It is clarified that in 2021, Russia exported 160 thousand tons of pet food which is 32% higher than the same period in 2020. Russian pet food was supplied to 30 countries.
According to the Russian Pet Food Producers Association, by 2025 the Russian export volumes may increase by 25-30% per year providing there is no shortage of raw material supply. “The major exporters of the Russian pet food are the EU member states, Norway, Turkey, the CIS countries, Ukraine, Mongolia. The opportunities for the Russian pet food sector to tap into Asian markets such as China could be fruitful for the sector. Growing numbers of pet owners result in a corresponding increase in pet food consumption,” said Fyodor Borisov, the Executive Director of the Russian Pet Food Producers Association.
The biggest customer of the Russian pet food for non-food producing animals is Belarus. In 2021, 37 thousand tons of domestic products worth $61 million were exported to Belarus.
Kazakhstan, Germany, Ukraine and France are also among the top 5 largest importers of Russian pet food.
Thus, in 2021, 31 thousand tons of pet food worth $32 million were exported to Kazakhstan. More than 20 thousand tons worth $22 million were shipped to Germany.
Russia exported $21 million worth of pet food to Ukraine and the Russian pet food worth $20 million was shipped to France.
According to the Agroexport analysts, new export markets for the Russian pet food produce are Spain (Russia exported $522,000 worth of pet food), Sweden (export volumes are worth $84,000) and Finland (export volumes are worth $59,000).
In addition, in 2021, Russia started shipments of heat-treated pet food to Hong Kong.
Last year, the first 11 tons worth $19,000 were shipped to the Special Administrative Region of China.
According to experts in the field, due to the Covid-19 restrictions the global pet food market is growing very actively in many countries. The massive transition to remote work during the pandemic led to an increase in animal adoptions, and, respectively, to a surge in the pet food sales. According to Mordor Intelligence, the market was valued at USD $97 billion in 2020 and is anticipated to reach annual growth rate of 4.8% by 2026.
According to the industry experts, the world’s largest pet food markets are the USA, the UK, France, Brazil, Russia, Germany and Japan.
