Pet health – a trendy topic

In the UK, Scandinavia, the Benelux states and Germany, products for aiding and maintaining pet health are among the key lines in the pet supplies trade. Once regarded as luxury products, their acceptance by pet owners has increased dramatically in the last few years in these countries, and this trend seems to be continuing. In the countries of southern Europe such as France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, the entire segment is still in its infancy, while in other countries like Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, these are still unusual items in pet stores. "Products for furthering pet health are not really fast-selling items and have to be marketed actively along with advice," says industry expert Ole Barman, proprietor of the Petosan company in Sweden (see report in this issue).The biggest obstacle to the rapid spread of the products, how-ever, is often the owners of pets themselves. It isn't so long ago that they had to be convinced by trade and industry of the benefits of expensive premium food, often by emphasising the positive influence of the food on pet health. And now the entire cycle is in motion again, but this time particularly with regard to the subjects of dental health, skin and coat problems, and precautions and preparations against pests etc.What the retailers sayAdelino Sousa of the pet store chain Petlandia (Portugal) reports that, although the segment still only accounts for a small proportion of the overall range, it is growing all the time. Given the increasing awareness of Portuguese pet owners in relation to the health of their pets, the spokesman for the chain believes the future is bright for the segment at Petlandia. Skin and coat products in particular are currently the bestsellers in this field, and he predicts similar success for dental hygiene products: "These will account for a similarly large proportion of the overall pet supplies market as is currently the case with products for people," says Adelino Sousa.At Djurensvärld in Sweden, too, the pet health segment is growing, especially when it comes to dental care products and products for maintaining the health of joints in older dogs. Annika Engdahl, chairwoman of the board, is encountering acceptance problems among consumers, however: "Many of our customers know that they should use the products, but they don't buy them because they are too expensive."At the Dutch pet store chain Dobey, the care products segment doesn't take up that much space, but it accounts for a reasonably…