How Have Pet Food Market Trends Changed Over Time?
In the last five years, the planet has seen an upsurge over pet adoption. People are more into pet an animal now, and hence, helping the pet food market to grow. The days are gone when pets were brought home solely for safety purposes, read the trends, Key Markets Trends Ten and Now.
Consumers now have an empathic value attached to their pets, which results in the pets being treated like their children, giving sense to the word ‘ family parent.’ As pet parents become more and more aware of the nutritional needs of their four-legged companions, this humanization of pets has led to substantial development of the pet food industry.
RISING TREND OF PET HUMANIZATION
The change to ‘ parenting ‘ in pet ‘ ownership ‘ has been a very critical and defining phenomenon in the pet food industry, more so in developed countries. Over one-third of developing-country households own a cat. Pet owners usually feed their pets with the residues and scraps from family meals.
Moreover, with the spread of awareness, people are getting to know the fact that proper pet food or home-made pet meals are important and have enough nutritional elements in it. Feeding your pet variety of food is good for its health and development.
Pet owners prefer locally available pet food with a great digestive benefit.
Hence, there is no wonder that sales of premium and specialty pet food Dubai are higher than sales of mid-priced products. Besides, the drive toward the humanization of pets has led to an increased understanding of safety and has created a demand for pet food free of sugars, grains, dyes, and other chemical additives.
GROWTH IN THE PET FOOD INDUSTRY
This sector has seen steady growth in both the current North American market and the emerging market, with factors such as urbanization, premiumization, and humanization contributing to global growth.
Pet Food Market is fairly concentrated and large at USD 110 billion in 2017 compared to the rest of the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) sectors, with a 3 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) and an annual growth of USD 14 billion in 2012-2017, according to The State of Global Pet Care: Patterns and Growth Opportunities, Euromonitor International Research Report.
In North America, it is noticed that a handsome amount is spent on pet care, accounting for USD 350 per household sales and an extend of around 7 percent in 2017. Except for Japan, which clocks USD 5 billion a year in average pet food sales, the Asia Pacific market (APAC) is a developing one. The pet food market in Dubai is willing to cross USD 270 million by coming years, According to Pet Food Dubai Market Forecast and Opportunities 2019.
A giant phase of the global pet care enterprise caters to dogs. The analysts also determined that around 44percent of the amount is spent on pet food globally. General pet products and healthcare trail at 27per cent, closely followed by cat food at 26per cent which is expected to gain momentum in the coming years. Other pet foods account for a meager 3percent.
CHANGING TRENDS
While pet food typically includes packaged and ready-to-eat food products providing an appropriate amount of nutrition to pets, pet parents have recently started shifting towards their premium and natural substitutes. This is a result of the changing trends in the pet food industry such as urbanization, humanization, premiumization, and an increase in disposable income, especially in the emerging markets. This has not only driven volume growth in the sales of the pet food industry but also narrowed the gap between pet food and human food.
Pet parents, especially in the US, have gradually started humanizing their pets, considering them a part of their families. With an outlook of “What is good for me is good for my pet”, there has been an increasing concern among pet parents about providing their pets with food quantifying the same nutritional standards as theirs. This has resulted in a growth in sales of the industry, particularly in the premium and natural section. While in the APAC region, it has been observed that the urbanization of the populations and growth in the middle classes has led to pet parents stressing more on the needs of their pets. Customers desire more premium-focused and natural foods for their pets in these areas as well.
THE NEW APPROACH
Equipped with a much better understanding of pet’s health, there has also been an emergence in trends such as focusing more on personalized research about pets. Pet food companies are now targeting more specific nutritional requirements of pets. The need for sustainability as well as the advent of new and alternative sources of protein have pet food brands going beyond meat products and focusing more on vegetables as well as like yak cheese-based treat.
Another major trend shaping the future of the pet industry is the growth of online retail. Factors such as better reach and efficiency have helped e-commerce succeed in capturing pet parents’ attention. Since this has facilitated pet parents who need not go to stores physically anymore and have a variety of pet food options available in the palm of their hand, this has also resulted in a steep increase in online sales, with platforms such as Amazon garnering USD 1.4 billion in pet food sales.
There has been robust growth in the demand for pet food and with an increasing pet population and changing lifestyle and perception towards pets; the demand is ever-increasing. The future of the pet food industry looks very promising; according to a research report on the pet food market predicts that the industry would register a CAGR of 4.1per cent in the period of 2016-2022. Pet food is a steadily developing industry and when it comes to taking care of and providing with the right nutrition to their furry ones, pet parents have helped ensure that the industry continues to enjoy a strong growth trajectory for years to come.