Subdued growth

Sales of pet food in pet stores and supermarkets surpassed the 2015 level by 0.4 per cent to reach 3.170 bn euros, thus remaining steady. Following a slight downturn in the previous year, the pet requisites and accessories segment made significant headway and grew by 2.5 per cent with sales amounting to 977 mio euros. These figures were released by the Industrieverband Heimtierbedarf (Industrial Association of Pet Care Producers, IVH) and the Zentralverband Zoo­logischer Fachbetriebe (German Pet Trade & Industry Association, ZZF).

With growth of 2.3 per cent, the dog food market continued the trend of previous years in 2016 and turned over 1.354 bn euros in the bricks and mortar trade. The moist food segment (432 mio euros, up 4.1 per cent) and treats (495 mio euros, up 3.3 per cent) were the growth drivers here, while the dry food segment remained largely stable with sales of 427 mio euros (down 0.5 per cent). 
Once again the cat food market was the biggest food segment in 2016, but experienced a slight decline of 0.5 per cent, with sales amounting to 1.02 bn euros in pet stores and supermarkets. Sales in both the moist food segment (1.071 bn euros, down 0.4 per cent) and the treat segment (235 mio euros, down 1.7 per cent) declined compared with the previous year. By contrast, there was pleasing development in the dry food segment, which bucked the downward trend of previous years and maintained the level attained in 2015 in the bricks and mortar trade with sales of 296 mio euros (+/- 0.0 per cent).
After cat and dog food, food for small animals was the third-strongest segment, but sales through the classic distribution channels were down by 4.2 per cent to 115 mio euros in 2015. Sales in the fish food market (56 mio euros, down 6.7 per cent) and of food for cage birds (43 mio euros, down 2.3 per cent) also remained on a downward trend.

Following a modest decline in 2015, accessories and pet requisites reversed this trend in 2016 and sales in high street stores increased by 2.5 per cent to 977 mio euros. Cat litter continued to account for the lion's share of sales, with the segment growing by 5.6 per cent to 284 mio euros in 2016. As in the previous year, other front runners in the category were dog accessories (182 mio euros, up 6.4 per cent) and cat accessories (192 mio euros, up 3.8 per cent). On the other hand, the figures for requisites and accessories for ornamental fish (182 mio euros, down…