China laps up NZ protein for booming pet economy, but at a price

Last year 70 million cats and 52 million dogs were estimated to be living in Chinese homes. (Image: NZME)

Mon, 14 Jul 2025

Executives from China’s biggest pet nutrition group, Gambol, have been in New Zealand scoping a South Auckland site to build a pet food processing plant to meet the demand from China’s rapidly growing pet population. The company registered Gambol Pet Food (New Zealand) Co at the Companies Office in December. If its plans reach fruition China’s three leading pet nutrition companies will have a presence in New Zealand. Peidi (trading as Petpal Pet Nutrition Technology Ltd) and Yantai (China Pet Food Group) are already...

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