Pet food sales and growth trends
November 1, 2022 – David Sprinkle
U.S. retail sales of dog and cat food approached US$40 billion in 2021, up 15% over 2020, as reported in Packaged Facts’ just-released “Pet Food in the U.S.” (September 2022). Over the 2017–2021 period, dog and cat food garnered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11%. Recent inflationary prices for pet food only partially spurred that growth. Double-digit sales growth in the pet food market — large and ostensibly mature as it may be — is driven by ongoing product premiumization, and especially “superpremiumization.” The question then becomes: What’s currently putting the “super” in pet food?
Mars adds to large pet food portfolio with Champion deal
November 2, 2022 – Debbie Phillips-Donaldson
The announcement on November 1, 2022, that Mars Petcare is acquiring Champion Petfoods was significant, though certainly not surprising. Going back nearly four years, to July 2018, media such as the Wall Street Journal reported Champion being for sale, with Nestle Purina PetCare about to purchase the Canadian-based maker of premium Acana and Orijen brands.
Top 2023 human food trends: Value is key for pet food, too
November 10, 2022 – Debbie Phillips-Donaldson
The pet food market has been famously and fortunately resilient, experiencing ongoing growth in the face of recessions, a pandemic and inflation, to name a few of the major challenges the world has undergone in the past 15 years. Yet that doesn’t mean consumers, including pet owners, can and will continue to support the industry at the same level indefinitely.
Pet food inflation still going up, producer prices stable
November 21, 2022 – Debbie Phillips-Donaldson
Overall, human food (food at home) inflation in the U.S. settled at 12.4%, but that’s not as bad as pet food, which reached a new high of 15% YOY inflation in October, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), compiled and analyzed by John Gibbons on his PetBusinessProfessor.com blog. That figure represented a 1% rise from September’s 14%, similar to the increase in September (up from August’s 13.1%). The good news, I suppose—yes, this is a bit of a reach—is that pet food inflation has not grown as rapidly the past few months as earlier in 2022.
6 media questions to answer during a pet food recall
November 29, 2022 – Debbie Phillips-Donaldson
With one month to go, 2022 has been a relatively quiet year for pet food recalls and litigation. This year, only a dozen or so recalls have appeared on Petfood Industry’s website, most not associated with any deaths. Similarly, high-profile class action lawsuits have been uncommon. Knock on wood, right? Perhaps long-standing sanitary measures, FSMA regulations and COVID-era biosecurity have combined to boost the pet food industry’s focus on safety in 2022. Nevertheless, the best time for a pet food maker to react to a recall, lawsuit or other crisis is when there isn’t one.
