“The pace of growth will increase”

Holistic pet food is strongly on the up in the US pet supplies business. How long has this trend existed? And how great do you now estimate the market share of these products to be? In many ways, the holistic movement is the logical progression of pet food. The market continually evolves. For example, over the years, pet food has moved from table scraps to commercially prepared pet food and later to premiums and super-premiums and now to holistic. The holistic market can be attributed to the ever-increasing humanisation of pets and, consequently, the expanding use of human-like ingredients in pet food. The estimates I have seen put the current retail sales value of the holistic/organic/grain-free market segment at about 10 per cent of the US pet food market as a whole. Do you expect this trend to continue? I can honestly say that when holistic pet food first began to appear on the market, I thought it was nothing more than a fad, too expensive and specialised to develop into anything more than a niche. I’m in good company, however, because many people used to have the same beliefs about super-premium pet foods. We not only expect the holistic movement to continue, we believe the pace of growth and market share will increase in years to come. To what do you attribute the strong demand for holistic products in the USA? Again, it comes down to the humanisation of pets as well as an increasing appreciation of nutrition and the benefits that high-quality ingredients provide. Additionally, we believe that the conventional pet food market has stagnated a bit and, as a result, consumers are looking for something new, better and different. Where are holistic products positioned in terms of price compared with super-premium products and organic products? On a per-kilogram basis, in the United States an average holistic retails for approximately 50-70 per cent more than an average super-premium. The difference between organic and grain-free pet food and super-premiums is typically even larger. Do you expect the holistic trend to reach Europe and Asia too? Actually, the holistic movement probably began in Canada and then came to the United States, where it continues to become more and more popular and widespread. Today holistics aren’t only sold in the progressive US markets such as California and New York. During a visit to a pet store, even in my hometown in rural Indiana, you’ll see a surprising number of holistic pet food brands, and more are appearing all the…