Cat Food Makes Up 40% Revenue For Pet Food Unicorn Drools

Drools, a brand that has almost become another name for dog food in India, actually sees cats claiming a substantial slice of the revenue pie. 

CEO Dr Shashank Sinha said in a fireside chat at Inc42’s D2C & Retail Summit on July 25 that the brand’s cat food subsidiary, PurePet Cat, has gained exceptional traction in recent times and is now making up 35-40% to the total revenue of the pet food brand. 

The market for car food was rather sluggish when the company entered the segment in 2014 as the prices were on the premium side. “One instance I can remember is of a cat parent buying dog food instead, as it was cheaper. To break the mould, we launched our brand PurePet Cat at a price 40% cheaper than the premium variants,” Sinha said. 

“Today, it is the biggest cat food brand in the country, with around 2,200 tonnes of monthly sales volume.”

Cat ownership in India has shown significant growth over the past five years as there has been a major shift in the lifestyle of the urban Indian and petcare products and services have become more accessible. Although love for canine companions never ceased to dominate the pet landscape, there has been a remarkable surge in feline affection across socioeconomic and cultural divisions. 

Sinha said that the brand averaged a 37% annual growth rate over the past five years. While the newly turned unicorn is yet to file its business performance for FY25, Drools’ operating revenue in the previous fiscal spiked 50% to INR 715 Cr, despite suffering a loss of INR 14 Cr from a profit of INR 28 Cr in the previous fiscal. 

The 15-year-old startup has tied up with local vets and retailers to promote the brand while pushing sales through ecommerce and quick commerce. The CEO personally tries to meet 20 offline channel partners, pet stores or small chains every month.

The startup has expanded its offline presence across 1,200 Indian cities, with the top 100 of them contributing about 40% of its revenue. 

Drools has also stepped up its focus on smaller batches of its products, especially for its quick commerce play. The idea behind this, he explains, is to reach out to those customers who are still testing out the types of pet food that would be appropriate for their pets. 

Nestlé SA, the parent entity of Nestlé India, acquired a minority stake in Drools earlier this year. The brand offers more than 650 SKUs, including high-protein, prescription, and value-for-money diets, serving the full spectrum of pet nutrition needs.