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Baozi King

More and more food companies are crossing over to the pet industry!

Recently, Zhongyin Babi Food Co., Ltd., the "first stock of baozi" in China, established a new company specializing in pet food and supplies - Beiyafu (Shanghai) Pet Food Co., Ltd.

According to Qichacha, the registered capital of the company is 1 million yuan. It is an enterprise engaged in the processing of agricultural and sideline products, fully controlled by Zhongyin Babi.

From Mantou to capital market

According to public information, Zhongyin Babi was founded in 1998. Its founder Liu Huiping came to Shanghai with a dream of starting a business worth 4000 yuan and a longing for the future. However, the initial business was not smooth. Liu Huiping tried to make Mantou, but the business was not as smooth as expected. After struggling for a while, he decided to transform into making steamed buns and chose products that were more in line with consumer needs. In March 2001, Liu Huiping opened the first "Master Liu Big Bag" store in Huangpu District, Shanghai.

In the new century, "Master Liu's Big Bag" was renamed "Babi Mantou", and the brand management was officially launched. Then Barbie Mantou launched the chain franchise business and gradually expanded the market.

In October 2020, Babi Food was officially listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, becoming the "first stock of Chinese steamed buns", marking a new stage for the company in the capital market. In 2023, Babi Food was listed in the "2023 First China International (Foshan) Prefabricated Vegetable Industry Conference - Hurun China Prefabricated Vegetable Production Enterprise Top 100 List", becoming a highly anticipated brand in the industry.

As of now, Babi Food has exceeded 3000 stores, covering most of the national market and becoming a leading brand in the domestic baozi industry. In recent years, the company's performance has steadily increased and performed outstandingly, gradually consolidating its leading position in the industry.

In addition, according to the third quarter report of China Beverage Babi Food Co., Ltd. disclosed on October 25, 2024, as of September 30, 2024, the company achieved a revenue of 1.21 billion yuan.

Cross border pets: Enterprises in various fields such as food, medicine, and retail are laying out their presence

In recent years, there have been constant news of giant cross-border pets.

In January of this year, Three Squirrels Co., Ltd. established Anhui Three Squirrels Pet Food Co., Ltd. and began recruiting pet food research and development personnel.

In fact, this is not the first time Three Squirrels has laid out in the pet related field. As early as 2020, Three Squirrels established a pet company and launched pet products such as main food and snacks. However, two years later, they transferred the brand trademark to Xiaopei Pet. Now that they have entered the market again, it shows their determination to the pet industry.

Coincidentally, Haizheng Pharmaceutical, a listed company that has already crossed over into pet medicine, stated in response to investors' questions yesterday that in the field of pet food, the company has attempted to develop prescription cans. At the same time, it is taking advantage of the company's promotion of synthetic biology to research and layout in the areas of large animal feed raw materials and pet prescription food.

It is worth noting that from several cases this month, most of the recent "pet cross-border" or deepening cross-border enterprises have started from their own areas of expertise and can to some extent support and optimize the development of their original fields. However, as time goes on, it will be found that "assisting the development of the industry" is not the only starting point for companies to cross over into the pet industry.

The Pet Classic has compiled statistics on some cross-border cases of pet companies in recent years (excluding joint products), and found that more than 30 top companies have entered the pet industry, covering many industries such as food and beverage, medicine and health, retail e-commerce, clothing and fashion, technology and home appliances, etc.

Involving multiple leading enterprises in various fields such as Yili, Mengniu, First Pharmaceutical, Hema, Semir Group, Xinhua Bookstore, etc. Among them, there are the most cross-border enterprises in the fields of food and beverage, medicine and health.

Generally speaking, the measures taken by enterprises to cross the pet industry can be divided into two categories: one is to conduct relevant patent research and development from the perspective of industry university research, and the other is to launch terminal pet products.

The first type of enterprises, such as Shenji Pharmaceutical, Yili, Jianhe Group, etc., rely on their own scientific research strength to conduct research and development of related products from the perspective of industry university research. Another type is to leverage their strong channel advantages to launch pet related products, such as Holiland and Hema. It is worth mentioning that the pet company under Three Squirrels has also started recruiting R&D personnel and actively developing pet products.

In addition, industry insiders have analyzed that there are actually two underlying reasons for companies crossing the pet industry.

On the one hand, there is a technological intersection between food and pet products in terms of "nutrition" and "ingredients". Research has found that many food ingredients contain rich nutrients such as lactic acid bacteria, probiotics, vitamins, etc., which have significant benefits for pet health. This effect is gradually being explored by many enterprises.

Another aspect is that no matter how big the enterprise is, it needs to find new breakthrough points. Therefore, these food, pharmaceutical, electrical and other enterprises have always been famous for "making money", and the huge potential and high profit margin of the pet market attract large enterprises to cross over and layout.

However, the small-scale cross-border activities of large enterprises may attract many consumers due to novelty, but if they want to deepen their operations and truly turn pet products into a profitable main line, it may not be an easy task.

Firstly, there is a marketing gap between the food and pet products industries, and the channels do not overlap. As the saying goes, food earns money from the public, while pet products earn money from pet owners. These are two non overlapping consumer groups, so it is also a challenge for companies to gain greater brand awareness and trust in the pet product industry.

Secondly, the technological system is different. Making food and pet products can be said to be "separated by mountains", even if there is technical overlap in nutrition and other areas. To truly make pet product technology more refined and comprehensive, for enterprises, it can be said to be starting from scratch.

Cross border pets are more about testing the waters

Many large enterprises may have a 'play with the money' mentality, "said a senior industry insider. One important reason for giants to launch pet products is to help promote their brands and use such events to attract traffic and build momentum.

During the process of sorting out, Pet Classics also found that although most brands entered the pet industry with "ambitious" intentions, only a few truly delved into product research and development and brand building. Most only used pets as a gimmick, and even after the product was officially announced, major platforms found it difficult to find sales channels.

In fact, many cross-border enterprises are far from the pet industry in terms of sales channels, audience, consumer positioning, market awareness, product development, and many other aspects. The cross industry, cross domain, and cross population cross domain collaborations also make it difficult for these companies to deeply develop in the pet industry.

For cross-border enterprises, in order to succeed in the pet industry, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the characteristics and needs of the pet industry, carefully polish products, and establish brand image. Otherwise, cross-border cooperation will only become a temporary market hotspot and it will be difficult to achieve long-term sustainable development.

If cross-border is only seen as a traffic gimmick, companies may not escape the fate of a "flash in the pan". Only by deeply cultivating product strength can we get a share of this "other economy" feast.