According to Arianne Sackville, director of Bell & Bone, pet foods and treats are evolving in the grocery and specialty areas with more premium and fresh options.
"The pet food category is heavily influenced by trends in healthy human nutrition," she says.
"Pets are becoming more significant members of the family, causing owners to feed them like children. Imagine birthday cakes made with raw meat and vegetables, puppy chino options in cafes, and carob-flavored Easter eggs. These are standard options for today Dogs all over Australia. "
Nestlé Purina Marketing Director Anthony Hillier agrees that humanization has been a key development in this category for some time.
“However,” he says, “we've seen this come more and more into focus in recent months as people have been spending more time at home with their pets and are therefore looking for products to bond with their pets to strengthen. "
According to Hillier, urbanization and nature are two other important trends.
"Urbanization affects the category in many ways," he says.
"First, when people buy or adopt a pet, we see a trend towards smaller dogs and cats, perhaps because more people live in smaller apartments or units. Because of where they live, this also has an impact on the purchasing behavior that people are after are looking for convenient and easy feeding options for their pets.
“Natural continues to be a strong theme in pet care and many new brands and products have appeared in this category. However, we are starting to see this become a category expectation of all brands in the market. "
Dean de Villiers, Marketing Manager at Safcol added, "Pet owners are looking for better quality food for their pets and are concerned about what is in the food and how it is made. We are also seeing a decrease in healthy treats in the pet department . "
Read about the latest pet needs in the August issue of Retail World.
