CTP has been appointed by dog food manufacturers PsiBufet and Butternut Box to build a specialist facility to produce fresh dog food for distribution across continental Europe.The specialist new facility is being developed in a build-to-suit model at CTPark Zabrze.
Situated in the Katowice Special Economic Zone, the production facility will cover an area of nearly 40,000 sqm and will ultimately employ several hundred people. PsiBufet and Butternut Box plan to deliver the first meals produced at CTPark Zabrze by mid-2025.
PsiBufet is a Polish brand that offers fresh, individually tailored food for dogs, delivered directly to pets in a D2C model. In 2023, PsiBufet was acquired by UK-based Butternut Box, the European market leader in fresh dog food. Founded in 2016, Butternut Box is present in the UK and Poland (as PsiBufet), as well as in Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and, more recently, in Germany.
The construction of the production facility in Poland is possible thanks to the funding that Butternut Box secured in 2023. The company raised £280 million (more than PLN 1.4 billion) from the General Atlantic fund and existing investor L Catterton.
David Nolan, founder and CEO of Butternut Box said: “Our meals are made today in Rudie's Kitchen in Doncaster, UK, one of the most modern dog food manufacturing facilities in Europe. We are growing rapidly, and another factory is necessary to meet the challenge of growing demand. Poland is a key market for us, and I am delighted that it is becoming a regional hub for the Butternut Box business. Production at CTPark Zabrze will allow us to deliver fresh food even faster to hundreds of thousands of dogs in Germany, as well as other countries in mainland Europe".
Piotr Wawrysiuk, founder of PsiBufet said: “After choosing Poland as the best location for the production plant, Upper Silesia became our favourite. It is a large labour market, full of highly skilled workers, with a very well-developed infrastructure. CTPark Zabrze, in turn, is located in close proximity to the junction of the A1 and A4 motorways, allowing fast delivery to dogs from all over Poland, Germany and other European countries. The possibility of receiving public aid also played a major role in the choice of site for the investment. We also received support from the city and the entire region, as well as irreplaceable commercial advice from CTP".
Bogi Gabrovic, Director of Client Relations & Corporate Affairs at CTP Poland said: “CTP's development strategy focuses on locations that are key to Poland's export opportunities - providing fast trade and shorter delivery times. Hence the decision to develop a portfolio of business parks in, among other places, the Silesian Voivodeship, close to the German market. To date, we have built almost 67,000 sqm within CTPark Zabrze. For the needs of the PsiBufet and Butternut Box brands, we will rebuild one of the buildings in the complex, providing the tenant with suitable conditions for the production and storage of pet food. In this way, we will support the tenant in serving the ever-growing demand for fresh and healthy meals for dogs".
Łukasz Tomczyk, Business Developer at CTP Poland commented: “Being appointed to redevelop the ZAB3 building in Zabrze to replicate the specialist standard of the Doncaster factory reflects our expertise and experience in implementing complex manufacturing processes across Europe, something we are increasingly doing in Poland. We feel a huge responsibility towards the ambitious business plans of our new partner and - let's not forget - hundreds of thousands of dogs today and millions of dogs in the future, who are impatiently waiting for their first meals prepared in our park in Zabrze".
