Poland’s Petfood Holding has obtained permission to invest more than PLN 150 million (U.S.$40.2 million) with the aim to open two wet pet food production facilities in Pionki and Jedlińsk, both in Poland’s central Mazovia region. Under the plan, the new plants will be located within the Starachowice special economic zone (SSEZ), which declared it will provide support to the investments.
“As part of these new investments, modern plants that will make wet pet food will be established along with research and development facilities,” said the zone’s management in a statement. “They will be able to fully satisfy the demand … of [the company’s] customers from Poland, the European Union (EU) and beyond the EU. At least 50 persons will be employed” in Pionki and Jedlińsk.
Production activities at both factories are expected to be launched in the second quarter of this year, according to data from the zone. Establishing the facilities within a special economic zone will provide Petfood Holding with preferential tax treatment for its manufacturing project. In return, the company will be required to maintain the plants’ declared workforce in the coming years. To carry out the investments, the firm has set up two subsidiaries, Petfood Pionki Ltd. and Petfood Jedlińsk Ltd.
Set up in October 2018, Petfood Holding was established by local food industry companies IR Sobczak and Holding Ferma Kłonów Ltd. The two firms are active in the meat and feed production sectors. The investment will allow the Polish manufacturer to establish a presence in the country’s wet dog and cat food segment, which comprises slightly more than 50 percent of Poland’s dog and cat food market.
Data from Euromonitor International, obtained by local trade magazine Rynek Zoologiczny, indicates that Poland’s pet food market was worth an estimated PLN 3.25 billion (U.S.$871 million) in 2017. This segment comprises about 84 percent of the country’s annual sales of pet products. Of these, sales of wet pet food for dogs and cats were worth PLN 419 million (U.S.$112 million) and PLN 769 million (U.S.$206 million), respectively, while sales of dry pet food for dogs and cats were worth PLN 798 million (U.S.$214 million) and PLN 383 million (U.S.$103 million), respectively, according to Euromonitor.
