Century Pacific Food enters pet food segment
CENTURY Pacific Food, Inc. (CNPF) launched its own pet food range under a new brand called “Goodest,” taking note that “more Filipino households are now caring for pets and treating them as family.”
“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,” Christopher T. Po, executive chairman of CNPF, said in a statement on Wednesday.
CNPF is entering the segment with an affordable cat food range, which was developed to meet the standard set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials.
Goodest’s cat food is said to be “formulated with essential nutrients and minerals” that cats need for their daily meals. CNPF said Goodest products are now available in supermarkets nationwide as well as on online retail platforms.
The company said it sees the pet food category to be promising as pet owners “have evolved to 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,” said Alexander Lim, head of innovations and general manager for pet food at CNPF.
CNPF, the listed company known for its tuna and canned food products, sees the pet food category “as a strongly synergistic and accretive business unit” that can benefit from its manufacturing and brand-building expertise.
The company “has been aggressively beefing up” its presence in new categories like the dairy and coconut segments in the past five years. It also entered the plant-based meat alternatives market last year via its “unMEAT” brand.
“Our entry into the pet category is another output of the company’s innovation thrust that led to recent new product launches,” said Mr. Po. “We are hopeful that this and other innovations will become future growth drivers for the company.”
On Wednesday, shares of CNPF at the stock market went up by 2.20% or 55 centavos to close at P25.50 apiece. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte
