Cosmetics company Cosmax pinpoints pets as future patrons

Cosmetics company Cosmax is gearing up to enter the pet food business, aiming to have 20 percent of the market by 2024.

Cosmax announced Tuesday its pet food plant will start production in October. The plant is 2,000 square meters (21,530 square feet) in size and located in Goesan, North Chungcheong.

The plant will produce both wet and dry pet food as well as health supplements.

The business will be run by Cosmax Pet, a company established in May. The company is wholly owned by Cosmax Bio, an affiliate of Cosmax.

The local pet food market is led by foreign companies, with those such as Royal Canine, Nestle and Purina having a total 53.5 percent of the market as of 2019. Korean companies made up for the rest.

Various companies have been tapping into the pet food market as Koreans' love for dogs and cats grows. Ildong Pharmaceutical started offering pet health supplements from February and Korea Ginseng Corporation started selling cat food from July.

As the market grows, Cosmax and its affiliates plan to widen their pet-related product offerings. Cosmax signed a memorandum of understanding with Neodin BioVet to jointly develop grooming products. The company started selling its first pet products in February, such as shampoos, toothpaste and scented mists.

“We plan to build a production base to expand into the pet food market, which has been rapidly growing by more than 10 percent on year,” said Jin Ho-jung, CEO of Cosmax Pet, in a press release Tuesday. “We plan to offer support so our affiliates can produce health supplements for pets.”

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]