While a number of developments in the petfood market have been made for the benefit of the animals, more have been for purposes of convenience for those who actually buy the products. Overall sales have fallen although, as with many of the "staple" markets, EDLP has had a large part to play in this apparent decline.
Single serve pouches for cats have caught the public's imagination and Whiskas has dominated the catfood market with sales increasing by £19m in a single year. The first brand to launch these pouches was Go-Cat and the idea (to eliminate smelly half-used cans of petfood being left in the fridge) was a good one. But with the brand strength and lower price of Whiskas, the Pedigree brand soon took charge of the category.
Despite the dominance of Felix in the canned sector, Whiskas remains the biggest selling brand overall in the £432m wet category. Friskies has launched the single serve tray in the form of Rascal's Reward by way of a challenge to the pouches, but as Friskies own pouches are showing such strong growth as well as Kitekat's, this definitely looks like the format of the future.
Felix has also been innovating with the launch of Duopot, which contains both wet and dry food. though this is arguably of more interest and use to the humans purchasing the product than the animals themselves. Further evidence of pet owners' struggle for time is the growth in the dry cat food market, as products cn be bought in larger quantities and will stay fresh for longer.
The wet sector also remains dominant in the dogfood sector, with Pedigree Chum still some way ahead of its nearest rival, Butchers. Up 50% on last year is Winalot Digestion Plus, a "complete" dry product. As the name suggests, the health of the dog is the manufacturer's primary concern and Pedigree quickly launched its own competitive offering. Principal has yet to have a significant effect on the market as Bakers Complete from Ralston Purina continues to grow. The popularity of mixers, previously one of the key sources of extra vitamins for dogs, has waned as the complete brands now contain all the vitamins dogs need. It will also be interesting to watch the development of organic petfood and the progress of newer brands such as Pascoe's.
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