Brand Spotlight
A Company That Grew Up With an Industry
When ABK Imports started in Pune in 2010, India’s pet market looked very different. Pet parents were passionate, but the market was young and scattered. Good products were hard to find. Professional distribution barely existed. Very few businesses were working together to build the category.
ABK began by doing one simple thing: bringing quality products to Indian pet parents. Brothers Anand Pittie and Kushal Pittie built the company from that starting point.
Somewhere along the way, their ambition changed.
“We didn’t want to simply participate in the growth of the pet industry. We wanted to help build it.”
That single shift now shapes everything ABK does.
From Distributor to Brand Builder
Today, ABK no longer sees itself as just a distribution company. It calls itself a brand builder and an industry builder.
The company’s portfolio includes Chip Chops, Kittos, Pawpaya and Trimz, which ABK describes as its own brands. Alongside them, ABK builds the capabilities needed to take brands to market and grow them sustainably.
The scale has grown steadily. According to the company, ABK now handles about 3,000 SKUs across roughly 30 brands. Its business spans pet treats, accessories and professional grooming. Its distribution network reaches a large base of pet retailers and businesses across India.
One goal stands out above the rest. ABK wants to build Chip Chops into a ₹100 crore brand. More importantly, the founders say, they want it to become a brand Indian pet parents genuinely love and trust.
The Question That Led to Grooming
At some point, the founders began asking a bigger question. What would it take for India’s pet industry to become world-class?
Their answer took them into professional grooming.
ABK was among the early players in India to organise grooming competitions with international judges. At its 2018 competition in Pune, American judges Tammy Colbert and Karla Addington Smith assessed groomers from across India. A 2019 edition followed in Hyderabad.
The goal was never just to host another event. “It was to give Indian groomers an opportunity to see where they stood against global standards,” the founders explain.
Today, that work continues through ABK Grooming and the Trimz brand. The India Grooming Show, which ABK hosted in Bengaluru in 2022, adds another platform where groomers and businesses can learn and connect.
The Moment That Changed Everything
For the founders, one experience stands above the rest.
When ABK began bringing international judges and trainers to India, the team expected to share global techniques. What they didn’t expect was the change in confidence.
Groomers could learn directly from people who had competed at the highest level. They could ask questions, spot the gaps in their own skills, and see what was possible.
“For many of them, the biggest change was not just in technique. It was confidence.”
International standards suddenly felt reachable. Groomers began asking for more training. Some started preparing seriously to compete abroad.
That is where a bigger dream took shape.
The Team India Dream
ABK’s long-term vision is called Team India. The idea is simple and ambitious. Indian groomers should one day represent their country on the world stage.
The company wants to build a clear pathway for that to happen. Groomers would learn from the best, train harder, compete at higher levels and, eventually, wear India’s colours at international competitions.
For the founders, this dream is about more than grooming. It reflects their belief that India can create world-class professionals and world-class pet businesses.
“When an Indian groomer stands on a global stage wearing the words ‘Team India,’ we hope to know that we played a small part in helping them get there.”
Watching India’s Pet Culture Transform
The ABK story also mirrors a wider change in how India treats its pets.
The founders have watched dogs move from the gate to the living room. Pets that once served mainly as guard dogs are now treated as family. The question pet parents ask has changed too. It is no longer “What does the dog need?” It is now “What does my pet need to live a healthier, happier life?”
Retailers have become more professional. Groomers have invested in their skills. Entrepreneurs now see pet care as a serious, globally relevant industry.
“We don’t want to simply grow because the industry is growing. We want to contribute to why the industry grows well.”
Lessons From Building Fast
Growth has not always been easy. The founders admit the market often grew faster than the systems supporting it.
Each new stage brought fresh complexity: people, inventory, working capital, logistics, technology and several business verticals at once. What worked at one size often broke at the next.
That taught them a lesson they now repeat often. “Growth doesn’t just create opportunities. Growth exposes weaknesses.”
Their answer was not to solve every problem themselves. Instead, they focused on building strong people, scalable systems and a culture that keeps improving. The biggest shift, they say, has been moving from a business that depends on its founders to an organisation that can grow beyond them.
What Comes Next for ABK
ABK’s next chapter is not just about getting bigger. The founders want it to be more meaningful.
Their plans include:
- Building Indian pet brands that can stand alongside the world’s best
- Making quality pet products more accessible across India
- Strengthening professional grooming through Trimz and ABK Grooming
- Creating better education and opportunities for pet professionals
- Turning the Team India vision into a real pathway for Indian groomers
- Taking Indian pet brands and businesses to global markets
Underneath it all sits one larger goal. ABK wants to change how the world sees India’s pet industry. Not just as a large market that consumes global products, but as a country that creates brands, develops talent and sets standards.
Advice From the Founders
The founders also shared simple advice for different parts of the pet community.
- To pet parents: Pets are family, not products. The more you learn about their health and needs, the better life you can give them.
- To pet businesses: Build for the long term. Revenue matters, but trust builds businesses that last.
- To young entrepreneurs: Don’t wait for the perfect market. Start small, learn fast and build great people around you.
- To animal lovers: Compassion is the beginning. Knowledge and action turn it into impact.
Building a Better Industry, Together
The founders are clear about one thing. The ABK journey has never belonged to just two people.
It belongs to every team member who stayed late, every customer who trusted them, every brand that took a chance, and every groomer who stepped onto a competition floor.
“Our ambition is not simply to build a bigger ABK. Our ambition is to help build a better pet industry.”
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