WARSAW, POLAND — European dog food manufacturers Butternut Box and PsiBufet recently appointed CTP, a developer and manager of industrial real estate properties, to construct a new dog food facility. The facility will specifically produce fresh and healthy dog food products for distribution throughout continental Europe. 

CTP will use a build-to-suit model to create the new facility. It will be located at CTPark in Zabrze, Poland, spanning 40,000 square meters (430,556 square feet) and employing several hundred people. Butternut Box and PsiBufet estimate that products will begin shipping out from the facility by mid-2025. 

“Our meals are made today in Rudie’s Kitchen in Doncaster, United Kingdom, one of the most modern dog food manufacturing facilities in Europe,” said David Nolan, founder and chief executive officer of Butternut Box. “We are growing rapidly, and another factory is necessary to meet the challenge of growing demand. Poland is a key market for us, and I am delighted that it is becoming a regional hub for the Butternut Box business. Production at CTPark Zabrze will allow us to deliver fresh food even faster to hundreds of thousands of dogs in Germany, as well as other countries in mainland Europe.”

Founded in 2016, Butternut Box specializes in fresh dog food and has a presence in the United Kingdom and Poland. In 2023, the company acquired Polish PsiBufet, which offers fresh, individually tailored dog foods available directly to consumers. PsiBufet has a presence in Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. 

“After choosing Poland as the best location for the production plant, Upper Silesia became our favorite,” said Piotr Wawrysiuk, founder of PsiBufet. “It is a large labor market, full of highly skilled workers, with a very well-developed infrastructure. CTPark Zabrze, in turn, is located in close proximity to the junction of the A1 and A4 motorways, allowing fast delivery to dogs from all over Poland, Germany and other European countries. The possibility of receiving public aid also played a major role in the choice of site for the investment. We also received support from the city and the entire region, as well as irreplaceable commercial advice from CTP.”

In September 2023, Butternut Box closed a funding round, raising about $349.9 million. These funds will be used to help support the development of the new dog food facility. 

“Being appointed to redevelop the ZAB3 building in Zabrze to replicate the specialist standard of the Doncaster factory reflects our expertise and experience in implementing complex manufacturing processes across Europe, something we are increasingly doing in Poland,” said Łukasz Tomczyk, business developer at CTP Poland. “We feel a huge responsibility towards the ambitious business plans of our new partner and — let’s not forget — hundreds of thousands of dogs today and millions of dogs in the future, who are impatiently waiting for their first meals prepared in our park in Zabrze.”

Bogi Gabrovic, director of client relations and corporate affairs at CTP Poland, added, “CTP’s development strategy focuses on locations that are key to Poland’s export opportunities — providing fast trade and shorter delivery times. Hence the decision to develop a portfolio of business parks in, among other places, the Silesian Voivodeship, close to the German market… For the needs of the PsiBufet and Butternut Box brands, we will rebuild one of the buildings in the complex, providing the tenant with suitable conditions for the production and storage of pet food. In this way, we will support the tenant in serving the ever-growing demand for fresh and healthy meals for dogs.”

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