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Tag: Petcare

  • All about cats and dogs and their Indian pet parents

    All about cats and dogs and their Indian pet parents

    MUMBAI: Indians are increasingly welcoming animals into their home. That’s something which is more than reflected in major metros and urban areas where you find pet owners walking their furry friends on the sidewalk at dusk or at dawn.

    A global pet parent survey by pet care and nutrition company Mars Petcare totally reaffirmed this. 20,000 pet (cats and dogs)  parents were contacted  – 1,000 of them from India – and two thirds of them expressed that their feline or canine companions  are the most important thing in their lives.

    For Gen Zs and millennials,  pets are companions who provide unconditional love, alleviate stress, and make great companions to bond with. More than 64 per cent of young dog owners and 60 per cent of young cat owners in India reported that their pets helped reduce stress and anxiety. These numbers reveal that pets are an integral part of their life. Pet adoption starts at least three months or younger, with 67 per cent of them being puppies and 70 per cent, kittens.
     
    The survey reveals that there’s still a journey ahead in raising awareness about adoption. Only six  per cent of puppies and four per cent of kittens are adopted from shelters, with 17 per cent of puppies and 10 per cent  of kittens being acquired through breeders and, maximum, through pet shops, with 23 per cent  of puppies and 19 per cent of kittens. This indicates a significant opportunity to promote adoption and responsible pet ownership, potentially leading to a more compassionate pet care culture in India.
     
    Mars Petcare India managing director Salil Murthy acknowledged that a new generation of Indian pet parents- especially young Indians-  are adopting pets in record numbers and are also prioritising the emotional and mental benefits these relationships bring. “At Mars Petcare, we are obsessed with pet parents and are always listening and learning from them. The Mars Global Pet Parent Study reflects our commitment to learn and share awareness about how pet ownership is evolving worldwide. It’s no longer ownership; it’s become a lifelong relationship. India is no different. Just as they care about their own health, Gen Z is equally committed to the health and nutrition of their pets,” he added. “We ensure every product in our portfolio provides 100 per cent complete and balanced nutrition wherever pets are. Beyond nutrition, we aim to ease pet parents’ challenges and build a better world for pets. Our initiatives like building better cities for pets, organising national adoption weekends, deploying mobile shelters across key metros, and partnering with animal welfare organisations in multiple cities are a testament to our commitment to this purpose.”

    Couple cuddling with their cats and dogs
     
    Globally, Mars Petcare’s survey revealed similar trends in pet ownership, with 56 per cent  of people worldwide identifying as pet parents, and nearly half of them being first-time owners. Around 37 per cent  of global pet parents view their pets as the most important thing in their life, showing that this deep bond between people and pets extends beyond borders. With insights like these, Mars Petcare continues to innovate and evolve its offerings to meet the needs of pet parents around the world.
     
    Conducted over 30 days in early 2024, Mars Petcare’s study surveyed 20,000 pet parents across 21 countries, including Canada, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Turkey, South Africa, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and India. This study—the largest of its kind—reveals how pets profoundly impact lives worldwide and the evolving priorities of today’s pet parents.

    Following are some of the highlights of the survey”
     
     Pet Ownership is Expanding and Evolving
    * Growing pet ownership globally: Over half (56 per cent) of respondents globally are pet parents;  47 per cent being first-time owners. In India, first-time pet parents rise to 69 per cent
    * Pet prioritisation: Gen Z and millennials lead a more emotional approach to pet ownership, with 47 per cent of global Gen Z dog owners and 43 per cent of cat owners saying their pets are “the most important part of their lives.” In India, this number is a remarkable 66 per cent for dog and cat owners.
    * Younger pets for younger generations: Globally, 70 per cent of puppy owners and 72 per cent of kitten owners are Gen Z or millennials, reflecting their desire to start early bonds. 

    Pet Parents’ Satisfaction and Challenges
    * High satisfaction with pets’ impact: Globally, 37 per cent of pet parents feel their pets are central to their lives, with India showing an even stronger bond at 68 per cent. Dog owners value unconditional love (42 per cent in India) and family completeness (40 per cent), while cat owners highlight entertainment (43 per cent) and stress relief (41 per cent).
    * Guilt around leaving pets alone: One-third of global dog owners (33 per cent) and 32 per cent  of Indian dog owners feel guilty about leaving pets alone. For cat owners, this rises to 38 per cent in India.
     
    Barriers to Pet Ownership and Pet Friendliness
    * Key barriers: Globally, challenges include unsuitable living conditions and the commitment level. In India, emotional pain from pet loss (23 per cent) is a top reason for not owning a dog, while living conditions and furniture concerns impact cat ownership.
    * Pet-friendliness of neighborhoods: While 42 per cent globally find their neighborhoods pet-friendly, India ranks higher, with 56 per cent viewing it positively. However, nine per cent of Indian respondents still hold negative sentiments about having pets in their neighborhood.
    * Pet adoption: Most pets are acquired through friends, family, or breeders, with minimal adoption rates. In India, 23 per cent of dogs and 19 per cent of cats come from pet shops, while adoption rates remain low at six per cent  for dogs and four per cent for cats.

  • Supertails to expand and bring international pet brands exclusively to India: Co-founder Varun Sadana

    Supertails to expand and bring international pet brands exclusively to India: Co-founder Varun Sadana

    Mumbai: Since 2019, the growth rate of the Indian pet market has increased from 16-17 per cent to upwards of 20 per cent in 2020. In fact, while dog adoption rates have increased by up to 50 per cent by 2020, the cat market has increased by up to 40 per cent. With pets in more than 12 per cent of urban Indian homes, the country is on the threshold of further exponential growth in this industry, similar to what happened in more evolved pet markets like China ($30 billion) and the USA ($105 billion) in the past.

    Following the emergence of petcare in the country, Supertails is encashing the space pretty well with 50 per cent month-on-month growth for the last one year.

    Supertails is a first-of-its-kind digital platform that supports the ever-increasing pet parent community with a one-stop solution for pet food and supplies.

    Launched in 2021 by Vineet Khanna, Varun Sadana, and Aman Tekriwal, the startup provides veterinary care, pet food and supplies, and offers pet training sessions as well. In recent times, Supertails has been the talk of the town, not only for its unique services but for its ad campaigns and exponential growth too.

    In conversation with Indiatelevision.com, Supertails co-founder Varun Sadana talks about their advertising strategy for the brand, investors, future plans, and a lot more! He also sheds some light on the growth trajectory of the digital platform.

    Prior to Supertails, Varun was the co-founder and COO of Licious. He has also been associated with HUL and Snapdeal in his earlier career. He has pursued his bachelors of technology (mechanical) from the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra and an MBA in sales and operations from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.

    Edited excerpts:

    On how Supertails started

    Varun: Similar to the meat market, the pet market too needs disruption as pets are now seen as companions. The relentless passion for the pet care ecosystem and a vision to make India a pet-friendly nation unites the founders of Supertails with their team of pet care experts and enthusiasts.

    Currently, Supertails has over 120 brands in the petcare space, making it the widest assortment of petcare brands on a single platform in the country.

    On enthralling investor response

    Varun: Supertails, which debuted in 2021, raised $2.6 million in pre-series funding. This welcoming response from the investor brands helped the brand start on a very strong note. The first round of collections saw investors like global Indian icon Deepika Padukone, Kunal Bahl, Titan Capital, Sauce VC, and Whiteboard Capital, among others.

    On following the path of growth

    Varun: Over the last one year, the digital platform has been growing at a CMGR of over 50 per cent month-on-monthly.

    Our business is broken down into our ecommerce platform and our own brand. The e-commerce platform is meant for the Indian population and is working towards a better assortment, discoverability, and pricing of pet products in the country. Supertails offers almost all brands across all relevant categories such as food, toys, grooming, etc., available in India on its platform.

    We believe the natural next step for the expansion of this vertical is to bring international brands on an exclusive basis to India.

    The market size of the business we’re building is $1-1.5 billion in India as of 2022, and is expected to grow to five billion dollars by 2027.

    On genZ centric marketing approach

    Varun: Supertails caters to the GenZ pet parent audience. We are aiming to build a brand that makes pet parenting easy and fun for them. When it comes to marketing, we believe that more than the right channel, it’s the right narrative that appeals to the Gen Z consumer.

    Media in today’s day and age is extremely porous and we believe in an integrated approach for all our campaigns. While we have always been a digital media first brand, what we really focus on is bringing valuable content to our consumers and then distributing this through multiple avenues. Whether it has been doing brand films with a unique creative approach, i.e., visualising life through a pet’s point of view or having campaigns like “Crime Master Doggo” which surprise our audiences—our approach is always content first.

    Sadana noted that more than anything, this market is defined by mindsets, where there is a potential for a paradigm shift just by altering the narrative and starting the right conversations among the consumers, which in the case of Supertails is a tech-savvy GenZ pet parent redefining “family” as being centred on their pet.

    On Supertails future

    Varun: As the company grows, Supertails plans to support pet parents as they navigate all aspects of pet parenthood, including the decision of bringing home a pet, training and hygiene consultation, raising a healthy and fit companion, and fulfilling all primary needs for the pet.

    In three years, supertails.com will be a one-stop shop for all pet product needs with the widest assortment available in India at the best negotiated prices with a robust supply chain in place.