Polish cat food producer 3coty is introducing new products to its portfolio, as rising exports are driving the company’s increasing sales, according to the brand’s founders.
Marcin Kindler, a cofounder of 3coty, told Petfood Industry that, together with his partner and the brand’s cofounder Agnieszka Sobczyńska, they had decided to make high-quality cat food after they found out their cat had severe food allergies and was profoundly sick.
“We first started to make pet food for our allergic cat, and later we started to supply it to our cat breeder friends," said Kindler. "Their cats were enjoying it, so we were gradually increasing our production capacities. We now have a factory in Pruszków, close to the capital city of Warsaw."
“I’m a biochemist by education, and Agnieszka is a graphic designer who has developed our brand’s design. We continue to introduce new products to our offer. Most recently, we rolled out a pet food range for seniors, we’re now introducing our Care product range, and also Cheers soups for cats, among others,” he said.
Sobczyńska said that the brand’s monoprotein and duoprotein cat food is ideal for cats with diabetes and various types of allergies, and comes in packaging of up to 1.2 kg (2.6 lbs.) that “is perfect for cat breeders or large cats. We make superpremium cat food that is 100 percent based on poultry meat. We buy this meat from established Polish producers.”
“I spent a long time as a cat judge, as well as the owner of a cat show winner, and I have always been interested in cat genetics. I know how important it is for cats to be fed with natural cat food without preservatives and fillers,” she said. “We now own six cats, the youngest of which have been fed with 3coty from the very beginning.”
3coty is working to increase its foothold in the Polish market, but the largest share of the company’s sales is generated by exports.
“We sell to Nordic countries, such as Sweden, Finland and Denmark, as well as France, Italy, but also to Asian markets, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea,” Kindler said. “We also have individual customers from the United States and Canada. We would be very much interested in teaming up with a distributor active in these two markets.”
The factory in Pruszków is fitted with a surface of about 400 sq. m. (4,300 sq. ft), of which half is occupied by production, and the remainder is allocated to storage and offices.
“We would like to eventually expand this facility, as we could use more space in relation to our growth. We use renewable energy from photovoltaics to make our production activities environmentally friendly,” according to Kindler.
United Petfood secures permission to expand French factory
Belgium’s United Petfood has received the approval of the Vendée municipality, in France’s western part, to more than double the production capacities of its plant from 37,500 to 75,000 tons per year.
As part of the investment, the Belgian manufacturer will also expand the factory’s storage capacities. By adding a new facility with a surface of some 6,000 sq. m. (64,580 sq. ft), United Petfood will increase the plant’s storage capability to a total of 13,500 sq. m., local business daily Les Echos reported.
Established in 1994, the Belgian producer says it is a private label maker of high-quality dry and wet pet food, biscuits, as well as snacks. United Petfood runs a network of 24 facilities on various countries, selling its output in more than 95 markets across the world.
Under the firm’s international expansion drive, most recently, United Petfood bought a factory in Ølgod, Denmark earlier this year, and in 2023, the pet food specialist bought a factory in Nieuwkoop in the Netherlands, according to data from the firm. At the same time, United Petfood is advancing construction work on its new plant in Jedlińsk, in central Poland, aiming to complete the investment in 2025.