PET Food Processing - October 2021 - 9

STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
SOLID SALES
AS PURCHASING SHIFTS
US pet food and treat industry on point for continued growth.
By Jennifer Semple | jsemple@sosland.com
F
From nearly every angle, the pet food and treat industry
is trending upward. Globally, pet food sales grew 8.6%
according to market research provider Euromonitor
International. In the United States, sales for the overall
pet care market, which includes pet food and treats,
reached just over $100 billion in 2020 for the first
time ever according to the American Pet Products
Association (APPA). Pet food and treats accounted for
$42 billion of that record breaking total and represented
a 9.7% increase from 2019.
Thanks in part
to the US-China Phase One trade
agreement in early 2020, pet food exports totaled $1.7
billion in 2020 which was an increase of 5.6% over 2019,
according to US Census Bureau figures.
APPA reports 70% of US households owned at least
one pet in 2020 and pet owners, especially younger ones,
are increasingly interested in what they are feeding their
pets. This growing interest is leading to a broadening of
the pet food formats pets are fed. This can be seen in the
stagnant growth of dry pet food, with dry dog food declining
in sales by 3.5% and dry cat food staying even
with a 0.1% increase between August 2020 and August
2021, according to Chicago-based market research firm
33%
Source: NielsenIQ
IRI. This is in contrast to the growth of wet dog food
at 10.8% and wet cat food at 6.0% over the same time
frame. Growth of specialty formats, although a smaller
segment of the market, are outpacing the growth of wet
pet foods. Refrigerated and frozen dog food grew 29.0%
and refrigerated and frozen cat food grew 14.5%.
Although dry dog food remains dominate in the market
with 57% of the sales, NielsenIQ looked at several of
the specialty formats and reported that dehydrated dog
food sales in 2020 grew by 10.7% over 2019 sales and
totaled $239.9 million. Looking a little closer at frozen
and refrigerated pet foods, NielsenIQ found frozen pet
food sales were up 14% for a total of $236.1 million, and
fresh and refrigerated pet food sales grew an impressive
20.7% for a total of $78.3 million in 2020.
Another tidbit from NielsenIQ shows interest from
pet owners in feeding multiple formats to their pets.
NielsenIQ found that dog owners tend to lean toward
dry food and treats, while cat owners skew toward dry
and wet foods with fewer tendencies for treats. However,
roughly 33% of dog and cat households purchase all
three formats and feed their pets a combination of
dry food, wet food and treats.
of dog and cat
households feed their pets
a combination of dry food,
wet food and treats.
2020
Pet Food Sales
Global
United States
Source: Euromonitor International
2020 sales
(in billions)
$102.6
$38.2
Growth %
2019 to 2020
8.6%
8.2%
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PET Food Processing - October 2021

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