For Qinghua Siluo, 36, being a cat parent is one of the many joys in his life.
The Melbourne-based cat lover has been raising cats since he was eight years old, and has eight of his own, today. But there’s one daily chore that he always seemed to dread when it came to his beloved pets: cleaning cat litter.
“It’s the most painful part of being a pet parent. Nothing feels exciting about it,” he told news.com.au checkout.
Qinghua attributes the dread to existing pet brands and their “boring” cat litter and accessories.
“If you browse online or go to the brick and mortar stores, you find all those kitty litter brands, all those kitty litter accessories – litter box, litter mat and scoopers … you find they are pretty much boring,” he said.
“They are all big brands and big names with designs like back in the 1990s. Boring and old – it won’t excite me when I’m cleaning the cat’s business.”
Cat litter or kitty litter has long been around since the early 1950s, particularly in the form of clay, and while it was considered the standard at the time, it shared negative impacts on humans and cats, the house, and the environment.
Frustrated at the lack of “exciting” and eco-friendly options, Qinghua took matters into his own hands.
NICE TO MICHU
With a degree in Economics, strong marketing knowledge and a passion for cats, Qinghua Siluo founded Michu in April 2022. It’s a leading premium pet care brand that specialises in tofu cat litter and in less than three years, it has generated over $10 million in sales.
“I felt like this was an opportunity for me to disrupt the market. Like finding something interesting for people like the younger generation, Generation Z,” Qinghua explained.
“They definitely don’t want old things, they don’t want old school stuff. They grew up in an environment with TikTok and Instagram influencers telling them what’s ‘in’. So that’s the motivation. That’s where we started our business and where we’re positioning ourselves.”
But getting Michu off the ground required more than just a good idea – it needed a product that truly stood out from the rest and strategic marketing.
DISRUPTING THE MARKET
While Michu didn’t necessarily invent tofu litter, the brand certainly pioneered introducing the litter alternative to the Australian market.
Michu’s tofu cat litter is eco-friendly, biodegradable, dust-free, and offers excellent odour control. But the defining factor of what truly sets it apart is its aesthetic appeal – it’s colourful, available in various scents (or unscented), and wrapped in stylish and fun packaging.
And to Qinghua, that’s exactly what makes Michu “really outstanding” compared to other brands.
“When people are browsing our product in Petbarn or Coles, their attention will be immediately attracted to our product,” he told news.com.au checkout.
“It’s bright and it’s enough to get someone interested to pick it up, look at it and consider transacting with it. The colour is very beautiful but it isn’t too bold. It can be easily blended into their home lifestyle and in their home decoration environment.”
Behind Michu’s carefully thought out designs and aesthetics is a deeper brand mission: showing that mundane tasks like scooping cat litter don’t have to be boring.
“Our company is not really selling the product. What we are selling is our value, the emotional value to the public,” Qinghua said.
“If you feel like ‘I don’t want to get bored of doing this everyday cleaning job for my cat’, choose Michu.”
THE PLAN: RAISING BRAND AWARENESS
Qinghua knew that functionality alone wasn’t enough to make noise in the highly competitive pet care industry. He needed to invest a significant amount of time and money into building a social strategy.
“Before we officially launched our products, we planned for half a year. Since 2021, we have been making the strategy,” he explained.
“It took us about half a year to educate our audiences, to reach the public, get them familiar with us and to raise social awareness.”
Qinghua reached out to influencers to create content and invested money in Google Ads, Facebook, and TikTok Shop, as well as Chinese social media sites like RedNote to get the brand out there.
While the strategy was expensive, it eventually paid off.
‘I KNOW YOUR BRAND, YOU ARE EVERYWHERE’
After investing a tonne of money into social media and marketing, Qinghua saw the fruits of his labour in an unexpected way.
“When we reached out to Petbarn or Pet Circle to introduce our products to them, the buyers said to me, ‘I know your brand. You are everywhere.’ I realised that money [I invested] finally works,” he said.
It was this key moment that sealed the deal for Michu. It showed that their marketing strategy had successfully planted them in the heart of the industry and raised brand awareness before major retail partnerships were formed.
THE GLOBAL SUCCESS STORY
Today, Michu has seen continuous success – amassing over $10 million in sales since its launch in 2022.
The Michu Natural Clumping Tofu Cat Litter is their number one bestseller to date, followed by the premium Wonder Litter and the cat litter boxes. With multiple sellout periods due to high-demand and selling over 2 million bags globally – approximately four bags sold every minute – the Aussie-based brand has since scaled internationally to the US, with products sold in key stockists like Walmart, Petco and Chewy.
Qinghua believes the successful US launch comes down to one common denominator: consumers in developed markets share similar values.
“They have these similarities like they all need environmentally friendly products,” he explained. “They all have purchasing power and they all want something new. They want to be emotionally satisfied. These are things in common and this is what we are offering. That’s why we are growing rapidly in the US.”
The brand’s milestones followed. Michu was named the number one Smart50 Company in the 2025 Smart50 Awards – an annual program that celebrates and recognises fast-growing and innovative small-medium Australian businesses.
They also received the 2026 Silver Award at the New York Product Design Awards – an international competition honouring creations that improve daily life – for their container cat litter box.
However, the most rewarding moment for Qinghua was seeing the brand’s devoted fanbase in real life at the 2025 Cat Lovers Festival.
“We had a queue for over 200 fans. They lined up there to buy from us or get the freebies from us because the show ground opened at 8:00am,” he recalled.
“But at 7:30am, the line already had 500 people. That was really rewarding because I know they’re not there just for freebies, but because they love us.
“As soon as the door opened, everyone came to us and I was like a Hollywood celebrity. It made me feel that way. And oh my god, that was really satisfying and very rewarding, and from that point I felt like we have social responsibility abilities. We’re not just making profits, we need to spoil our community.”
THE FUTURE OF MICHU
With Michu’s ongoing success and international expansion, Qinghua revealed there are plans to go more global.
“As an Australian born brand, we first of all, are taking care of our Australian customers. The second mission is to expand to other countries.
“We are talking about a deal with New Zealand right now because we had a lot of emails from New Zealand flying to my inbox asking us ‘where are you?’. After New Zealand, it will be Canada,” he revealed.
While many pet care brands eventually expand to include both dogs and cats for wider consumer reach, Qinghua is firm on keeping Michu cat-centred.
“It’s not wise for Michu to expand too wide and not be an expert on kitty litter,” he said.
“So we want to tell the public that when you talk about Michu, you have an idea and impression like ‘oh this brand is an expert in kitty litter’.
“My goal is I want everyone talking about Michu to have the idea that we’re a kitty litter provider and solution provider.”
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Harriet AmuraoSenior Shopping Writer