The company, which owns the Pedigree brand, has already applied for export licence and is evaluating contemplating on which countries to begin export with. And to strengthen its supply, Mars is planning first phase of expansion in its Hyderabad factory next year to increase capacity by up to 40 per cent.
"Since, we do not produce premium pet foods anywhere in the South East Asia region but in India, we are working on exporting our Eukanuba products from here," said P V V Srinivasa Rao, managing director of Mars International India, the company's India subsidiary.
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Rao said Mars has also chalked out a plan for its second capacity expansion of Hyderabad plant in 2018 as demand will increase once it starts exporting.
Mars produces dog and cat feeds under brands such as Pedigree, Chappi, Eukanuba, Whiskas and Sheba. While, Whiskas and Sheba are cat food brands, Eukanuba, a brand that Mars had acquired in July 2014 from P&G, is its premium brand in the country.
Currently, Indian pet food market is estimated at Rs 700 crore and is expected to grow up to $270 million or Rs 1,760 crore by 2019, as per a report by the research firm TechSci Research.
According to experts, the industry is growing by 25 per cent every year in India.