Pet lovers consider their pets as a member of the family. The growing awareness of animal welfare and well-being has resulted in an increase in the popularity of pet care products. This is even more prevalent among the millennial generation in both developing and developed countries around the world. Along with this, the rise in middle-income households and rising disposable incomes have increased pet owners' willingness to spend on high-quality pet products.Therefore, the growing interest in pet humanization, coupled with a rise in demand for premiumization in pet care products, is the key factor driving the market growth for pet care products.
Kit Cat International, founded in 2013, is a citation for innovative, healthy, natural cat products incorporated by two brothers, Kenneth Koh and Kevin Koh, who shared a passion for animal welfare, shelters, and stray cats. The dedication to ensuring the best interests of cats can be seen in their careful selection of the right ingredients for their products, and they offer one of the most extensive and innovative selections of cat products in the world made from a unique combination of high-quality and natural ingredients. In an exclusive interaction with Asia Business Outlook, Kenneth Koh, Founder and Lead Specialist at Kit Cat International, enlightens us more about the company.
Define Kit Cat International and its positioning in this market?
Kit Cat International is a destination for specially made, wholesome, and natural cat products that are made up of the freshest raw materials. Being a family-owned company, Kit Cat is swift in making decisions to come up with products that customer wants. Following feedback on customer product preferences in the Asian market, we have developed four new product lines including wet food, dry food, milk, and treats in addition to cat litter and other accessories.
We began our journey by producing cat litter, and then we gradually started to explore our market in the food sector. And now we're positioned as an FMCG company that specializes in independent pet products.
What methodologies have you incorporated in the business to go to the next level and stay ahead of the curve?
The purchasing power of different markets varies, and this market in Singapore is very small. Therefore, we must consider the quality market rather than relying solely on volume.Customers are willing to pay more for products that stand out and are of high quality. While in some other nations, the purchasing power is not as high as it is in Singapore, and people tend to choose more affordable yet healthy products. Therefore, we lay our emphasis on producing products that are appropriate for various regional markets. In this regard, I believe we are ahead of our competitors because we continue to localize products for individual markets. Moreover, we always label our products in their native language. Today we export to 40 different countries, with all these labels explaining the benefits of our products in the local language. All in all, we go deep into ensuring that our products are comfortable for the country's end users.
Could you share any case study explaining how you helped your customer with your product and how the customer benefitted from it?
We have an eco-friendly soybean cat litter product in our portfolio, which was not available in Spain at all. Following our successful launch in the Spanish market, we began to receive a lot of inquiries from people who praised the quality of the product and appreciated us for developing such cutting-edge product specifically for their market. This product has been beneficial not only in Spain but across the world. Using this product implies using recycled materials for our cat litter, which are natural, ecologically friendly, and most importantly, it's harmless to the cats.
How has been the journey of the company since its inception?
Since our inception in 2013, we have grown significantly carving a niche for ourselves in the market. We spent the initial four years establishing ourselves in the Southeast Asian market and began to receive inquiries from the Middle East in the fifth year. Compared to where we started, this experience is unquestionably distinct. When I first started, I remember going door-todoor to individual pet stores in search of opportunities to market my brand. But again, we build a reputation over time. We are now very strong in Asia as well as making inroads into the European market. I have covered almost 90 percent of Asian countries to date, and I feel this marks a distinct career milestone for us.
I believe we are ahead of our competitors because we continue to localize products for individual markets
What is the future roadmap of your company? Are you working on any innovations for your products?
Humanization of products, in my opinion, is crucial. What I meanby 'humanizing products' is is to see that a high-quality product that is appropriate for kids should also be available for pets. We need to think ahead and be foresighted. In light of this, our future roadmap will focus on being natural and organic, as well as, transforming more human products into products for pets. Also, home-cooked pet food production is something we're enthused about and looking forward to tapping into. It's difficult for a Singaporean brand to stand out, enter the international market, and be able to showcase products in more than 40 countries. We take pride in being Singapore's first and largest company to be able to export to so many nations. We feel very fortunate, and just a shout-out to all the cats and their owners in the world that support Kit Cat International.
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