Pet supplies market reaches new heights

According to a dossier by the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ), the prognosis for the Austrian economy is not necessarily the brightest. It states that "the economy in Austria lost significant momentum in the 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2014 and switched to a stagnating path. Following an upbeat trend in the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2013, real GDP, adjusted for seasonal and working day effects, did not grow further.  Economic growth in Austria may only recover slowly, with no marked improvement in the business cycle until spring 2015." One would think that this statement might have influenced the development of the pet supplies sector in Austria, but looking at the latest figures from the market research company Euromonitor International it becomes clear that exactly the opposite is the case. The positive trend in the pet sector is continuing for the third year in a row and it is chalking up clear gains. 

This is evident on the one hand from the growing pet population, which has risen as a whole to 5.26 mio pets in Austria, around 47 500 more than in 2013. The cat population has recorded the most substantial increase, rising by 12 000 from 1.754 mio cats in 2013 to 1.766 mio in 2014. A similarly marked rise was seen in the number of dogs; the canine population in Austria was around 620 000 in 2014, compared with roughly 617 000 in the previous year. 

This positive trend in pet population figures is naturally also having an impact on pet food sales. According to market research organisation Euromonitor International, sales of pet food in Austria came to € 449.4 mio in 2014. This equates to a marked increase of nearly € 16 mio compared with 2013, when sales to the value of € 433.5 mio were recorded. The growth spans all pet categories, with only sales of bird food falling slightly from € 7.7 mio in 2013 to € 7.6 mio in 2014. In all other food categories, however, significant growth occurred. The cat food segment should be mentioned in particular, in which sales rose by around € 9 mio from € 229.8 mio in 2013 to € 238.8 in 2014. Considering the segment in differen­tiated terms, it is clear that the increase affected both dry and wet cat food, as Euromonitor International shows. Sales of dry food increased from € 35.1 mio in 2013 to € 36.6 mio in 2014. Growth was even higher with regard to wet food, with sales rising from € 241 mio in 2013 to € 246.8 mio in 2014.