“Big confidence in lower-priced pet food products”

Although inflation in the US pet food market has leveled off in the second half of 2023, pet food consumers are still facing inflation-driven price increases. For the first time in recent years, the double-digit growth in this 51 bn dollar market has been driven almost entirely by higher prices rather than premiumization, and higher-income pet owners’ share of spending has dropped. This is a result of a new survey of the market research company Packaged Facts on the US pet food market.

Survey results also show that am ong the one-third of pet owners who changed foods in the past twelve months, approximately one-third of dog owners and nearly as many cat owners had switched to lower-priced formulations. That said, pet owner confidence in lower-priced products is high, with 37 per cent of pet owners agreeing that private label options provide the same or better quality compared to national brands. Other market opportunities discussed in the report include fresh pet foods, functional formulations, human-grade offers, and cat-specific products.