Growel Group forays into pet food, to invest over ₹80 crore

Aquaculture feed, formulation maker and seafood processor Growel Group has launched two pet treats as part of its foray into the fast-growing pet food segment. While the treats, introduced in different variants under its Fullr and DatGud brands, are for dogs, it has plans to launch something similar for cats too followed by pet foods.

The pet foods launch is just a few weeks away, said vice-president M.S.R. Karthik, who is part of the promoter group, while pegging the investment at ₹80-100 crore over the next five years.

Business head J.S. Rama Krishna said from ₹3,300 crore in 2022, the pet food market in India is projected to touch almost ₹8,400 crore ($1 billion) by 2027. The treats segment will continue to drive growth, contributing to ₹1,900-2,000 crore by 2027 from the existing ₹650 crore.

Hyderabad-headquartered Growel Group, comprising a few firms, in 2022-23 clocked revenues of over ₹2,000 crore, Mr. Karthik said, without sharing specifics on contribution of exports as also investments being made on the upcoming aquaculture feed facility in Odisha and an additional shrimp processing unit in Andhra Pradesh.

The existing facilities of the group consist of two formulation manufacturing sites, focused on aquaculture healthcare, in Hyderabad besides a production plant for feeds as well as a processing unit in Andhra Pradesh.

For the pet foods foray, the group has added an additional line at its aquaculture feeds facility in Andhra Pradesh.