China Baked Cat Food +150.9% and Pet Supplements, Q1 2024

Newer data: China Pet Food 2026: How Precision Health Management Became the CN¥ 41 Billion Market's Growth Engine

Executive Summary#

Online sales of cat full-nutrition baked food (猫全价烘焙粮) grew 150.9% YoY to CN¥ 360 million in Q1 2024, approaching 10% of total cat staple food sales. Xianlang (鲜朗) shows how a brand can build its position in the segment on a "zero meat powder" transparency claim. In the same quarter, China's online pet health supplement market reached CN¥ 800 million (+9.0% YoY), with joint care the largest function by volume and bad breath control the fastest-growing functional concept. Weishi (卫仕) launched its "Celestial Magic Cube" (仙气魔方) to address both gut health and oral hygiene. We believe these two growing segments show how scientific pet care and the treatment of pets as family members are changing what Chinese owners buy for their pets.

Why Baked Cat Food Is Changing Pet Nutrition#

In Q1 2024, total baked cat food sales exceeded CN¥ 360 million, representing +150.9% YoY growth, while value growth in the overall pet market was broadly flat (+0.4% YoY). Product count grew more than 50% YoY, which suggests that the growth is more than a short-term spike and that brands are investing behind the trend.

The appeal of baked food lies in how it is made. Conventional pet food is made by high-temperature extrusion (膨化), and many recipes use meat powder (肉粉), a protein concentrate, to reach their nutritional targets. Baked food is prepared at lower temperatures (typically 65-90°C), and its makers say this preserves protein quality without meat powder, which gives Chinese owners who follow pet nutrition closely a reason to buy that they can check on the label.

Consumer purchase decision analysis for cat baked food shows a clear order of drivers:

• Feeding effect (28.0%): Coat care and cheek plumping (面颊发育), visible results that owners value and like to share on social media
• Palatability (15.1%): "Good palatability," "crispy non-greasy texture," and smooth food transition top the review vocabulary
• Ingredient health and high meat content (12.9%): Consumers actively look for high-meat, low-additive formulations
• Natural aroma (8.6%): Scent authenticity as a proxy for ingredient quality

Consumer reviews confirm these priorities: "Has been eating this coat-care food since 4 months old, the fur is noticeably softer, and the texture is very crispy." Another: "Piggy started chewing on the bag before it was even opened. Finished an entire portion in one go. Very good palatability, no excessive food transition and no soft stools."

Cat complete food leads at CN¥ 4.22bn; cat baked food reached CN¥ 360 million

*Source: Moojing Market Intelligence*

Brand Case: Xianlang and the "Zero Meat Powder" Claim#

Xianlang (鲜朗) has built its position in China's cat baked food market on a single, clearly differentiated manufacturing claim that fits the scientific pet care trend, "zero meat powder."

The Xianlang Low-Temperature Baked Grain-Free Complete Cat Food (鲜朗低温烘焙无谷全价猫粮) reaches its high meat content without protein concentrates, and the brand positions it as nutritionally superior to conventional extruded cat food. Key product attributes:

• 90°C low-temperature baking process
• 95%+ animal protein content
• Low-allergen formula
• Farm-direct premium protein sourcing
• Product positioning: "Born for fresh pet food"

Xianlang's main marketing channel is Xiaohongshu (小红书), where it invests in multi-product comparison content that highlights nutritional transparency, high protein absorption and a mild formula, a strategy that suits the platform's younger, health-conscious users.

With new entrants arriving quickly, the claim on which a brand builds its position in baked cat food is likely to matter more over time.

Pet Health Supplements: CN¥ 800 Million and Growing#

China's online pet health supplement market grew steadily in Q1 2024, reaching CN¥ 800 million with YoY growth of +9.0%, and we believe the category still leaves room for challenger brands.

In Q1 2024, cat/dog universal nutrition paste (猫狗通用营养膏) was the largest product sub-category by sales, though it was showing signs of maturity. The market's growth increasingly comes from premiumisation and functional differentiation, with less coming from volume expansion at the base tier.

Functional Trends: Established Functions and Emerging Ones#

Analysis of pet health supplement functional concepts shows a clear split between established high-volume functions and fast-growing niche ones.

In Q1 2024, joint care was the largest functional segment by sales volume, which we believe reflects the large base of dog owners and the active outdoor lifestyle associated with dog walking. The core ingredient, chondroitin, shows stable, steady growth consistent with a mature category, and fish oil and lecithin are similarly established with large, loyal consumer bases.

At the other end, bad breath and fecal odour control was the fastest-growing functional concept in the supplement market in Q1 2024, which we believe reflects owners treating their pets as family members who share their living space. Emerging ingredients krill oil and CoQ10 are growing quickly in both sales and social media discussion, though from a small base, and they represent early-stage opportunities for brands willing to invest in consumer education.

On marketing, the data shows that influencers who take a scenario-based, lifestyle approach that treats the pet as a family member achieve substantially better engagement on Xiaohongshu (小红书) than straightforward product reviews do. The content that works differs by platform:

• Xiaohongshu (小红书): Rewards lifestyle and scenario content with organic seeding
• Weibo (微博): Responds to vertical blogger lifestyle seeding
• Douyin (抖音): Converts best from product review formats

Brand Case: MAG and the K-9 Credibility Strategy#

MAG's main product in pet joint care is the "MAG Shark Chondroitin Calcium Tablets" (鲨鱼软骨素钙片), which is marketed as "10× high concentration" chondroitin. The brand says the tablets are certified by a K-9 police dog base, and it uses that certification to lend credibility to its claims. The product's reference price is CN¥ 228 per bottle.

The brand's marketing is Xiaohongshu-led and presents joint health as the way to a longer, more active companionship between owner and pet, using humorous lifestyle scenarios to drive organic seeding in place of straightforward product reviews.

Consumer reviews show functional satisfaction: "Overweight dogs are very prone to joint problems, so I bought this chondroitin for joint care, very good palatability, and the results are also great."

Brand Case: Weishi's Celestial Magic Cube#

Weishi (卫仕) launched its new product "Celestial Magic Cube" (仙气魔方) to target gut health and oral hygiene at the same time. The brand says it improves the digestive tract microenvironment and supplies lysozyme to support oral self-cleaning, two functions that have become owner priorities as pets are treated more like family members. A consumer review captures the appeal: "This one doesn't get rejected, Godzilla really loves eating it. My fur baby's mouth is finally no longer smelly! Fecal odour has also reduced. Good stuff!"

The launch suggests that bad breath and fecal odour control, though still small in absolute sales, has real demand behind it, and that Weishi is moving early to build its position in this function before the segment matures.

About the Data#

This analysis draws on Moojing Market Intelligence (魔镜洞察) proprietary e-commerce data covering three leading Chinese marketplaces for the period January–March 2024 (Q1 2024), with year-on-year comparisons against Q1 2023. Social media data is drawn from major Chinese social platforms.

Moojing Market Intelligence analyses brand and category performance across major e-commerce platforms internationally. For the full dataset and methodology, download the complete report. Contact: info@moojing-global.com | moojing-global.com.