Nestlé is set to establish a new pet food business in South Korea next month as it winds down its joint venture with Lotte Wellfood. According to reports, Lotte-Nestlé Korea, which has marketed pet food, coffee and culinary products since 2014, will cease operations in the first quarter of next year.
Nestlé Purina PetCare will take over the company’s pet food business, marking a strategic shift for the Swiss multinational in the South Korean market. The transition follows what Nestlé Korea CEO Thomas Caso described as a joint decision with Lotte, driven by global priorities and domestic market conditions.
Nestlé has not commented on the impact on jobs or whether the new pet food unit will also handle coffee and culinary brands in South Korea.
During the first nine months of 2024, Purina PetCare delivered low single-digit growth for parent company Nestle. Premium brands Purina ProPlan, Purina ONE and Fancy Feast drove much of this growth with continued sales momentum. Purina’s sales worldwide reached CHF 14.015 million (US$16.184 million), compared to CHF 14.012 million (US$16.180 million) during the first nine months of 2023.
About Purina PetCare
At US$21,470 million, Nestlé Purina PetCare rose to have the highest annual revenues listed on Petfood Industry’s top companies database in 2023. Long a leader in the U.S. market, Nestlé Purina also operates pet food factories in 19 countries. Nestlé Purina claims three headquarters globally: St. Louis, Missouri, USA, for its North American and Latin American operations; Lausanne, Switzerland, in Europe; and Sydney, Australia, covering Asia, Oceania and Africa. Its parent company, Nestlé's world headquarters, is in Vevey, Switzerland.
