Pet Food and Pet Care Products in Sweden

Abstract

Why buy this report

• Get insight into trends in market performance
• Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change
• Identify market and brand leaders and understand the competitive environment

Product coverage

Dog and cat food; Dog and cat food by price platform (excl treats and mixers); Dog and cat food by price platform (incl treats and mixers); Dog and cat food by type (excl treats and mixers); Other pet food; Pet care products

Executive summary

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Single households are increasing and so are pets

The number of single households increased over the review period, especially in urban areas in Sweden. In Stockholm, 66% of all households are single, whilst, in Gothenburg, 63% are single households. According to industry observers and official surveys, many single households keep pets. These pets serve as companions and, in many cases, become part of the family. There is a strong tendency amongst single household pet owners to seek information and advice about how to improve the quality of their pets' lives. This behaviour is affecting sales of premium pet food and pet care products in a positive way.

Continued trend towards premium products

In the market as a whole, there was generally increased interest in finding improved ways of providing for companion animals over the review period. The continuing introduction of new specialised food designed to help companion animals through every conceivable lifestage/lifestyle also managed to further fan the interest in optimising pets' health through premium pet food and pet care products. Pet owners often bought human food in supermarkets/hypermarkets and then went to specialist retailers to purchase animal food, thus making convenience a lesser priority. This behaviour occurred because consumers wanted the greater variety of premium pet food and professional advice from specialist retailers when purchasing animal food.

Dry dog and cat food more popular than wet

There was a continuing increase in interest in dry dog and cat food over the review period. The main reasons for this are that dry food will keep fresh longer, does not smell and, above all, most premium food is launched as dry food. In 2005, dry food is expected to account for 86% of dog food value and 34% of cat food value.

Cats increase the most over the review period

The Swedish cat population increased by 19% to approaching 1.6 million animals over the review period. Industry observers claim this is because cats are low maintenance animals, which fit in quite well in the more busy urban lifestyles of the mid-2000s. They are independent animals, which do not require their owners' attention all the time. They do not have to be taken for walks and they do not take up much space. At the same time, cats can be interacted with and can be cuddled, as a true companion pet should be. The Swedish cat population is expected to continue growing over the forecast period.

Multinational producers and Doggy rule dog and cat food

Dog and cat food is dominated by multinationals Masterfoods Sweden (Mars Inc) and Nestle Purina PetCare Sweden and domestic producer Doggy. These companies focus their attention on dog and cat food as this is by far the largest sector; as a consequence, they are present in cat litter as well. These three companies accounted for more than half of value sales in the Swedish pet food and pet care products market in 2004.

Continued forecast growth

Pet owners will continue care more for their pets well being over the forecast period. Sales of pet food and pet care products are forecast to increase by 8% in constant value terms. Like in the historic period sales of dog and cat food will continue to dominate, rising by 8%. Of the two dog food will have the strongest performance, whilst growth in cat food will be weaker, due to a faster rising dog population. Other pet foods will rise by just over 8% in constant value terms over the forecast period, they will benefit from increasingly specialised and therefore higher value products. Other pet care products meanwhile will rise slightly less than 8%. Although consumers will be prepared to spend more on their pets, cheaper imports from Asia are likely to put a downward pressure on prices.