NEW YORK — Halo, Purely for Pets, which was acquired by Better Choice Company in December 2019, is now able to distribute 15 of its dog and cat food products in China. The company applied for and received Product Import Registrations from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China to seal the deal.
"We are very pleased with this recent development, which has been an ongoing initiative at Halo for almost two years," said Werner von Pein, chief executive officer of Better Choice Company. "This will help us accelerate our growth in Asia by allowing us to sell through all relevant domestic distribution channels in mainland China and provide the pets of discerning Chinese pet owners the benefit of the super digestibility of real, whole protein and non-GMO vegetables.”
According to Euromonitor, pet food sales in China are expected to reach $6.1 billion by 2025 at a 28.9% compounded annual growth rate. This growing demand could be an opportunity for United States brands and manufacturers to enter that market.
“China’s growing middle class, a massive move to urbanization, and other demographic changes are driving similar pet humanization trends as seen in the United States, but with a focus toward smaller breed dogs and indoor cats more suitable for urban markets,” von Pein added. “With its smaller kibble size versus the competition, Halo is an attractive choice for smaller breeds and is ideally positioned to benefit from these trends. Our registrations and authorizations to sell through both retail and online channels in China significantly increases our reach. When combined with our solid marketing foundation and our sophisticated go-to-market operations through our partner Penefit International we are well positioned to build out our distribution.”
Halo netted $33.4 million in revenue in 2019, with e-commerce as its leading sales channel.
This is not the only expansion for Halo since it was acquired in December. Better Choice Company entered a joint venture with cbdMD in February with plans to develop a CBD pet product to be sold under its Halo brand.
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