Hungary: the growth driver in pet product space
The pet supply market has never really lost its shine in Hungary, not even during the financial crisis about a decade ago, when most merchandise categories struggled to grow. However, in recent years the Hungarian pet product space has seen tremendous growth, driven primarily by significant premiumisation.
Premiumisation
Pet owners are now looking for more high-quality and value-adding products, instead of focusing strictly on price points and smart shopping. Many customers are looking for grain-free and hypoallergenic options, with unconventional protein sources. These are highly trending in Hungary, as the country’s pet market is very ‘anti-chicken’ focussed, due to a perspective that allergies, especially affecting dogs, are caused by high amounts of chicken protein in food.
Treats and snacks are greatly on the rise, outgrowing all other pet food categories, although the category’s penetration is still relatively low. The hygiene category is also gaining more ground, with increasing volumes for better quality products, especially shampoos and conditioners. This trend is supported by the fact that people tend to keep smaller breeds that spend more time indoors.
Changes in purchasing patterns
Pet parents in Hungary are now spending more and more money online, especially when it comes to pet food shopping. Zooplus, along with a handful of local webstores, are changing the way people are purchasing pet products.
Nevertheless, Fressnapf is still vastly dominating the Hungarian pet retail, with 50 stores throughout almost the entire country, mainly in large cities. Their strong pace of growth after 17 years can be partially explained by the increasing demand for premium pet product outlets, where shoppers find wide assortments, convenient shopping circumstances and proper customer service.
Most independent pet shops in Hungary, mainly very small in size, are lacking many aspects of modern retail that even pet owners regard as basics these days.
On the other hand, discounters are definitely the winners of growth, becoming the number one channel for shopping pet food, while hypermarkets keep losing market share.
Prosperous future
Even with such significant market growth, the calorific coverage of industrialised pet food in Hungary is still far below the level of most Western European countries. The local market is therefore expected to experience above average growth for many more years to come.
Peter Tamasi
CEO
tamasi.peter@pezoltd.eu
Pe-Zo Ltd
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