are available for the company in this high-growth category,” he said. — Ted Cordero/BM, GMA News