Nestlé has taken a minority stake in India’s Drools Pet Food Private, the Swiss food giant announced on Monday (26 May).
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Nestlé said in a statement that Drools will remain “strategically as well as operationally” independent.
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Drools describes itself as India’s “first home-grown pet-food brand” as it acknowledged the Nestlé investment on LinkedIn.
“This step forward builds on the momentum we’ve gained since partnering with L Catterton in 2023,” Drools added.
In 2023, the US-headquartered private-equity firm L Catterton acquired a minority stake in Drools in a deal worth around $60m.
“Since our founding in 2010, we’ve grown into a key player in India’s pet-food sector, with a presence in over 40,000 retail outlets and exports to 22 countries,” Drools said.
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By GlobalData“Backed by science-based nutrition, strong retail and e-commerce reach, and robust manufacturing capabilities, we remain deeply committed to delivering quality pet nutrition with love and care,” the company added.
Drools manufactures dog and cat food, selling the products under its namesake brand, as well as those of Pure Pet and Kitty Yum.
The pet food is available at retailers across India, as well as e-commerce channels through Amazon and Bengaluru-headquartered Flipkart.
Elsewhere, Nestlé expanded its pet-food production in Hungary in 2023. It opened two new production units at its Purina factory, increasing output by 66%.
Nestlé stuck with its full-year outlook in April despite inferring that consumers are stretched and have yet to feel the impact of the group’s most recent price rises.
Its petcare annual sales were relatively flat in 2024, coming in at SFr18.88bn ($22.8bn) from SFr18.86bn a year earlier.
Group sales amounted to SFr91.35bn, down from SFr93bn a year earlier.
In terms of the company’s overall results, CEO Laurent Freixe refrained from pinpointing an actual organic growth target for the new fiscal year, sticking to language for an improvement over Nestlé’s 2.2% pace in 2024.
He also said the Swiss giant was aiming for its underlying trading operating profit margin (UTOP) to be “at or above” 16% as the company plans to “invest for growth”.
