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Because you have a choice! An Insider's Guide to Choosing the Right Food for Your Pet

Industry News and Press Releases

(Please submit press releases using contact form)

June News

Natural dog food brand Land of Holistic Pets have a new supplier for their Luath's range of foods, which will now be made in Wales, and it means that they can increase production to meet demand.

Pets at Home made £30m profit last year on a turnover of £354m and are continuing to expand, with 213 stores at the end of 2007.

Hills are relaunching their 'Nature's Best' range of foods in new packaging, emphasising no artificial colourings, preservatives or flavourings, and preserved using vitamin E and Rosemary.

 

May News

New research by Saga says that in the current economic climate people are likely to spend less on their pets, which at present can be up to £1000/year. A quarter of respondents said they would cut back on treats if necessary, 10% would switch to a cheaper brand and 20% would visit the vet less frequently.

Animal feed ingredient prices (particularly wheat) are rising steeply and this will impact on pet food prices.

Fold Hill Foods have a new rabbit diet 'Modern Rabbit Diet' with added natural fibre

 

April News

Two thirds of Vets believe that pet obesity is the single biggest health issue facing domestic animals throughout Europe, shortening life by around 2 years. At a conference hosted by Hills, 78% of Vets said that they associated fat pets with fat owners.

The PDSA have produced a dog obesity map of the UK, and they reckon that around 1.95 million dogs are overweight. The Midlands came off extremely badly in the survey, along with Wales, Scotland, the Northwest and Northern Ireland. London dogs are seemingly the most trim!

Sales of slimming drugs for dogs are increasing rapidly, according to Petmeds.co.uk

HiLife are changing to pouches for their 'Perfection' range - RRP 49p. The cat food range is also being revamped to make it nutritinally complete

James Wellbeloved have added Turkey and Vegetable kibble to their range of adult dog foods.

 

 

New pet food products announced at Crufts 2008

As always it was a busy time at Crufts for pet food companies, with the rush on to release new products or at the very least announce the future launch!

Among the new pet foods to look out for in your pet shop there's...

Royal Canine are promoting their range of specialist cat foods, including food for indoor, outdoor, sensitive and active cats.

Antos have launched their range of Dogatti hypoallergenic and wheat gluten free dog snacks

Fish4Dogs have a new superpremium fish based dog food and a pouch food made from 99% pure salmon.

Gilpa have slimline treats for dieting dogs!

Skinners are launching 3 new products - Chicken & Rice Sensitive, Lamb & Rice Sensitive and Puppy and Junior. All are free of wheat, artificial flavourings, colours and preservatives.

Gelert have a new range of canned foods 'Gelert Country Choice Tripe Mix'

Vitalin have come on board the natural bandwagon with their new premium range - the maintenance diet contains chicken, potato and vegetables, naturally stabilised without artificial colours, preservatives or flavourings.

Wagg launched their new Optimum range for rabbits and Guinea Pigs, which they claim offers the same quality at a lower price than the market leading brand.

Pedigree have also seen the light and extended their 'Better by Nature' range to include dry dog food, made without artificial colours or flavourings (as they're spending over £4 million promoting this I guess you'll hear about it!

Hills Pet Nutrition are extending their range with a range of new foods for kittens and cats - look out for 'Tender Chunks in Gravy'

 

 

 

Euromonitor UK industry report 2007

Cats and Dogs: Polar Opposites?

Both the dog and the cat food sectors continue to grow strongly. However, their growth has been driven by certain categories. In cat food, wet food continues to show excellent growth, which manufacturers have continued to promote by stressing the premium nature of their wet brands; wet dog food, on the other hand, is stagnating. The opposite is true in the dog food sector, where it is dry dog food that is continuing to show excellent growth, with pet owners realising the potential health benefits of feeding dry dog food and also of the relative ease with which dry dog food can be bought in bulk. Comparatively, dry cat food is showing much lower levels of growth.

Healthy Pets

With the pet obesity rate reaching record levels, pet health and pet hygiene proved to be one of the biggest concerns of pet owners in 2006. This has resulted in a raft of new health focused multi-functional foods aimed at improving pet health, with product launches aimed at boosting pet paws, claws, eyes, coats, skin, teeth and even brain power. Key terms included omega 3 and 6, macro-nutrient profile, wheat and gluten-free and hypoallergenic. As pet owners became increasingly aware of the changing nutritional needs of their pets as they age, 2006 saw a great extension to life stage and lifestyle products, once the domain of premium and super-premium products. Even value manufacturers are cashing in on this trend.

Consumers Opt for Convenient Luxury

With sales staff at one of the UK’s biggest grocery chains noticing that people often purchase premium products for their pets but value products for themselves, manufacturers are using advertising to persuade pet owners to trade up in their pet food purchases. 2006 saw the release of the world’s most expensive television pet food advertisement coming in at £1 million to support the Sheba cat food brand. Convenience has also been at a premium, hastening the decline of the canned format, whereas innovations such as Whiskas and Felix pouches and Olli’s non-slip trays have continued to perform well.

The Rise of the Pet Superstore

Pet owners are increasingly likely to consider their pets as part of the family and will go to greater efforts to care for them. This is contributing to the rise of the pet superstore as pet owners want to ensure that all their requirements are met. This, however, is luring consumers away from small independent pet stores, which cannot stock wide ranges, particularly with the advent of life stage products that pet owners are demanding.

The Future Looks Good

Despite a general stagnation in pet numbers in the UK, the pet food and pet care market is one of the most robust. With anthropomorphism gathering pace, manufacturers are increasingly able to persuade pet owners to trade up to super-premium and premium products which will drive value sales growth over the forecast period. Expect to see an increasingly segmented market as manufacturers with similar high-quality products seek to drive value by diversifying their products.

 

 

Pet Food Sales holding up

Despite a fall off in pet ownership, petfood sales are holding up as people spend more on pampering their furry friends - or putting them on diets. Volume sales of petfood fell 2.2% in the year to 12 August 2007, according to TNS Worldpanel data. However, the market grew 1.8% in value to £1.6 billion over the same period, driven by increasing demand for premium products - particularly in catfood.

Separate data shows the emerging super-premium catfood category is now worth more than £11 million per year, reflecting value growth of 50% a year (multiple grocers, 52 w/e August 2007).

Convenience is also driving growth. Sales of pouch formats increased for both cat and dogfoods by 16.1% and 13.7% respectively, according to TNS.

The rise in value sales comes despite a fall in pet ownership from 55% of shoppers in 1992 to 44% in 2007, according to BMRB data.

Source: Grocer 06-11-2007

 

 

 

 

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©2008Pet Food Choice - All information on this website is given in good faith, but decisions about the feeding requirements of your pets are entirely up to you, or if necessary should be taken with the help and advice of your veterinary surgeon... Site map