Dr.Friend gears up for global expansion with pet bedding products

LAS VEGAS – Dr.Friend, a tech-driven sleep care product brand, is moving to make inroads into overseas markets with its new bedding lineup designed for pets, placing a strategic focus on the U.S. and Canada where demand for the products account for almost half of the entire industry, according to World Home Doctor CEO Kim Yong-suk.

The brand has a history of more than three decades in Korea, but the leader of the company said the time is ripe for global expansion with its pet-only sub-brand, Dr.Friend Puppy. World Home Doctor is the manufacturer of Dr.Friend’s sleep care products.

“The top priority for us this year is to raise the brand’s global profile by aggressively promoting our tech prowess in sleep care products especially developed for pets,” Kim said in an interview on the sidelines of the CES 2024 tech fair, Jan. 10.

Dr.Friend has taken part in the world’s largest IT exhibition for three consecutive years until 2024. Kim said he believes there is a huge opportunity ahead for the market for pet health care products after joining this year's event.

“Visitor response was way better than we expected, with potential clients working in the pet hotels industry and veterinarians visiting our booth twice or even three times to double-check our products,” he said.

For this year’s CES, Dr.Friend focused on promoting its pet bedding product converged with its therapeutic grounding technology. The company added the feature to the pet bedding product, so pets can enjoy a soothing effect while they sleep. The grounding, which is also commonly known as earthing, is a therapeutic technique, which helps reduce anxiety in animals, according to research conducted by the company jointly with Kyung Hee University.

“A number of them displayed keen interest in our products and brand philosophy of providing a quality sleep environment for not just human beings, but also pets,” he said.

He also shared the company's strategy of expanding into the North American market due to the region’s dominant presence in the pet industry. According to data compiled by the company, North America accounts for a 48.9 percent market share in the entire global pet industry, and its portion is forecast to rise gradually.

“Sales for Dr.Friend products mostly targeting humans have been enjoying stable growth for the past three years,” he said. “The sales will soar if we generate synergy with the pet lineups. We have an overseas sales target of $30 million (40.3 billion won) by 2025 after making successful inroads into North America and other Asia-Pacific regions.”

Its sales reached $7.6 million in 2021, and the figure surged to $9.12 million as of last year.

“Our strategic focus will be on North America, and we will expand our presence in China and Southeast Asia after raising our brand power,” he said.

The company estimated the global pet industry is worth $372 billion in 2022, but the number is forecast to double to more than $776 billion by 2032. Of particular note is the huge growth potential of the industry with its annual growth rate topping 7 percent. The market for pet health care products will also follow a similar trajectory, according to the company. Dr.Friend focuses on tapping deeper into high-end bedding products for pets.

Outcomes from CES 2024

Kim spoke highly of Dr.Friend’s proven research record by engaging in diverse joint projects with local research organizations. The firm’s grounding mattress helps alleviate stress in people and pets and improve their sleeping patterns as well, according to the company’s research with Kyung Hee University.

“Attending the CES for three consecutive years, we have identified people’s growing demand to improve their quality of life with healthy sleep,” he said. “That was the beginning for the development of the pet-only bedding products. We have received lots of attention from visitors by sympathizing with officials in the industry. A number of industry officials abroad asked us to sign business partnerships.”

But as Dr.Friend is still less well-known in the Western territory, the company aims to place its management focus on raising its premium brand identity to customers there in 2024.

“We expect our single product for pets — Dr.Friend Puppy — to generate sales of $1 million and attain an operating profit of 20 percent out of them this year only,” Kim said. “If more and more customers abroad are satisfied with our product, we will be able to achieve $5 million in sales with the single product in the foreseeable future.”