Pandemic boosts health of pet supplement market

Demand for pet supplements was already growing before the pandemic, according to Bill Bookout, President of the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC), as pet parents figured that, if a multivitamin was good for them, then it should be good for their pets as well. But in 2020, Bookout says, the pet supplement market grew as much as $200-300 million (€176-264M) in a single year.

Panic buying?

“Initially, when demand went up like crazy in April, we weren’t sure if that was panic buying,” Bookout says. “Demand flattened in May, and then it increased again.”

With the sector now worth $1.8 billion (€1.6B) according to NASC, Bookout doesn’t believe the breakneck growth is likely to continue, but he doesn’t see it disappearing entirely either. COVID, it seems, has permanently changed both the type and quantity of supplements pet owners are inclined to buy.

Well-being top of mind

Nicole Hill, Executive Director of Strategy for brand and insights firm MarketPlace, believes two primary trends are responsible for the rapid growth of interest in pet supplements during the pandemic.

Similar to the dynamics that drove consumers to acquire new pets at record rates, spending more time at home prompted increased awareness of the pet’s health and well-being, Hill says.

“As you spend more time at home, you have more visibility of your pet and maybe notice things you may not have noticed before,” she says. “Maybe they seem to have some skin or some coat issues, or maybe they aren’t as mobile as they could be.”

Noticing more health and aging-related concerns, Hill says, led consumers to purchase more supplements in pursuit of solutions. At the same time, she says, there was a marked increase in interest in probiotics and other supplements to promote gut health and immunity.

“We’re seeing that people have immunity and quality of life top of mind, for themselves and their pets,” she says.

Easing anxiety

Recent market research by Marketplace, Hill says, generally shows shifts in consumer demand that align with these emerging concerns and attitudes. Joint health, and skin and coat conditions remain the top health benefits pet owners seek in a supplement for their animals, Hill says, but these are now followed closely by anti-anxiety and immunity. Pet owners also reported they were more likely to buy a supplement with more than one benefit – for example, a skin and coat supplement that also offers potential calming benefits.

Effectiveness-issues

The trouble with some of these categories, especially anxiety, is the absence of effective supplements on the market. Despite the glut of anxiety-related supplements entering the market for pets, Hill says, consumers have noticed problems with the consistency of these products, and many pet owners have reported that anxiety supplements that seem to work at first seem to lose potency over time.

COVID-19 further exacerbated this conundrum by both providing more opportunities for owners to observe their pets’ behavior before and after taking a supplement, and by potentially exacerbating separation anxiety in some pets, she says. “It’s a continual need that pet parents are voicing that does have a very recognizable effect when it works, or when it doesn’t work.”

A market opportunity

The lack of effective solutions to meet the demand does present an opportunity for innovation and new entrants into the field, Hill says. But both Hill and Bookout noted that the investment in research and development that is needed to identify effective supplements could make it a tough sector to succeed in.

“People are looking for confidence and efficacy,” Hill says. “It’s a stiff competition in terms of spend required to break into the pet supplement space.”

This could be the other upside of COVID-19, Bookout says. The pandemic has not only increased demand for pet supplements but has also raised consumer consciousness of quality and efficacy, which may, in turn, lead to more research and more diverse and effective product offerings.