“We’ve grown revenue by over 400%”: These S’pore bizs are cashing in on the fresh pet food boom

An entire S$150 million industry is being built around fresh pet food in Singapore

For decades, the answer to feeding your pet was simple: open a bag of kibble, scoop some into a bowl, and that’s it—you were done.

Dry kibble has always dominated the global pet food market, and Singapore is no exception. It is cheap to produce, easy to store, and heavily marketed. For most pet owners, it has simply always been “the way.”

But increasingly, pet owners are asking harder questions. What exactly goes into those brown pellets? What is their nutritional value? And why do so many pets, even on premium kibble, still suffer from chronic ailments?

For a growing number of Singapore pet owners, the answer has been to ditch the bag entirely. They are turning to fresh pet food—minimally processed, human-grade meals made from real ingredients like sous vide chicken and bone broth. It costs a lot more, but they’re willing to splurge.

To meet the demand, a new wave of local brands has emerged, reshaping a market that, for decades, had remained largely unchanged.

Among them are PetCubes and BOM BOM: two Singapore-based fresh pet food companies that are both seeing market traction that their founders could not have anticipated when they first started out.

Taking pet nutrition to a new level

For Dr Francis Cabana, Director of Nutrition at PetCubes, the journey into pet food began far from domestic kitchens.

With a PhD in Animal Nutrition, his career has spanned zoos and rescue centres around the world, eventually bringing him to Mandai, where he worked with the Singapore Zoo. There, he began consulting for a local pet food startup—PetCubes—which would later become his full-time focus.

Founded in 2013, PetCubes claims to be Singapore’s first fresh pet food company, entering the market at a time when the concept was virtually unheard of.

“Back then, pet owners really only had two options: highly processed kibble or time-consuming home cooking,” he shared. “We wanted to bridge that gap with something that was both convenient and biologically appropriate.”

But being first came with challenges. Early growth was slow, and convincing pet owners and even veterinarians required extensive education.

“Every conversation was a hard-fought battle,” he said. “We were essentially teaching the market from scratch.”

Over time, however, that persistence paid off. Today, PetCubes operates its own ISO 22000 and HACCP-certified facility in Singapore and has expanded across Hong Kong and Malaysia. It has also achieved a milestone few fresh pet food brands can claim: being stocked in veterinary clinics locally.

While PetCubes emerged from industry expertise, BOM BOM was born out of a deeply personal experience.

Its founder and CEO, Jason Wang, didn’t set out to start a business. In fact, he was preparing for retirement when his dog, Kyubi, began suffering from a host of chronic health issues, from digestive problems to joint conditions.

Frustrated by the lack of clear answers from conventional treatments, Jason began researching pet nutrition himself.

“What started as a personal journey quickly became a much bigger realisation,” he explained. “Many of the issues Kyubi faced were linked to diet, specifically, highly processed kibble.”

Unable to find a product that met his standards, Jason began preparing fresh meals himself. The results were dramatic: within weeks, Kyubi showed visible improvements in his digestion, skin, and energy levels, to the point where friends began asking him to prepare meals for their pets as well.

Eventually, the kitchen-based passion project he started in 2016 became BOM BOM, formally established in 2017.

Today, the company serves around 10,000 customers in Singapore and operates a 5,000 sq ft SFA-licensed facility in Tiong Bahru. It also has a presence in South Korea, with a 9,000 sq ft factory set up in Seoul to cater to its customers there.

The business’s growth has been largely bootstrapped, expanding at over 30% CAGR over the past decade, shared Jason.

What really goes into the bowl

The shift towards cooked pet food is driven largely by pet humanisation: the idea that pets are family members deserving of the same quality of care and nutrition as humans.

While dry kibble still dominates due to convenience and affordability, its growth has plateaued. In contrast, the fresh and cooked pet food segment—still only about 10–20% of the market, according to Jason—is expanding rapidly.

The fresh dog food market in Singapore was estimated to have reached about S$150 million in 2025, driven by rising pet ownership and premiumisation trends.

Pet owners who have made the switch are noticing real, tangible changes in their pets’ health.

Dr Francis notes that after just three days on PetCubes, pets’ stools become smaller, darker, and less odorous—a clear sign their bodies are absorbing real nutrition instead of passing synthetic fillers.

PetCubes achieves these results through its thoughtfully crafted menu, which features 12 single-protein options ranging from rabbit and venison to crocodile and even insects.

Each meal is “gently cooked” at 75–80°C for at least 45 minutes—a low-and-slow method that eliminates pathogens while preserving delicate nutrients like vitamins, antioxidants, and proteins, which are often destroyed during the high-heat extrusion process used for kibble. The brand also offers raw options for pets that prefer an uncooked diet.

On the other hand, BOM BOM focuses on customised nutrition. Each meal is crafted on demand for individual pets based on age, breed, activity level, and specific health conditions.

Its smart factory rigorously checks portioning, fat content, and ingredient quality, while lab-tested produce and strict farm-to-bowl SOPs ensure freshness and safety.

This precision-led approach means pets often see measurable improvements in digestion, energy, coat health, and even chronic conditions—demonstrating the benefits of nutrition tailored to the individual rather than a one-size-fits-all formula.

Making an impression on the traditional market

As the category grows, so does competition.

New fresh, frozen, and freeze-dried brands are entering the market at an accelerating pace, offering pet owners a wider range of options than ever before. But perhaps the most telling sign of disruption is how traditional players are responding.

According to Dr Francis, major kibble brands have begun adopting language like “raw-inspired” and “ancestral feeding”—a shift he sees as validation rather than competition.

“When billion-dollar companies start mimicking your messaging, it proves that the demand for less processed, natural food has truly made an impression on the traditional market,” he said.

“The disruption is happening because we’ve raised the bar on what a pet’s bowl should look like, and now the rest of the industry is trying to keep pace.”

Jason echoes a similar sentiment but adds that the next phase of growth must go deeper.

Right now, there are no consistent standards defining what “fresh” actually means. As a result, brands can label their products as fresh without ensuring they are truly nutrient-dense or biologically appropriate.

“The industry needs to move beyond using fresh as a marketing term. We need clearer nutritional standards, greater transparency, and better education on long-term health outcomes.”

A market still finding its feet

While both PetCubes and BOM BOM see fresh feeding as still being in its early stages, the opportunities for growth are undeniable.

In Singapore, both brands are actively expanding their presence to reach more mainstream consumers. PetCubes has strengthened its footprint in major retailers like Pet Lovers Centre, while continuing to grow its online and subscription channels.

It has already seen striking growth. “We’ve grown our revenue by over 400%,” said Dr Francis, adding that the business produces “hundreds of thousands of fresh meals” annually.

BOM BOM, on the other hand, is extending beyond its direct-to-consumer model with selective retail partnerships and broader e-commerce availability, ensuring pet owners can access fresh, personalised meals more conveniently.

For both brands, expansion isn’t just about sales—it’s about making science-backed or precision-led fresh nutrition widely accessible.

But challenges remain.

Fresh food comes with higher production costs, including sourcing premium, human-grade ingredients. Cold chain logistics are critical to ensure meals remain safe and nutritious, but add complexity to distribution. Shelf lives are also shorter compared to traditional kibble, which requires careful inventory management and can limit mass adoption.

Additionally, the need for consumer education is ongoing. Many pet owners are still unfamiliar with fresh feeding or hesitant to move away from conventional options.

Still, if current trends are anything to go by, the trajectory is clear: the demand for fresh pet food is rising, and the market is ripe for growth.

Featured Image Credit: @trufflewhuffle via Instagram/ BOM BOM