One of the biggest festivals for pets expands to more cities and brands make a beeline

One of the biggest pet festival, Pet Fed is expanding in three new cities.

Pet Fed, a festival for furries that is nearly a decade old, is back for another edition. Pet parents and brands catering to pets are gearing up for the festival, touted to be the biggest such bash in the country. The promoters of the festival are eying a jump in revenue from both ticket sales and sponsorship as more brands bet big on the growing pet market in India.

This year, Pet Fed has expanded beyond Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru to Pune, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.

A two-day affair in each of the cities it is held, the festival will include police dog show, training, pet keeping and hygiene masterclasses, Pet’s Got Talent, a fashion show, international cat show, among others.

The festival, which made a comeback as an on-ground event last year after two years of Covid, saw around 60,000 visitors. It will be a two-day “carnival for pets and pet lovers” in each of the cities, and give people who do not have pets at home a chance to mingle with them. The festival will have a number of attractions, including puppy therapy and a variety of activities, workshops and stalls showcasing various items. This year, it will include a police dog show, training, pet keeping and hygiene masterclasses. In addition, there will be a Pet’s Got Talent show, a fashion show, and an international cat show.

This year the number of visitors is expected to go up by 25 percent. “Last year, the total footfall was 60,000. This year, while Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru will see a similar number of visitors, new city additions will see 5,000 visitors each,” said Pet Fed founder Akshay Gupta.

He expects around 75,000 visitors this year but said that per city, the expectation in terms of footfalls is more or less the same as last year. “This is because the market remains the same. People adopted pets during Covid and turned up at the event last year but post-Covid adoption of pets has been slow and there is no pent-up demand,” he explained.

While adoption of pets may be slower than what it was in the Covid years, traction from brands remains strong as they eye the growing pet market.

The pet market in India is currently estimated to be worth Rs 6,000-7,000 crore and it is growing 17-18 percent per year, said Gupta. He added that growth will increase as more brands are coming in.

Brand building

“The market has exploded compared to last year in terms of brands. There are a lot of new and massive big players coming in. Drools is a big partner with us in all six cities. One of the largest pet food exporters, called Allana, has launched their pet food brand in India. Mankind Pharma has launched their own dog food. A lot of new FMCG players have entered the pet food market,” he said.

Around 100-150 brands will feature at the pet festival in each of the cities, said Gupta. “The size of brand deals has also increased versus last year when the largest deal was of Rs 50 lakh. This time, it has reached Rs 1 crore. We have seen a big uptick because more entrants (brands) have come into the space,” the founder added. “The value of the deal depends on the competition in the market, and as large-scale brands like Mankind and Allana have come into the picture, we have been able to charge a premium. Overall, sponsorship revenue is expected to be Rs 6 crore this year.”

L Catterton, a global player in pet food investments, entered the India market with an investment of $60 million in Indian pet food brand Drools, making it one of the largest investments in the pet care segment.

The pet care industry has attracted around $77 million in funding between 2021 and 2022, according to an analysis by Venture Intelligence.

In addition, it is estimated that around 70 new pet care companies have emerged over the past two years, according to market research agency Decipher.

Growing pet market

The pet population is estimated to grow at 11-12 percent annually and the pet care market is expected to reach $1.2 billion (over Rs 10,000 crore) by 2028. However, in August, M.B. Patil Karnataka’s Minister for Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development, said that India’s pet industry is likely to be worth around Rs 20,000 crore by 2025.

Experts note that pet ownership is low in the country, with only 10 percent of Indian households having a pet. Hence there is potential for growth.

Along with high brand traction and growth in sponsorship revenue, Gupta said that revenue from ticket sales also looks promising. “This year, we have done a deal with BookMyShow (an online ticketing and entertainment platform) and they have underwritten our entire ticketing. Seeing the growth last year, they bought all the ticketing rights for the entire calendar year. In this deal, revenue for Pet Fed has grown by 25 percent from last year," Gupta said.

He is also looking to expand to more cities, especially Indore and Lucknow, in future. The focus right now is to go deeper into existing markets.