What do pet parents want from their pet food? Research looking to answer that question found that quality and finding a food that pets like are important to pet parents.
Research was conducted by TC Transcontinental Packaging, along with EnsembleIQ, to better understand how pet food shopping is shifting based on shopping trends, preferences, behaviors, needs, fears and desires. It also examined the barriers and opportunities in the grocery channel specifically.
Rebecca Casey, senior director of marketing at TC Transcontinental Packaging, spoke at Petfood Forum 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, and revealed the results of the research.
Casey said the survey of more than 500 pet owners found that pet owners place high importance on quality, trusted brands and freshness when making a pet food purchase decision. Seventy-four percent of respondents said quality was important to their purchase decision, 72 percent said trusted brands were important, 66 percent said freshness, 65 percent said availability, 61 percent said price/value, 56 percent said premium ingredients, 56 percent said heath considerations, and 50 percent said packaging type/size.
The survey also found that, when choosing a brand, pet preference is by far the most important factor. Forty-eight percent of respondents ranked “what my pet likes” as most important when choosing a pet food brand. Thirty-one percent said ingredients, 30 percent said price, 24 percent said prior usage/availability, and 20 percent said health reasons.
Petfood Forum was held April 24-25 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Petfood Forum 2019 will be April 29-May 1, also in Kansas City.