Capturing the potential of raw pet food

 

New category

Although it has been around since the 1970s, raw pet food is coming of age. Growing at 33% year-on-year for the past five years in the US (see graph) and at similar rates across Europe, it has become a category in itself, alongside dry and wet pet food.

According to various estimates, it now accounts for roughly 10% of the pet food market in Finland, 5% in Germany, around 3% in the UK, and nearly 2% in the US. Both in Germany and in the US, the market size of raw frozen / refrigerated pet food has surpassed €100 million ($120 million). In the UK, there are over fifty producers of raw pet food, and thirty in the Scandinavian countries. The largest producers process over 1,000 tonnes a month.

Growth drivers

The drivers for this growth are clear. With the humanization of pets has come an increased interest in what consumers offer them to eat. As consumers spend more time investigating what they eat, they do the same when it comes to pet food.

What is more, raw pet food offers an answer for those consumers who view the traditional dry kibble with suspicion. Given the inherent lack of processing in raw pet food, it provides consumers with a ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ product, and thereby a much-wanted alternative to home cooking.