Pet owners splurge on premium food

The premiumisation trend in the global pet food market indicates that pet-owning consumers are as willing to spend more on premium food infused with health-fortifying ingredients for their pets as they are for themselves. Driven by premiumisation, the global pet food market reached an estimated $49 billion in 2008, according to market research publisher Packaged Facts in its new report “Pet Food in the U.S.”. The 2008 global total marked a compound annual growth rate of almost 5 per cent for the preceding five-year period. North America accounted for the largest share of global pet food sales in 2008 with 40 per cent. “Pet owners often view their pets as part of the family or even as surrogate ‘children’. Thus they are looking for the safest and healthiest products possible,” says Tatjana Meerman, publisher of Packaged Facts.