New study from ZZF reveals sales increase across German pet industry in 2020

“Pet food” sales exceeded the previous year’s results of € 3.460 billion, an increase of 4.6 percent. The “Consumer Goods and Accessories” segment also grew noticeably and posted sales of EUR 1.053 billion, an increase of 3.5 percent. In addition, there were 822 million euros of online sales.

Sales of dog food continue to grow – snacks are driving the market

The market for dog food continued to grow in 2020 and reached € 1.567 billion retail sales, an increase of 4.0 percent. The “Snacks” area in particular was the growth driver. It increased by 6.0 percent to 602 million euros. Revenues in the “wet feed” (502 million euros, plus 3.1 percent) and “dry fodder” (463 million euros, plus 2.4 percent) segments also rose solidly.

Cat food market remains the largest food segment

With a total revenue of € 1.680 billion and thus a plus of 5.3 percent compared to the previous year, the market for cat food was the largest food segment in 2020. The strongest growth driver was the “Snacks” segment (including cat milk), which increased by 9.4 percent to a turnover of 268 million euros. In addition, the areas of “wet food” (1.105 billion euros, plus 5.0 percent) and “dry food” (307 million euros, plus 2.7 percent) recorded significant increases.

The cat remains the favorite pet of the Germans

Almost 50% of German households have a pet. The cat is still number one: a total of 15.7 million cats live in 26% of households. Second place goes to the 10.7 million dogs living in 21 percent of households.

According to the survey, the proportion of mixed breed dogs has fallen from 47 to 42 percent. 5.0 million small animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and mice. The number of ornamental birds in 2020 was 3.5 million. In addition, there were 1.8 million aquariums and 1.4 million garden ponds with ornamental fish.

Source: German Pet Trade and Industry Association (ZZF)