[THE INVESTOR] LG Household & Health Care officially stepped into South Korea’s soaring market for pet grooming and care products on Sunday with the launch of its new pet care brand “O’s Sirius.”

The brand offers diverse pet care goods such as pet shampoo, conditioner, body mist and deodorizers — sold under two product lines Alpha and Beta which respectively target long-haired and short-haired dog breeds.

Alll of O’s Sirius products exclude potential irritants such as sulfate, artificial coloring and paraben, and include natural ingredients such as flower extract, jojoba oil and shea butter, LG H&H said. Product prices range from 9,900 won to 19,000 won at local online retailers.

In launching its new brand, the cosmetics and household goods making unit of LG Group said it is looking to steal away a portion of the country’s pet care market estimated at a value of 1 trillion won ($8.98 million).

“O’s Sirius was launched to diversify the options available to local pet owners, whose numbers are growing day by day,” an O’s Sirius spokesperson said in a statement. “We plan to continually expand our product lineup in the future.”

LG H&H is considered the first major Korean player to enter the local market for pet grooming products. Until now, the segment had been mostly dominated by smaller Korean retailers which import foreign brands.

Korea’s big-name companies have been mostly focusing instead on the premium pet food market over the past three years. Pet food brands launched by CJ CheilJedang, Pulmuone, Dongwon F&B and the Korea Ginseng Corp. now compete against leading foreign brands such as Nestle’s Purina and Royal Canin.

By Sohn Ji-young/The Korea Herald (jys@heraldcorp.com)