Petcare 2024: Health trend helps to grow petcare value

The UK is full of fur babies. The country boasts about 13.5 million pet dogs, according to trade body UK Pet Food, and 12.5 million pet cats. There’s also a multitude of birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, tortoises, turtles, snakes and even horses.

This vast pet population goes some way to explaining why Brits spent an extra £10.4m on petcare products this year – marking yet another year of value growth for the category.

“Petcare continues to be one of the last categories that [shoppers] will look to decrease spending on,” notes Adelina Bizoi, Mars Petcare category & market activation director.

Volumes are down 3.4%, but that’s largely due to a disastrous year for cheaper own-label products. Units are down 8.6% on last year, when Brits were suffering the worst of the cost of living crisis, while brands have edged down just 0.5%. “Private label shares are still in the process of rebalancing, having peaked around August last year,” explains Adam Paulson, NIQ senior insight analyst.

Plenty of big brands, on the other hand, are in great shape. Take Mars Petcare trio Whiskas, Pedigree and Sheba. They’re all in volume growth, adding a combined 8.7 million more packs.

The category’s wellness trend has been key to performance, suggests Bizoi. “We have seen the wellness trend become more important than ever,” she says. “This has led to shoppers continuing to seek high-quality options from the category.”

That’s why Mars rolled out Pedigree Ranchos Superfoods treats in the summer. “Made with 100% natural chicken, beef and turkey, the product is boosted with superfoods including potassium, antioxidants and fibre,” Bizoi says.

A raft of smaller brands have also capitalised on the growing demand for pet wellness. Wilsons, for instance, is seeing “strong demand for our products as pet owners remain dedicated to keeping pets fit and well”, says MD Craig Wallace.

“Our customers appreciate our transparent labelling, honest marketing, and assurance of high-quality ingredients.”

Similarly, Scrumbles co-founder Jack Walker points to “shoppers continuing to seek out high-quality, more natural and less processed recipes for their pets”. But he also recognises “a backdrop of challenging economics that forced them to manage budgets more tightly”.

In that challenging environment, Scrumbles’ 10.4% rise in volumes is due to being “an affordable trade-up for those seeking a healthier option, and a safety net for those seeking better value than the most premium brands”, he adds. Plus, a return to TV in early 2024 with the ‘Do your business’ push helped to drive shopper awareness.

Read more: Petfood 2023: Pricier pets drive gains for own label