Pets enjoy dim sum and seafood as families gather for New Year's Eve dinner in China

A booming pet economy and expanding demand for festive pet food were major bets for online vendors. Gen Z and millennials are discovering niche products on Douyin and Taobao, as well as other e-commerce and social media platforms.

When it comes to spending money for her cats – a Russian blue named Doudou and two dogs – a toy poodle and a Maltese named Yomi and Neinei, respectively – Wang Jianing is unconcerned about the cost. The 24-year-old pet owner in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei just opens her wallet and passes over the money "whenever there is a need," whether it's for food, clothing, Italian-made shampoo, or the rare spa visit.

A feast for the forthcoming Lunar New Year's Eve on January 31 is the three pets' most recent "need." Wang placed an internet purchase for a 399 yuan (US$62.7) meal set to distribute among the canines and felines for the big family gathering. Carrot soup, tiger-shaped omelette rice, filled tofu, mussels, cheesy shrimps, pumpkin cheese biscuits, meaty cupcakes, and dim sum with chicken, cod, duck, and purple yam are all included in the set.

Lunar New Year is approaching, and I want my pets to experience the occasion as well," Wang added. If I can share the large supper with them, I'll be overjoyed.

According to market research firm Mintel, many Chinese individuals regard their pets as companions or even children, just like Wang. Owners treat their pets as if they were human beings. As a result, more pet food that resembles human food is available, according to Pepper Peng, a food and drink analyst at Mintel.

According to a recent report by Chinese market research firm iResearch, China's pet market matured in 2021 after a quick era of expansion between 2011 and 2020. According to the corporation, an economic ecosystem will arise around the full life cycle of pets during this next phase. Pet food, which accounts for 40% of total spending, is likely to be available in a greater range of items that can be customized.

According to Mintel, China's retail market value for pet food was anticipated at 29.8 billion yuan in 2021, more than doubling the amount in 2015. It is estimated to reach 42.8 billion yuan in 2025. While the pace of expansion has slowed in recent years, the Chinese pet food market is expected to rise 10% yearly on average over the next two years, compared to 4% in the US.

Jin Shangbao, who shifted from running an online fitness snack business to creating and selling pet food through his direct-to-consumer store Mr Tail in 2017, is one of several businesses who have benefited from the growing pet industry. He's offering Lunar New Year pet meals this year, and based on previous experiences, he believes they'll be a success with pet owners.

The dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival and the mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, which are two other Chinese traditional festivals, both went viral, said the Zhejiang-based businessman and pet owner. People's living standards have risen, and they are more prepared to spend money on their pets.

Jin sells four meal sets for 49.9 yuan to 108 yuan that include a variety of pork dumplings, rice dumplings, rice cakes, biscuits, dried fish, and dried sesame-flavored cheese strings. He also puts Spring Festival couplets – two-line poetry written on two pieces of red paper that Chinese people post on their front doors for good luck – in each order to give them a festival feel.

In, who had to shut down his previous business due to food safety concerns from snack suppliers, said he learned his lesson and now prepares his own pet food.

According to Jin, the majority of his clientele are Gen Z, with about 70% of them being women. He claims to receive roughly 1,000 orders every day, with half of them originating through Douyin, ByteDance's Chinese equivalent of TikTok. One-third of the orders came via Tencent Holdings' WeChat, with the rest coming from Taobao, the e-commerce platform run by South China Morning Post owner Alibaba Group Holding.

According to Mintel's Peng, young people are accustomed to searching for and sharing new products on Douyin and Taobao. "Douyin stands out from other platforms because of its predominantly young user base, as well as unique ideas and products that attract more young consumers," she said.

In 2018, Fluffy Pet, where Wang gets her pet food, introduced Lunar New Year's Eve pet meals. Liao Cuimin, the company's founder and owner, said her customers are largely millennials and Gen-Zers who live in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and that about 80% of them are women.

Liao began her business in 2017 on Taobao, when there were few stores that supplied fancy pet food. Two years later, she opened a physical location. According to some customers, if the pets do not have their own food during the family reunion meal, the humans may feed them what is on the table, causing the animals' stomachs to upset, Liao added.

Jin and Liao's enterprises are direct-to-consumer, which means they may produce and sell according to demand, which is an advantage that some other vendors lack. Overstocking may become an issue if businesses rely on third-party suppliers, Jin added, because seasonal food expires in two to three months.

For the time being, business competition is constrained because potential competitors are still watching the market reaction, according to Jin. On Taobao, there are about two dozen dealers of Lunar New Year's Eve pet food, while on Douyin, where certain products are also marketed indirectly through distributors and influencers, the number is unknown. Both sites stated that no data about Luna New Year meal packs is collected.

Jin hopes to sell rice balls for the Lantern Festival, which falls a day after Valentine's Day this year, based on rising demand. While festive pet food is still a niche sector, Jin feels it has enormous potential for expansion through online channels, given the internet's proclivity for offbeat products.

According to Jin, there will be a lot more seasonal pet food competitors as users of sites like Douyin and Taobao continue to share related material.

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