Ever since Procter & Gamble acquired US specialist pet food manufacturer Iams for $2.3bn last August, the petcare industry has been anxiously awaiting the inevitable market shake up this development will bring. With annual sales of £500m, Iams is a global leader in premium complete dry and canned petfood. Its Iams and Eukanuba brands of cat and dog food are sold in 77 countries and it has an estimated 2% share of the UK market. However, until recently, Iams' policy has been to only supply specialist outlets, such as pet shops and pet supermarkets. Grocery retailers wishing to stock its products have only been able to obtain supplies from the grey market. P&G's acquisition is expected to change all that. In January, Iams made its first move into the mass market with the announcement the brand would be sold by grocery stores in North America. P&G has so far denied any move into grocery in the UK, though industry sources believe it is only a matter of time before it follows suit. In the meantime, Tesco's has got hold of the Iams brand for the expanded petcare fixture at its Newcastle store. P&G has appointed Saatchi & Saatchi to handle Iams' advertising campaign, estimated to be a £90m global brief. {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}

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