British pet food trends

Download: British pet food trends (PDF file)Trend data suggest that while the proportion of households with a dog is now rising slowly (up from 19 per cent in 2005), the proportion that has a cat - which for several years has been Britain's most popular pet - may be starting to fall. Ownership of caged birds and fish kept indoors also appears to be falling.Three-quarters of people with a dog at home use dry, complete varieties of dog food, two-thirds use products in tins, foil trays, or pouches, and just under half use both. One-quarter use mixers. The proportion of households using dog food in tins has fallen from 57 per cent in 2003 to only 46 per cent today, due to increased use of products packaged in foil trays or pouches. In 2004, 19 per cent of households with a dog used this type of product, but the figure has since fallen to only 14 per cent this year. Today, 15 per cent of dog-owner households use pouches, up from 12 per cent last year. Top-line data show that today around 50 per cent use adult dog food ranges, 10 per cent use senior ranges, and just under 10 per cent use products specially formulated for puppies.Going forward, the popularity of dog food in pouches may be affected by the current economic climate. Environmental concerns about the impact of excess packaging may also prove a drag on growth. Perhaps the most important influence on future growth, however, will be shifts in the type of dog owned. Today the most popular size of dog is 10 to 24 kilos - present in 46 per cent of dog-owning households. One-quarter have a dog weighing 5 to 9 kilos, and 7 per cent have a dog of less than 5 kilos. Similarly, one-quarter have a dog in the range 25 to 30 kilos, and 7 per cent have a dog of over 30 kilos. The only category to show significant growth relative to last year is 10 to 24 kilos - growth that appears to have been driven by the overall increase in dog ownership, rather than a decline in the popularity of other weight categories.What about cats?More than 80 per cent of households that have a cat use cat food in tins, foil packs or pouches, and the same number use a dry, complete product. Approaching 70 per cent use both. The decline of cat food in tins is even more marked than the corresponding decline in the dog food market. Today only 43 per cent of cat-owning households use tinned products, down from 61 per cent in 2003. Again, use of foil-tray varieties appears to have peaked in 2004 and subsequently declined. Today 27 per cent of…