"Raw food is still in its early stages"

Raw food (frozen) is a small category but is becoming increasingly important for our customers. We have double-digit growth in raw food for both cats and dogs and are increasing shelf space in that category. In some stores, raw food accounts for up to 6 per cent of total dog food. Aside from frozen raw food, we also partner with start-ups offering fresh prepared meals based on fresh raw meat.Demand is clearly increasing. Customers switching to raw food are adjusting the entire way in which they perceive their pet. They tend to switch to 100 per cent natural in all segments.We have approximately 20 references of sausages, nuggets and complete menus. This range is being extended.We expect double-digit growth to continue in that segment.

 Our shops have a wide variety of raw products for dogs and cats. They currently represent a small but rapidly growing part of our portfolio. They have a large display area, since they attract lots of attention from our very sophisticated consumers. Based on their current trend, we foresee they will be quite a massive trend within the specialist channel in the upcoming years. As with some other trends, Spain and Portugal lag behind other more advanced countries, so that even though this is not a massive type of pet food yet, we are positive that it will follow exactly the same trend as the UK or USA in a very short time.As mentioned before, there are so many different new products in our specialist market that consumers still need to digest and get used to these to make their mind up on which type of route to follow as regards feeding their pets. Raw food is still in its early stages. Having said that, we see every month how sales figures are growing in double digits and this will be a significant part of the market soon.We currently work with more than 100 references of raw food. All our references are frozen products and are complete prepared diets (even for animals with some specific needs) and different recipes based on offal, meatballs, bones and even ice cream. The products most in demand are the complete…