Dry food trend continues

What do dog owners from Japan, the USA and France have in common? They feed their pets chiefly on dry food. As the latest sales figures from the market research institute Euromonitor International show, this trend is likely to continue in the next few years too. Take the example of Japan: between 2004 and 2009, sales of dry food for dogs grew annually by 1.3 per cent on average to $1.527 bn. The trend in wet food took a different direction: sales in this category declined by 0.1 per cent in the same period to $324.6 mio. Euromonitor International's forecast doesn't suggest any reverse in this trend towards dry food in the near future, either. On the contrary, the market research institute expects dry dog food to achieve an annual growth rate of 4.4 per cent in Japan between 2009 and 2014. Sales of wet food, on the other hand, are only expected to increase by 1.5 per cent in the same period. In the USA also, the market for dry food for dogs has developed far more dynamically in recent years than the wet food market. In figures, the annual growth in sales of dry food between 2004 and 2009 alone was 7.1 per cent, while sales of wet food only increased by 1.1 per cent. Again, market researchers predict that the market for dry food will grow faster than that for wet food. France: here the market for wet food has steadily declined over the years, according to Euromonitor International. Although the volume of sales was almost $527 mio in 1998, by 2009 it was just $346.8 mio. Euromonitor International put the annual rate of decline in sales of wet food for dogs at 4.1 per cent between 2004 and 2009. The beneficiary of this negative trend in the wet food segment was dry food, with the volume of sales increasing from $709.3 mio in 1998 to an impressive $1.224 bn in 2009. The average annual growth rate between 2004 and 2009 was 4.2 per cent. Euro-monitor International expects that the market for dry food in France will achieve annual growth amounting to 3.1 per cent between 2009 and 2014. The experts' gloomy prediction for wet food, however, is that its market will decline by an average of 3.8 per cent per year over the same period. Arguments in favour of dry food What are the reasons for the global success of dry food for dogs? One important factor in its upward trend is the convenience aspect. Instead of having to stock up on food tins every few days, it is easier for most pet owners to purchase a sack of food once a week or even every few weeks. Another negative…