Britain’s growing population of smaller dogs is set to drive an increase in sales of wet petfood, according to a new report from Mars.
Wet petfood’s share of the market rose significantly over the last two years, thanks largely to Britain’s growing population of smaller dogs, due to wet food being “easier for diminutive breeds to chew and digest”, claimed the report, called ‘Pet therapy: the retail opportunities of the pandemic pet boom’.
It cited data to 16 May 2021 which showed 97% of dog owners fed their pooches wet food every day, compared to 80% in 2019 [Knowledge Hound].
There were “very good, practical reasons for Britain’s growing preference for smaller dogs”, said Mars, such as the rising number of single-person households in Britain, which rose 4% in the decade to 2020.
“Smaller homes with fewer people living in them are, arguably, better suited to smaller dogs, which typically require less exercise and outside space,” it said. The new generation of pet owners was also “dominated by young urbanites, with 55% of new pet owners living in urban areas and a third aged under 40,” said Mars.
“The practical implications of living and working in a city mean these new owners are more likely to choose smaller dog breeds.”
As smaller breeds typically lived for longer than larger breeds “the window of opportunity for retailers and brands” was growing, it added.
“The prospects for the category are extremely good,” said Mars Petcare UK category & market activation director Zoe Taphouse. “Not only do shoppers tend to shop petcare for considerably longer than other categories such as infant care, they also show a far greater propensity to trade up and try new things.”
Despite the boom in pet ownership, growth in petfood was minimal over the past year. Over the 52 weeks to 11 July 2021, category value rose just 0.5% to £2.57bn, while dogfood sales were flat at £1.29bn (0.02%) [Kantar].
That said, wet dogfood indeed performed better than dry: sales of wet dogfood were flat (down 0.2%), while dry dogfood sales plunged 13.6%, with 56.3 million fewer kilos sold.
It comes after the mults were hit by a shortage of petfood pouches earlier in the year.
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