“Health nutrition is the future of specialised distribution”

PET in Europe: The economic trend in Europe isn't exactly rosy at the present time. What effect do you think the poor economic situation is having on general consumer behaviour in the dog food segment?Jacques Pidoux: Generally, pet food is not particularly sensitive to fluctuations in the economy or to variations in consumption. Nutritional foods in particular, which are the heart of Royal Canin's business, show a constant progression, because of their performance and their nutritional precision.PET in Europe: In some countries, for example in Germany, it is already becoming evident in the wake of the economic downturn that dog owners are changing increasingly from super-premium food to premium food, because this is still of good quality but markedly cheaper. Do you expect this trend to extend to the whole of Europe?Jacques Pidoux: It's not exactly what we have seen in Europe. We estimate that sales of nutritional foods in Europe are growing by between 8 and 15 per cent each year. Royal Canin's average annual growth in nutritional food sales over the last ten years has been +28 per cent. Nutritional foods are defined as technical, dry foods, which take four parameters into account: age, activity, physiological state and of course the breed/size of the animal. This is a major step Royal Canin initiated in 1997 with the launch of our Size Nutrition range.This is what we call Health Nutrition. The growth of nutritional foods can be explained by their precision and their ability to preserve the health of dogs and cats for as long as possible. This growth directly benefits specialised distribution, for which nutritional foods offer real points of difference."Our ability to innovate is the best guarantee of our growth and competitiveness", Jacques Pidoux, communications director of Royal Canin.PET in Europe: Grocery retailing is the dominant distribution channel in the pet food segment in most European countries.  What opportunities do you see for the speciality trade to claw back market share from the food retailing sector?Jacques Pidoux: It is very clear to us that only specialised distribution is tailor-made to sell nutritional foods, bringing wide choice, advice and service to consumers. The mass distribution thinking which drives grocery cannot accommodate these demands. It is therefore vital to guarantee specialised distribution true innovations across exclusive ranges which respond to the demands of their clients. This matches exactly Royal Canin's…