The Mexican pet food market reached a volume of 1.215 million tons in 2017, said Ivan Franco, founder of Triplethree International Market Research, during the opening session of Foro Mascotas 2018 on May 31 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Likewise, the Mexican pet food market rose to a value of MEX68.9 billion (US$3.45 billion).
Mexico is a world leader in consumption of certain products, and pet food is one of them, said Franco.
Value and growth of the Mexican dog and cat food markets
Both cat and dog food grew in both volume and value from 2016 to 2017. Dog food dominated the market, though, accounting for 78 percent of the total pet food market volume and 72 percent of the value.
Dog food sales volume grew from 894,731 tons in 2016 to 947,493 tons in 2017. Dog food sales value increased from MEX44.4 billion to MEX49.9 billion during that same period. That represents a 5.9 percent increase in volume and a 12.5 percent increase in value.
Cat food sales volume also grew, going from 261,871 tons in 2016 to 262,556 tons in 2017. Cat food sales value rose from MEX16.6 billion to MEX18.0 billion between 2016 and 2017. Over those two years, cat food sales volume increased 0.30 percent, while value increased 8.3 percent.
Sales value versus volume in the Mexican pet food market
Of these data, the most important for the Mexican pet food sector is the general increase in prices relative to volume over the two-year period, said Franco. Overall, pet food sales value increased 11.3 percent. However, the volume of pet food bought by Mexican pet owners increased only 4.6 percent.
This increase in value versus volume may reflect premiumization in the Mexican pet food market, and mirrors global sales trends, such as those in the United States. However, one important difference between US and Mexican pet food sales. At Petfood Forum 2018, Natasha Davis, client service manager for GfK, presented data that pet food volume sales in the US decreased by 1.1 percent in 2017, although sales value increased by 0.8 percent. The Mexican pet food market is still growing in both value and volume.
