Successful run interrupted

This decline has affected not only pet products, but has occurred in nearly all food merchandise groups. In 2013, France was the only country with a decreasing private label share. Last year, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands experienced a slowdown in addition to France. In the pet accessories segment, all the countries studied with the exception of the Netherlands (seven countries in Europe and the USA) recorded a drop in sales.
IRI worldwide has explained this trend in a study with the statement that "National brands have been heavily promoting their brands, closing the price gap with private label and impacting private label performance". In addition, it is the case that in many countries retailers are increasingly moving away from aggressive promotions to offer better value and quality for their products whilst keeping their prices low. Another consequence of this is that private label products are becoming established more and more firmly in the high-margin premium segment.
What is astonishing is that private label products have taken a downturn also in financially hard-hit countries like Italy and Spain. In Spain, their market share declined in 2014 for the first time since the recession. In Italy, after having strengthened their market position continuously for five years, private labels likewise experienced a decline last year. In the European countries under the spotlight, private labels enjoyed a share of the pet food & care market amounting to 26.4 per cent in 2014. In contrast to Europe, private label pet food and pet accessory products played only a minor role in the USA in 2014 with a market share of 13.7 per cent. The decline in market share compared with the previous year was 0.4 per cent.