American pet food makers would spend over $1.3 million (about P73.177 million) this year to expand their exports in 10 markets, including the Philippines, United States-based Pet Food Institute (PFI) said.
The PFI recently announced that it has received a $1.344-million funding under the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service’s (USDA-FAS) Market Access Program (MAP) this year.
The MAP program helps US food and agricultural exporters “expand” their shipments to key overseas markets.
PFI said the fund would be used to increase its exports to 10 markets where it is currently active: Brazil, the Caribbean, Central America, China, Colombia, Mexico, the Middle East, the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan.
“The funds will be used to promote the benefits of complete and balanced US-made pet food to consumers in these markets,” it said in a statement.
The PFI noted that US agricultural exports rose by more than $24 for every dollar that they spent in the “development” of export markets through the MAP.
“The allocation of these funds to PFI is not just a win for the pet food industry, it is a win for the US agricultural industry,” Nat Davies, PFI’s Vice President of Business Operations and Programs said.
“Pet food makers use at least 8,000,000 [metric] tons of plant- and animal-based agricultural ingredients annually, investing $6.9 billion into the economy to manufacture pet food. This provides an economic boost to rural communities and helps strengthen the US economy,” Davies added.
The Philippines has been part of PFI’s MAP market in recent years due to its growing demand for pet food.
The PFI said its members produce the “vast majority” of all US Spet food and treat products. Some of its members include Cargill, Mars Petcare US, Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, and Royal Canin, among others, according to the PFI’s website.
Last year, the USDA-FAS in Manila projected that total pet food sales in the Philippines in 2023 would reach a record level of $434 million, about 9.3 percent over the $397 million recorded in 2022.
The USDA-FAS in Manila said the Philippines’s demand for pet foods has been constantly increasing in recent years due to the growing number of Filipino pet owners.
In fact, the Philippines ranked as the 9th largest market for US dog and cat food in 2021, according to the USDA-FAS in Manila. The US exported $51 million worth of dog and cat food to the Philippines in 2021, it added.
The top dog and cat food supplier to the Philippines in 2021 were Thailand at $71 million followed by the US and Europe ($28 million), the USDA-FAS in Manila said.
“The Philippines offers a growing opportunity for US pet food. While people were confined to their homes during the pandemic, dog and cat adoptions increased and pet food consumption grew.”