Considerable growth rates

With a total volume of € 2 223 mio, the Italian market for pet products has increased over the past two years by over 4 per cent per year in terms of turnover. These are the findings of a new market research study presented at the specialist trade fair at Bologna by Centro Studi Zoomark. It is remarkable that the growth in sales of pet food is higher than for accessories. Dry food in particular enjoys high demand, although it must be conceded that moist food for dogs and cats still has a market share of about 60 per cent. This market share could be reduced further in the next few years in favour of the dry food sector, however. As in other industrial countries, the differentiation of the dog and cat food segments according to size of animal, activity, stage of life and breed is advancing further. The evolution of this trend is the introduction of “near medical” food with additional value, the aim of this being to prevent and help in the treatment of actual diseases. These products met with an interesting market response, particularly in pet shops, with a 9 per cent growth rate between September 2003 and August 2004, i.e. well above the annual average of the total pet food in this channel. The number of hypermarkets in Italy is increasing. These stores often have large pet departments. The non-food sector is suffering increasingly from growing competition from non-German suppliers and the increasing price pressure this segment is subjected to. However, the accessories sector is developing rather well. Broken down into animal groups, it becomes apparent that those segments which up to now were underdeveloped – for example rodents and reptiles – are currently recording strong growth. These increases can be explained by the marked expansion in the available range to include new products. Aquariums, which just two years ago were the problem child of the Italian market, produced considerable growth rates during the period surveyed from 2003 to 2004. This sector is benefiting primarily from high growth rates in ornamental fish food. Even the ornamental bird segment which, in terms of turnover, is on the downturn in many European countries, has increased slightly in Italy. Population figures 2004 in mio (download pdf-file) Looking at distribution channels, the pet retail sector managed to achieve a market share of approx. 30 per cent in turnover, according to Centro Studi Zoomark. This channel covers about 3 000 retail outlets, some of them specialist shops and…