Germany: Market still showing slight growth

As reported by the Industrieverband Heimtierbedarf (IVH) in the run-up to Interzoo, pet food generated 2.042 bn euro (+ 0.1 per cent) in revenue and other pet products 733 mio euro (+ 0.3 per cent) in Germany. Broken down into individual product groups, the figures reveal the following: 
Dog food: The modest increase in sales of 0.1 per cent to 849 mio euro should be viewed as a positive result in view of the decline in the canine population in 2001, according to the IVH. Increased demand for premium products and a small ongoing increase (+ 1 per cent) in sales of dry food accounted for a large share of this.
Cat food: The increase in sales of 0.8 per cent to 945 mio euro is essentially based on a 5.8 per cent increase in dry food sales to 152 mio euro. The convenience aspect of products in this group suggests further growth in the future. However, IVH believes that the wet food segment, which generated sales of 720 mio euro (+ 0.1 per cent), will continue to account for the majority of revenue from cat food sales. The trend towards convenience foods is borne out in this sector too by increased demand for portion-sized packs (trays as well as so-called fresh pouches). By comparison, the treats/cat milk sector suffered a slight decline (- 1.5 per cent) to 73 mio in 2001.
Caged birds: Although the caged bird population remained the same, sales of bird food fell by 6.8 per cent to 106 mio euro in 2001. It should be taken into consideration here that a substantial amount of the bird food purchased is in the form of loose seed, which is not recorded by the market research institutes.
Ornamental fish: According to IVH data, no changes of note were recorded in this segment, which had sales of 60 mio euro.
Other pets: Sales in the ready-prepared food segment increased by 2.5 per cent to 82 mio euro. It should be noted that a large proportion of fresh vegetables, salad and hay is used as food in this sector. Sales of pet accessory products rose slightly by 0.3 per cent to 733 mio euro. Sales of dog products remained unchanged at 117 mio euro, while an increase of 3 per cent to 137 mio euro was recorded for cat products. Cat litter sales dipped slightly (- 0.8 per cent) to 174 mio euro, and there was a 3 per cent drop in sales of caged bird products to 61 mio euro. Finally, sales in the small pets/other pets sector showed a modest upward trend of 0.9 per cent to 66 mio euro.
Pet food market (mio euro)
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Pet product market (mio euro)
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