Poland’s Pupil Foods to launch new pet food plant

Polish pet food producer Pupil Foods Ltd. is carrying out an investment to set up a new production facility in Odolanów, in Poland’s western region of Wielkopolska.

Under the plan, the factory will make dry pet food. The company has announced the project is nearing completion, and under the plan, the plant is to open in the second half of 2015.

Pupil Foods' portfolio includes a wide range of wet and dry pet food for cats and dogs. These include its Roksy, Pupil, Teo, Basic Line, Blubo and Canis product lines, according to data from the manufacturer.

The Polish producer is aiming to benefit from the rapid growth of Poland’s pet food market, as indicated by data from market research firm Euromonitor International. In 2014, Polish pet food sales increased by 9%, and they are to rise by a further 5% to a total of PLN 2.3 billion (US$613 million) this year.

In addition to the domestic market, the manufacturer will also sell the plant’s output to various foreign markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Its export destinations include the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

The Polish firm was set up in 1999 and is based in Nowe Skalmierzyce, in the country's western part. Pupil Foods says its production facilities are BRC, IFS, HACCP and ISO 9001 certified. The company’s predecessor, Pupil Ltd., entered the country’s pet food market in 1996.

Since its establishment, Pupil Foods has expanded its output capacity with the launch of a dry pet food production facility in Niedon in 2009, and the opening of an additional wet pet food production line at the plant in Nowe Skalmierzyce, which doubled the firm’s output capacity in August 2012.