Interview: Drools targets European push after reaching scale in India

While mature markets battle fiercely for incremental market share, the Indian pet care sector offers a different proposition: vast volumes waiting to be unlocked. Drools currently captures around 40% of the domestic market in India. 

In addition to continuing to expand its customer base nationwide, the company is also looking to transition from a domestic player into a global contender. 

CEO Shashank Sinha speaks with GlobalPETS about the challenges of operating in the world’s most populous country (with more than 1.4 billion inhabitants) and the company’s plans to expand its footprint in Europe.

Calorie conversion 

Despite boasting an impressive population of 32 million pets, India’s packaged pet food penetration remains remarkably low at 7-8%.

For Drools, this low market penetration represents a massive, multi-decade growth runway, provided the industry can successfully educate pet parents and veterinarians.

“That is the only hindrance that we have in the market right now; otherwise, we have huge mouths to feed,” Sinha shares.

The strategy of the Bengaluru-headquartered firm relies heavily on bridging the consumer knowledge gap to demonstrate how balanced, packaged nutrition outperforms traditional home-cooked meals. However, the Indian consumer remains highly value-conscious and analytical about their purchasing power.

While not simply looking for cheap commodities, these pet owners demand strict returns on their retail spending. “They look for ROI of every rupee they’re spending. So, good quality product at the right price point will be the game changer for Indian customers,” Sinha adds.

To capture this highly diverse demographic, Drools markets a wide range of products in different sizes. Retail offerings range from affordable 40-gram sachets priced at just ₹10 ($0.10/€0.09) for daily feeding to bulk 30-kilogram bags designed for larger households.

Fresh food and Gen Z

As younger demographics drive pet ownership, Drools is aggressively diversifying its product formats to meet new pet parents.

An estimated 60% of India’s population is under 40 years old, creating a digitally native, Gen Z consumer base eager to try highly premium, recyclable food concepts. Aligning with this market shift, Drools recently made a $19.5 million investment to expand its manufacturing capabilities into fresh pet food.

This venture includes the launch of world-class Tetra Pak retort packaging to appeal to modern retail sensibilities. By localizing premium concepts, the brand has introduced products like a pet-friendly “Chicken Biryani,” mirroring one of the country’s most popular online human food orders.

“People feel like if I am consuming chicken biryani, my pet can also do, but it has to be balanced and come in beautiful packaging,” says Sinha.

The company expects the fresh and wet segment to gain traction quickly across the retail ecosystem, and some European players have already shown interest in the product at Interzoo 2026.

Drools’ CEO projects that fresh food will account for 8% to 10% of the company’s total sales within the next 1 to 2 years.

Omnichannel and e-commerce 

Before the pandemic, e-commerce accounted for roughly 10% of pet food sales in India; today, the digital share approaches 50%. With this in mind, Drools is bypassing traditional retail bottlenecks in favor of highly targeted digital integration.

The company has India’s largest community app, MyGate, ensuring high-visibility digital ads reach verified pet parents residing in premium gated communities. This direct-to-consumer (D2C) and digital pivot reflects a broader, systemic evolution of channels across the country.

“This is actually a huge solution coming for everybody, for any brand,” Sinha notes.

Building a traditional offline distribution network of over 700 distributors took Drools 8 years to physically span India’s diverse geography. Today, D2C infrastructure allows new product innovations to scale and reach the farthest parts of the country almost immediately.

Unicorn milestone

Drools’ domestic scaling strategy has attracted global players like Nestlé, which last year took a minority stake in the company. The injection officially pushed the Indian manufacturer into coveted unicorn status with a valuation exceeding the $1 billion (€0.9B) mark. 

While categorizing the move as a financial rather than a strategic partnership, Sinha acknowledges the immense market credibility it brings to their operations. “Having a name like Nestlé itself is a huge achievement, and it validates our way of working.”

With the $1 billion (€0.9B) valuation milestone officially secured, the executive team is actively shifting its primary focus. “No more rushing towards valuation game; more about building a good brand and good products,” Sinha clarifies.

European ambitions

Returning to a European trade show for the second time, 14 years after its initial debut, Drools is leveraging its upgraded manufacturing capabilities to attract leading international buyers. The company is confident that its product quality, traceability and ingredient sourcing can compete with established industry players.

Rather than executing a blanket European rollout, the brand is taking a localized approach to avoid difficult early markets such as Germany and France. Initial European expansion and distribution efforts are currently focused on evaluating receptive markets such as Poland, Serbia and Spain.

Optimizing for the future 

Looking ahead, Drools is focused on supply chain optimization and advanced product innovation to maintain its aggressive volume momentum.

Navigating India’s geographic diversity requires sophisticated logistics, prompting the company to explore artificial intelligence integrations to improve supply chain efficiencies and raw material fill rates.

Working to capture premium market share, Drools is preparing to launch oven-baked formulas and ultra-convenient formats to cater to the next generation of global pet parents.