Opportunities for further growth

How is the small animal market developing for your company?What in your opinion are the current trends in the small animal market?What do you think can be done to fuel the small animal market?"Significant growth"Of the individual pet segments, it is the small animal segment (apart from cats) that has exhibited steady growth in all European pet markets in recent years, and in some countries it has shown quite considerable growth. Vitakraft is the market leader in the small animal segment in most European countries. The big markets like Germany, France, Italy and England are particularly important to us.Apart from France and Italy (as "volume markets"), all the countries in which there is still a relatively low population density compared with Germany offer significant growth potential. I am thinking here of central European countries in particular, which have recorded especially marked growth in the last few years.The general trends familiar to us from the cat and dog segments are spreading increasingly to the small animal sector. In terms of food products, these are: individualisation of recipes, i.e. adaptation to the different conditions in which pets live and are kept (life cycle, indoor/outdoor etc.), increasing quality with reference to raw materials (premium), sustainability (organic) and health (good digestibility and avoiding obesity), and a higher quality of the items required for maintaining and caring for small animals.The volume of this market segment and its development depend crucially on two factors: in the first instance on the trend in the small animal population in individual countries, and secondly on the proportion of industrially manufactured food used to feed pets.The first aspect is influenced by a variety of factors that impact on the level of interest in and opportunities for keeping small animals. These include social factors like household distribution, demographic trends, disposable income and other things, as well as supply: where do I get my pet from and how good is the supply of products for feeding, maintaining and caring for it?The pet supplies industry in particular can make a valuable contribution here with extensive information on animal biology and a wide range of products appropriate to the species.In this context the European umbrella association of the pet supplies industry FEDIAF will also make new information material available for schools and similar institutions to increase the level of interest among children…