How will pet food trends evolve in coming years? [Interview]

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In common with other consumer categories, the pet food sector has gone through turbulent times of late, including the Covid-19 pandemic and rampant inflation.

“As we like to say, though, pet care is a ‘crisis-resilient’ industry,” says Euromonitor’s Javier Muñoz. “Consumers have tried their best to cope with these difficult situations, which just goes to show that, no matter what, they care about their pets almost as much as they care about themselves. The pandemic showed this very clearly, with spending going up as pets and pet owners were spending more time together at home.”

While snacks and treats as well as pet accessories grew the same way, consumers did begin to restrict or budget for such spending during the peak inflationary period. “With an easing of the financial situation right now though, all trends within the pet care industry are back,” adds Muñoz.

Better-informed consumers demanding transparency

At this year’s Fi Europe Conference, Muñoz will be following trends very closely and will discuss key insights in his presentation, entitled “Pet Food: From health to sustainability concerns”.

“Manufacturers are following market trends very closely, especially after the peak the industry experienced during the pandemic,” he says. “Most of all, consumers are demanding more transparency and are better informed than ever. Manufacturers must be honest and claim only what their products truly offer. Other growing consumer concerns that manufacturers need to think about include plastic content and recycling in packaging, as well as health benefits claims.”

While ingredients are not scrutinised in the same way that consumers examine labels for their own food, Muñoz notes that the grain-free trend has caught up. This is being labelled on more dog food products than before. Vegetarian pet food, or products containing alternative protein sources such as insects, are also rapidly growing, and are achieving a good deal of acceptance from consumers interested in sustainability.

“Brands are also putting a lot of effort into showing the protein content and enriched nutritional value of their products,” he adds. “There have also been some developments when it comes to sustainable packaging and plastic use reduction, etc. This mirrors what is happening in human food categories. Claims about CO2 footprints are also being displayed by many main brands.”

Evolving consumer demands on pet care

Looking forward, Muñoz believes that manufacturers must pay ever-closer attention to evolving consumer demands.

“Exactly how different trends across categories, price segments and distribution channels will play out is going to be very interesting,” he says.

“We will see sustainability claims and functional ingredients becoming more common. I can see almost every pet food product including some kind of claim on how it or one of its ingredients addresses some health issue. We are also likely to see new developments when it comes to services like pet food subscriptions.”

Muñoz’s presentation will also examine how consumers are increasingly transferring their wishes and tastes to their pets.

“This is what the humanisation trend has been about for some years now,” he says. “We see this especially with health claims, the inclusion of functional food, and how these issues interplay with pet healthcare products. We will also provide a lot of data on consumer behaviour related to sustainability, and how this affects their purchases.”