Pet Food: U.S. Market and International Perspectives

Pet food (dog/cat food) marketers are headed towards an uphill battle, facing plateauing sales growth due to the leveling off of superpremium-fueled price increases and growing pricing pressure from the advance of the Internet and mass premiumization. Bright spots very much remain in this saturated market, however. Although the Internet is poaching sales from brick-and-mortar retailers, online sales are for the time driving incremental growth in the market as a whole by promoting in-demand brands and auto replenishment. Also positively impacting the market are Millennial pet owners, who are willing to pay more for quality products, especially those featuring sustainably and ethically sourced ingredients. Other opportunities reside in specialized diets targeting the aging pet population and in high-quality, freshly made pet food prepared in-store or ordered online for home delivery.

Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in analyzing the pet food industry as well as broad cross-category expertise from the analysts, this report pinpoints strategic directions for current and prospective pet food marketers, with a forward-looking focus on high-growth product segments and market drivers. Covering foods for dogs and cats, the report examines trends by form (dry, wet, semi-moist, and frozen/refrigerated), ingredients, and product claims across the full retail spectrum including mass-market outlets, the pet specialty channel, online retailers, and other channels. It provides a comprehensive overview of historical market size and projections (2014-2023), cross-market trends, consumer expenditures, market opportunities, mergers and acquisitions, channel trends including e-commerce and omnichannel, the Millennial and Gen Z impact, and new product and marketing trends. 

Through proprietary surveys of U.S. pet owners, the study highlights consumer purchase patterns and product and brand preferences for dog and cat food as well as the market as a whole. Including dozens of product illustrations, it focuses particularly on trends in marketing and new product development, while also identifying key players in dog and cat food overall. Additional data sources include Simmons profiling trends in pet ownership, purchasing attitudes, and product preferences, including demographic trends down to the brand level, and SPINS data on the natural and gourmet channel.

While the United States remains by far the largest pet food market, the second tier of national markets (with combined dog/cat food sales of US$1 billion or more) is being reshaped, with Brazil now heading the list. Also morphing is the set of national markets showing higher longer-term promise for future growth, which along with Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina includes China, India, Russia, and South Korea, indicating the increasing multinationalism of the pet food industry and the prime market opportunities.  "Pet Food: U.S. Market and International Perspectives" provides summary perspectives on retail market opportunities - particularly those stemming from pet humanization trends and the associated premium/functional products - for commercial dog food and cat food in the following key global markets: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy. Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, United Kingdom.