Italian growth market

In 2024, 65 mio pets were living in Italy, which was a stable figure compared to the previous year. The dog and cat food market recorded wholesale sales of 13.4 mio euros. These are two of the key findings of the latest Assalco Zoomark Report, presented in May at the Zoomark exhibition in Bologna.

 2024 was also a challenging year for Italy, marked by persistent inflation and economic uncertainty due to increased energy and raw material costs, as well as a general slowdown in growth. Nevertheless, the dog and cat food market recorded double-digit growth at large retail chains and pet shops, with wet food for dogs and cats leading the way, followed by dry food for dogs and cats. These results reflect the growing popularity of cat food.

Compared to the overall pet food market, the wet food segment remains the most significant, accounting for 49 per cent of the market and recording value growth of 4.3 per cent. Dry food follows with a 40.4 per cent market share and 13.4 per cent value growth.

Overall, functional snacks and snacks for dogs and cats continue to show positive trends in terms of value (4.2 per cent), but the cat segment recorded double-digit growth in both value and volume (10.2 per cent and 11.5 per cent, respectively).

Overall, the snack market continued to develop positively: the cat segment recorded significant value growth in both food stores (10.9 per cent) and large retail chains and pet shops (11.3 per cent), while growth in traditional pet shops was lower at 3.7 per cent.