The economy is humming

The US pet product market has a volume of over € 16 bn. By 2011 it could be worth over € 20 bn, according to estimates by the market research institute Euromonitor International, if the positive economic trend in the USA continues over the next few years. The US pet market is the biggest in the world, accounting for a share of 36 per cent.However, growth varies considerably from category to category. Between 1998 and 2006, dry food for dogs and cats increased by around 4.5 per cent annually. Treats recorded an even bigger increase in sales, growing by 7.6 per cent (dogs) and 10.3 per cent (cats) a year in the same period. The above-average market growth of the big pet stores could have accounted for a substantial proportion of this trend. The situation regarding wet food is more difficult: tinned products, both for dogs and cats, are only generating slight market growth. This affects primarily the supermarket trade, which continues to be the most important distribution channel for wet products.The market for dog food had a sales volume of € 7.544 bn in 2006. Dry food accoun-ted for 63.5 per cent of this, wet food for 15.2 per cent and treats had a share of 21.1 per cent. Eight years earlier, wet food had a market share of 18.8 per cent, dry food accounted for 64 per cent of the overall market and treats had a market share of 16.8 per cent. The conclusion to be drawn from this is that the treat segment is exhibiting above-average growth, dry food is defending its strong position successfully and wet food is continuing to lose market share.The US market for cat food is estimated to have a volume of € 3.581 bn. It is thus considerably smaller than the market for dog food, an important difference compared with Europe, for instance, where the market for cat food plays a vastly more important role. The American cat food market is broken down into € 2.133 bn for dry food, € 1.258 bn for wet food and € 190 mio for treats. Here again the dry food segment dominates with a market share of nearly 60 per cent. In comparison to dog food, the market for cat treats is still pretty small, but is showing signs of strong market growth.Compared with dog and cat food, the market for food for other pets has a modest volume of € 365.474 mio in total, and it has exhibited a declining trend in the last few years. In contrast the accessory and care product market continues to grow rapidly. Its volume is put at € 4.621 bn.  maj
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