New
reports released as 2012 wraps up indicate the continuing resilience of the pet
market, including petfood, despite prolonged turbulence and uncertainty in the
global economy.
Euromonitor’s
September report, “Pet Care Forecast Revisit 2012: How Resilient is the Global
Market?” attributes the resilience to the ongoing humanization of pets and strength
of emerging markets—leading to global sales of US$94 billion for all pet
products and services by the end of this year and projected growth through at
least 2017. However, mounting socioeconomic challenges in many parts of the
world have caused Euromonitor to downgrade its projections from previous forecasts.
Specific
to the US and dog food, another Euromonitor report finds improved performance in
2012 thanks to sales of premium products. The report estimates spending on
petfood and treats to reach US$167 per dog by the end of this year.
US dog food spending,
though, falls far below that of petfood markets in Western Europe. Citing Euromonitor
data, Quartz, a business news site, shows Norwegian dog owners spend US$53.22 a
week per dog (http://qz.com/21500). Norwegians are trading up to premium
products, purchasing higher-priced organic and “diet” dog foods, which
sometimes also come in costlier meal-size packages, the site says.
US dog food spending falls far below that of petfood markets in Western Europe. In
Switzerland, the second-place country, owners spend US$36.09 per week per dog. Overall,
Western Europe accounts for eight of the top 10 spenders on dog food—despite the
fact that Euromonitor projects dog and cat food sales in the region to increase
less than 1% in 2012. That’s according to Paula Flores, global head of pet care
research for Euromonitor, who spoke at the International Pet Industry Summit in
October in Shanghai, China.
Flores
emphasized that Western Europe is comprised of “markets moving at different
speeds.” As with their economies overall, Greece and Spain show negative petfood
growth, with reports of people giving up their pets; while some markets, such
as the Netherlands, may enjoy up to 2% growth (the highest for the region).
In
other regions, Australia sneaks in at number three in dog food spending, at US$31.44
per week per dog, according to Quartz. Brazil spends US$11.49 per week per dog;
Flores named it the fastest-growing pet market globally and projected it to
reach US$7 billion in overall pet care sales this year and have the largest
number of small dogs by 2017. China is only at US$0.98 per week per dog, but spending
there is poised to explode as pet ownership and purchasing of commercial
petfoods increase exponentially. Euromonitor pegs China as the fourth fastest-growing
pet market globally.
I’m
not sure how those weekly amounts relate to annual levels. The Quartz article shows
the US spends US$13.89 per week per dog, which doesn’t seem to compute with that
US$167 per year in the new Euromonitor report. Similarly, Quartz says Norwegian
dog owners spend the “equivalent of” US$639 per year per dog, far less than
what the weekly figure of US$53.22 would seem to indicate. Perhaps the answer
lies somewhere in that “equivalent.”
Mintel is also out with a new report, “Marketing to Pet Owners—US,” showing the US pet care market is worth
US$49 billion, an increase of 15% since 2007. Petfood accounted for the largest
share in 2011, 37.8%, at US$18.1 billion.
Euromonitor pegs China as the fourth fastest-growing pet market globally.These
data are lower than others, such as figures from the American Pet Products
Association, which reported in February that the US pet care market reached
nearly US$51 billion in 2011, a 5.3% rise over 2010. Petfood sales were
US$19.85 billion in 2011, an increase of 5.8%.
Regardless
of which numbers you believe—and don’t we prefer the larger ones?—the good news
is that the industry continues to grow no matter what’s happening in the
overall economy.