Hao Zhongli has a success story unlike anyone else. When he founded Yantai China Pet Foods Co., Ltd. (WANPY) in 1998, it was one of the first Chinese-owned pet food brands. But since then, the company has become a worldwide leader in the market.  

With an intentional approach to research and product development, he solidified WANPY’s reputation for innovation and quality, one that’s trusted by pet parents everywhere. This year, his impactful work was recognized with WPA’s International Excellence Award. In this first edition of the 2026 WPA Visionaries: Leadership & Advice series, his son, Chenlong Hao, shares the WANPY story. 

“We’ve been a household brand in China,” Chenlong says. “But now, WANPY is sold in 77 countries around the globe. We have facilities in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, southeast Asia and Mexico. So this has been a monumental moment for the WANPY brand.” 

A Pet Food Pioneer

As a trailblazer in China, the WANPY team needed to educate consumers about the long-term health benefits of a nutritious diet for pets. As pet owners have become more educated over the years, WANPY evolved alongside them to keep pace with their demands. 

This dedication earned WANPY a “China-famous brand” designation, the first pet food company to receive that honor.  

“For us to have a national recognition gave us the encouragement that we can deliver higher-quality products to the Chinese consumers, and global consumers as well.” 

Growth That Drives Innovation (and Vice Versa) 

As WANPY expanded its global footprint, it also broadened its product line, moving from treats and snacks to include wet food, freeze-dried products and functional nutrition. Chenlong noted this is another example of WANPY’s responsiveness to evolving customer preferences. 

“I think consumers demand more from pet foods, especially dry foods,” he said. “And that requires us to give them a full solution.” 

Those expectations drive WANPY’s research, development and marketing approaches so they can give owners different products to help pets at every life stage. For instance, as pets become older, brands need to create products that address health-related issues.   

“What we’ve been doing in China as well as around the globe, is a lot of frontier science,” Chenlong said. “We have this state-of-the-art research institute, the first of its kind in China, where we have about 1,000 dogs and cats. We constantly monitor their health and the health implications of their diet. So we can build a database and numbers to see what the effect will be like long term.”  

Innovation also requires tailoring those approaches to each global region. 

“Let’s say the pets in North America are raised differently compared to pets in China, because pets in China, they live in apartments. So they don’t work out nearly as much as pets in America, right? So that requires different metabolic energies, different lifestyles. And that plays into how we structure their diet.”