3-billion-euro mark passed for the first time

While sales of accessories and care products rose by 4.1 per cent to € 791 mio, the pet food market grew by 1.6 per cent to € 2,289 mio. The market for cat food continues to be the largest single segment. In addition to a particularly marked increase of 8.6 percent in dry food sales to € 227 mio and of 4.7 per cent to € 111 mio for treats and cat milk, moist food sales also increased by 1.5 per cent to € 765 mio, resulting in overall growth of 3.2 per cent to € 1,103 mio. The market trend for dog food presents a different picture: while dry food (including semi-moist food) was up 3.1 per cent to € 369 mio, sales of moist food fell by 3 per cent to € 326 mio and sales of treats were down 0.8 per cent to € 253 mio. As a result of these movements, overall sales in the dog food segment declined by 0.1 per cent to € 948 mio. The small animal segment, comprising pets such as guinea pigs, hamsters and rabbits, continued to enjoy a positive trend. With growth of 7.2 per cent and a volume of € 107 mio, this sector has now developed into the third-biggest food segment. Its fortunes are in contrast to those of the bird segment, which recorded losses of 7.1 per cent to € 64 mio. The market for fish food (including pond food) has grown again, with sales up 3.2 per cent on the previous year to a total of € 67 mio. The market for other pet supplies increased substantially in 2005, growing by 4.1 per cent to € 791 mio. There was a particularly sharp rise in the market for other products for small animals, with growth of 11.4 per cent to € 78 mio. This was followed by cat litter (+ 6.7 per cent to € 196 mio), fishkeeping products for aquariums and garden ponds (up 3.1 per cent to € 202 mio), and products for cats (+ 2.8 per cent to € 145 mio) and dogs (+ 1.7 per cent to € 120 mio). Only the market for bird supplies was down slightly, by 2 per cent to € 50 mio. The varying relevance of the distribution channels for pet food and accessories remains unchanged. The importance of the speciality retail outlets for the sale of requisites other than food remains high, accounting for a share of 86 per cent of the market. These stores had sales of € 680 mio. With regard to pet food, the supermarket chains (including drugstores and discount stores) continued to be the main sales channel, with a share of 67 per cent and sales of € 1,534 mio.
download .pdf-file 3-billion-euro mark passed for the first time