KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — Food science nutritionist Yap Ke Yee established Notti Sdn Bhd in July 2023 to address a personal lack of nutritious pet food options in the market.
Finding pet food with the nutritional value she wanted for her dog and two cats was not easy, but Yap turned that hindrance into a business opportunity by developing premium pet food brand Notti Pet Food.
Today, the company is targeting exports to account for at least 50 per cent of its sales within three years, up from about 10 per cent currently, as it expands in Southeast Asia and builds a Malaysian brand for international markets.
Yap said her experience as a pet owner, combined with her food science background, led her to identify a gap in Malaysia’s pet food market, particularly in nutritional options.
“Before starting the business, my research found that nutritionally wise options for pet food are lacking in the industry, and no one is doing anything about it.
“It was challenging to find a pet food brand that uses ingredients high in nutrition, especially kibbles,” she told Bernama.
That frustration became the foundation for Notti, which aims to raise pet nutrition standards through fresh meat, functional recipes and different production technologies.
From a team of four, the company has grown to 10 employees and now offers about 40 stock-keeping units, ranging from slow-baked kibbles to treats, supplements and pet accessories under its Notti Living line.
Yap emphasised that all of Notti’s cat food kibbles are suci-certified by the Islamic Food Research Centre (Hong Kong).
As Notti grew, Yap faced repeated stock shortages, putting pressure on cash flow and inventor
“We had an out-of-stock major crisis a couple of times,” she said.
Notti subsequently secured US$500,000 (RM2.4 million) in seed funding from 500 Southeast Asia and First Move, backed by Khazanah Nasional Bhd via Dana Impak and Jelawang Capital.
Yap said the funding improved inventory management and cash flow, while investors provided guidance, contacts and ideas to move the business forward.
She is also mindful of keeping premium pet food accessible to pet owners facing cost issues.
Notti’s “Crunchy Baked” range combines slow-baked and commercial production technologies to offer larger packaging at a more affordable price point, while maintaining its focus on nutrition and quality ingredients.
“We realise that we need to cater to different price points. Although it uses slightly lower fresh meat content, we still maintain our core focus on pet nutrition and high-quality ingredients for the recipes,” said Yap.
Notti is also set to launch its first wet cat food line next month, with two formats and four flavours, following high demand.
To mitigate rising raw material and logistics costs, the company prioritises cost-effective organic marketing, leveraging social media platforms rather than heavy advertising expenditure to maintain financial efficiency.
Notti also regularly organises activities with pet owners, building a community beyond selling pet food.
Yap believes that her close connection with pet owners is also shaping Notti’s regional expansion.
The company is eyeing Indonesia and Vietnam as its next markets, while expanding its presence in Malaysia, where it has about 250 retail touchpoints.
Notti is already present in Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines and Macau, with about 30 overseas touchpoints, as well as on Amazon in the United States.
Rather than simply placing products on shelves, Yap said Notti wants to work with local distributors to build the brand in new markets.
She also hopes to bring the latest pet food manufacturing technologies to Malaysia to benefit the industry. Yap said the technology needed to produce Notti’s fresh-meat kibble is not available in Malaysia, although she sees potential for local manufacturing as demand grows.
“We are ready to represent Malaysia not just from the ingredients, but from the packaging as well. We want to represent the country as a nutritious Malaysian pet food brand,” she said.
