by Doris Liu

In 2015, Zhu Changlin volunteered for a stray animal rescue event, and was shocked by the scene. “Seeing thousands of stray cats and dogs, many of which were disabled, I had an indescribable feeling in my heart at that time,” Zhu said. He and the other volunteers bought pet food and supplies online at their own expense to help the stray animals as much as possible.

Since then, the seed has been planted deeply in his heart to help pets live a better life.

In 2017, after two years of research and preparation, Zhu set up his pet food brand KERES with the concept of “scientific pet care and specialized food for different pets”, and started a close cooperation with JD Pet.

In the early days of the business, Zhu realized the poor reviews of the Top 100 pet food brands on e-commerce platforms were focused on two major issues. The first is that “pets do not want to eat”, which accounted for about 30 percent; and the second is that “no change is seen after eating the pet food”.

Zhu saw business opportunities in both of these issues. He believed rather than simply feeding pets, a scientific and nutritious feeding system must be introduced. As a result, Zhu decided to lead his company to develop precise nutritious food for pets at every stage of growth from multiple dimensions of nutrition ratio, process technology, food safety and health management.

KERES’ concept coincided with that of JD Pet, which had launched the “high quality certification for pet food”, and “JD platform’s standard of complete pet food with high quality” that is even higher than the international standard. JD Pet also provides a number of special services for pet owners, including “return and refund if your pets don’t like the food, clothes or toys.”

Although the return and refund policy brought a cost pressure for KERES, it has also led to a majority of the brand’s customers purchasing the brand continuously. As of October 2021, KERES had served total of 6 million pet-owning families, reaching an annual revenue of RMB 600 million yuan.

With support of JD Pet, KERES launched 21 pet food products, which have also been highly recognized by consumers. In 2021, the company achieved significant growth in the whole category of products on JD’s platform, with total annual sales increasing by 60 percent year-on-year. It also ranked No.1 in terms of sales of pet food, awarded “Good Store of the Year” by JD Pet.

In the future, KERES will continue to improve products and upgrade services together with JD Pet, develop a full range of quality products with pet food as the core, and create a better life for pets with love, Zhu said.

(liujun215@jd.com)