In the past few years, the cat litter industry is undergoing a very obvious change.
More and more consumers began to shift from “single function demand” to “comprehensive experience demand”.
In the past, when many users bought cat litter, they might only pay attention to one question, such as whether it was caked, the price was high or low, or whether it had fragrance.
But now, consumers will also pay attention to:
* Is the dust low?
* Is the reunion fast?
* Is deodorization stable?
* Is it easy to take sand?
* Is it environmentally friendly?
* Is it suitable for multi-cat families?
* Is it suitable for apartment environment?
* Is the packaging convenient to use?
This is why the mixed cat litter is growing rapidly.
What is mixed cat litter?
Compared with the traditional single raw material products, the mixed formula can combine the advantages of different materials and make the product performance more balanced.
In LOVE SAND, in recent years, more and more OEM customers began to demand the development of mixed cat litter products instead of traditional single bentonite or single tofu cat litter.
Especially in the high-end retail market, e-commerce market and private brand market, mixed formula has gradually become a new trend.
Why is it more and more difficult for a single raw material cat litter to meet the market demand?
Every kind of cat litter material actually has obvious advantages and disadvantages.
This is why more and more brands are beginning to try “raw material combination”.
Advantages and limitations of bentonite cat litter
Sodium bentonite cat litter is still one of the most widely used cat litter in the world.
Its biggest advantage is obvious:
* fast clustering speed
* Strong water absorption capacity
* The cluster is thin and hard.
* Stable use cost.
* Suitable for multi-cat families
Especially high-quality sodium bentonite, can form very strong agglomerates in a short time.
For consumers, this means:
* Easier to clean up
* not easy to stick to the bottom
* Lower consumption of cat litter
This is why many professional cat owners still prefer bentonite cat litter.
But at the same time, bentonite also has some market pain points.
Por exemplo:
* Heavy weight.
* easy to take sand
* Some low-end products have higher dust.
* Environmental protection attribute is relatively weak.
With the upgrading of consumer demand, it has become increasingly difficult to meet the market only by “forming a good group”.
Why does the tofu cat litter grow so fast?
Areia de tofu para gatos has grown very fast in recent years. Especially in Europe, Japan, South Korea and some high-end markets. The main reason is that it has:
* environmental attributes
* Flushable toilet
* Low dust
* Lightweight
* The appearance is more “natural”
Many young consumers will prefer tofu cat litter. Especially for cat users in apartments. Because they usually care more about:
* Is the home clean?
* Is the dust obvious?
* Is cat litter convenient to handle?
* Is the packaging beautiful?
But tofu cat litter is also not a “perfect product”. Many consumers will also give feedback:
* Fragile when used for a long time.
* Easy to get wet in high humidity environment.
* Some formulas have average deodorizing ability.
Therefore, the market is becoming more and more inclined to “combined scheme”.
Why are mixed recipes becoming more and more popular?
The core logic of mixed formula is actually very simple.
Is to use the advantages of different raw materials to complement each other.
Por exemplo:
* Use bentonite to improve the agglomeration speed and reduce the cost.
* Use tofu to reduce dust, which is soluble in water and more convenient to treat agglomerated garbage.
* Use the demoulding property of cassava to make the dough not paste the bottom of cat litter basin.
* Enhanced deodorization with activated carbon
* Improve adsorption stability with mineral particles.
In this way, the overall performance of the product will be more balanced. Not just in one aspect. This is why more and more brands are starting to do:
* Tofu+bentonite
* Cassava+Tofu
* Activated carbon mixing series
* Multi-mineral mixing series
Why does bentonite+tofu become the most popular combination at present?
In LOVE SAND’s current OEM project, bentonite+tofu is one of the fastest-growing formulas for inquiry.
Because this combination can satisfy consumers’ demands for:
* Strong group
* Low dust
* Better cleaning
* More environmentally friendly
* More comfortable to use.
* Reduce costs
And so on.
Bentonite is responsible for “performance”
The biggest advantage of bentonite is that it can quickly agglomerate at the most economical cost.
Especially high-quality sodium bentonite.
It can quickly absorb liquid and form strong and thin lumps.
In this way, when consumers clean up:
* It is not easy to break up.
* not easy to stick to the bottom
* Save cat litter.
This is especially important for multi-cat families.
Tofu is responsible for “environmental protection and convenience”
Tofu cat litter is more to improve the experience.
Por exemplo:
* Reduce dust
* reduce the belt sand
* Improve foot feel
* Enhance environmental protection attributes
* throw the toilet directly.
Nowadays, many consumers are actually very concerned about whether the home is clean.
In particular:
* Small family
* Families with children
* Apartment users
They don’t want cat litter particles all over the floor.
Therefore, the mixed formula will be more acceptable than pure bentonite.
Why are more and more OEM customers starting to make mixed recipes?
In the past, many importers paid more attention to “price competition”.
But now the market competition is more and more fierce.
More and more brands find that:
It is difficult to establish long-term competitiveness simply at low prices.
Therefore, many customers begin to hope that through unique formula, special packaging and functional differentiation.
Expand new product lines to build brand advantages.
The e-commerce market is particularly obvious.
On Amazon, Shopee, TikTok Shop and other platforms, consumers will check the comments very carefully.
If the product only has ordinary functions, it is easy to be replaced.
But if a product has both:
* Strong group
* Low dust
* High value packaging
* Better deodorization
Then the repurchase rate of users will usually be higher.
Therefore, more and more e-commerce brands are looking for OEM factories to develop hybrid products.
Mixing formula is not just “mixing the raw materials together”.
When many customers first come into contact with mixed cat litter, they will think it is just simple mixing.
But in fact, the truly stable mixing formula is not simple.
Because between different raw materials:
* different water absorption speed
* Different densities
* Different particle sizes
* Different pulverization rates
If the proportion control is not good, it is easy to appear:
* Stratification
* unstable agglomeration
* Increased dust
* Inconsistent experience
Therefore, a truly mature mixed formula usually needs repeated testing.
Packaging strategy is also changing.
Hybrid products are usually positioned as “high-end series”.
Therefore, the packaging style is also changing obviously.
At LOVE SAND, more and more customers tend to:
* Minimalist packaging
* Advanced sense design
* Environmental visual style
* clearer functional expression
For example, packaging will be more prominent:
* Low Dust
* Fast Clumping
* Odor Control
* Multi-Cat Formula
Because when consumers buy cat litter now, they will buy more and more “pet daily necessities”, not just consumables.
Will the mixed formula become more and more popular in the future?
Judging from the current market trend, the answer is obvious.
In the next few years, mixed cat litter is likely to continue to grow.
The reasons include:
* Consumption upgrade
* E-commerce competition has intensified.
* Consumer demand is more complex.
* The trend of environmental protection has increased.
* Increased demand for brand differentiation
Especially the OEM market.
More and more brands are not satisfied with “products that everyone has in the market”.
They prefer to build their own product system.
This is also why OEM customized mixed formulas are growing rapidly.
Conclusão
The popularity of mixed formula cat litter is not a short-term marketing trend.
It essentially reflects the changes in consumer demand.
Modern consumers are no longer satisfied with single functional products.
They prefer a cat litter that can take care of both:
* Reunion
* Deodorization
* Dust
* Environmental protection
* Cleaning convenience
For brands, the mixed formula also provides more room for differentiation.
At LOVE SAND, we are seeing more and more customers begin to shift from “price competition” to “product competition”.
The mixed formula is one of the most important development directions.
