Precious pets
The pet care market in Ireland remains steady despite the economic pressures faced by owners. Worth around €120 million annually, there are still areas of potential growth waiting to be tapped into. Fiona Donnellan reports.
Print21 June 2013
AT A GLANCE: PET CARE
- Ireland’s pet care market is worth over €120 million
- The dog care and treats market is worth €14.35 million and growing at 1.3% MAT (Source: AC Nielson MAT w/e 21 April 2013)
- Pedigree has a 60% share of the market and is growing ahead of the market at 3.1%
- The cat care and treats market is worth €2.27 million and is experiencing growth of 20.4% MAT (Source: AC Nielson MAT w/e 21 April 2013)
- Whiskas and Dreamies hold a 83.5% share of the cat care and treats market
- Euromonitor International reports pet food value sales fell by 4% in 2012
- According to Mintel: "Introducing more sophisticated recipes could also support value growth, considering one in five cat/dog owners agree there are not enough gourmet cat and dog foods"
- Bakers Complete is celebrating 10 years on the Irish market and has established a market share of 26.3%
- Go-Cat remains the nation’s favourite complete dry cat food brand with 40.9% value share
- Brandy remains the number one Irish made dog food brand and the second largest branded dog food in the Irish market
Fully fledged Irish
Brandy was successfully re-launched in 2012 and has shown excellent growth during the past year. The brand has continued to maintain its position as the number one Irish made dog food brand and the second largest branded dog food in the Irish market. Brandy has a strong local heritage dating back to 1972. Brandy is made using only 100% Irish meat sourced from across the island of Ireland. The use of 100% Irish meat is unique to the brand and Brandy is also fully traceable from farm to can. Irish consumers are concerned about the provenance and quality of the product they feed their dogs and they have really embraced the fact that Brandy uses only 100% Irish meat and has full traceability. Consumers are also looking for value and Brandy offers customers high quality products at a value price.
A new departure for Brandy was the introduction of two new chunk six packs, Brandy Variety Chunks in Gravy and Brandy Variety Chunks in Jelly, to compliment its loaf product range. In September, Brandy Six Packs and Brandy Complete 2.5 kgs will feature an exciting on-pack competition offer not to be missed by customers. As part of its relaunch, Brandy also introduced two new promotional variety three packs: Brandy Variety Traditional Loaf and Brandy Variety Chunks in Jelly. Both packs are price marked at €2, offering the customer value for money and a strong margin for the retailer. Both packs have performed exceptionally well since their introduction and have proven to be key selling lines particularly for the convenience sector, due to their keen €2 value price point. Not to forget the feline friends the firm has recently introduced a new €4 price marked Cat Club Variety Six Pack. This is a high quality six pack at a great value price.
This month, Brandy will unveil a new Facebook campaign that will enable Brandy customers, dog owners and dog lovers the opportunity to engage with the brand and enjoy some doggy facts and features. The brand will also give customers the chance to win prizes by posting funny family dog clips to the Brandy YouTube channel and the best clips will win a monthly prize.
Pedigree has several leading products within the dog care and treats market including Dentastix
Treats for happy and healthy pets
The dog care and treats market is worth €14.35 million and is growing at 1.3% MAT*. Pedigree has a 60% share of the market and is growing ahead at 3.1%. The category is a great source of incremental sales growth as this is one of the fastest growing sub-categories within pet care. Innovative campaigns such as Dental Care Month and the Pedigree Adoption Drive represent a significant opportunity for retailers to capitalise on this high margin segment. Pedigree has the leading brands within the category with Jumbone, Rodeo and Schmackos as well as functional treats like Pedigree Dentastix.
Occasions such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter are key times of the year for potential gift giving and an uplift in sales is driven by pet owners buying treats as presents for their pets. They represent a key opportunity to expand the category beyond pet owners and to target non-pet owners purchasing gifts for the pets of friends or family.
The cat care and treats market has been experiencing phenomenal growth of 20.4% in the last year. The market is worth €2.27 million* with Whiskas and Dreamies holding the majority of the marketplace at 85.5%. Cat treats such as Dreamies and Temptations are an incremental purchase for all cat owners as they are served as well as main meal products like pouch and dry food, representing a significant opportunity for retailers to grow their pet care business.
Mars Petcare is providing strong brand support throughout 2013, aimed at driving consumer penetration further through PR, TV, in-store and digital advertising. Mars has also invested significantly in brand placement and positioning through a nationwide sampling campaign designed to reach 125,000 consumers directly at events and an additional 225,000 through sampling. Key to driving sales for retailers will be highlighting the product offering in-store and Mars Petcare has a number of options to assist including pre-packed display units and slipstrips. Care and treats remains an impulse category and interrupting the shopper on their path to purchase is critical to delivering growth. A full range of tailored POS featuring the dogs and cats from the various campaigns is available to retailers to drive awareness and engagement in-store. Contact your local Mars Petcare representative for more information on Pedigree, Whiskas and Dreamies.
*(Source: AC Nielsen MAT 21 April 2013)
Convenient quality
The new packs in the Crunchy and Tender range offer 100% complete nutrition with two different textures for your cat’s enjoyment at mealtimes
While at the topline level, the pet care market value is flat overall, certain key market segments including dry food, treats and wet food single servings continue to see growth as consumers continue to seek added value offerings. Nestlé Purina states the underlying trend that has been evident for a number of years has seen consumers moving away from canned products and towards dry food and more convenient single serve products. The Purina pet care portfolio remains well positioned to help retailers to maximise these opportunities with Bakers Complete. Celebrating 10 years on the Irish market this year, Bakers Complete has now established a 26.3%* market share.
Treating is now an everyday part of caring for dogs and Bakers’ Treats, Chews and Biscuits range caters for all the various needs that dog owners have for treats. Retailers can grow faster in this area by ensuring that they stock a wide enough range to meet all the requirements that owners have from a treat to help with training, an distracting treat or a healthy treat.
Go-Cat remains the nation’s favourite complete dry cat food brand with 40.9%* value share. The brand has added an exciting new taste experience recently with the launch of four new packs in the Go-Cat Crunchy and Tender range. The new packs offer 100% complete nutrition with two different textures for your cat’s enjoyment at mealtimes. The Felix and Gourmet brands continue to bring new innovative products to the single serve cat food market with new launches in the Felix Sensations Sauce Surprise range and an ever expanding range of Gourmet products.
The Purina range of Felix Cat Treats launched to great success last year and continues to grow. The treat category is expanding year-on-year by 20%. Overall, the trends from the pet care market show that while certain consumers have reduced their spending to adjust to the economic circumstances, there is still a growing market for the single serve, dry and treats markets that continue to increase market value and penetration. Nestlé Purina believes the brand is central to the future growth of these categories.
*(Source: AC Nielsen Total Market MAT to w/e 21 April 2013)
Q&A with… Gwen Rafferty, sales and marketing manager, Mackle Petfoods
How has Mackle Pet Foods strived to drive sales within the pet foods sector?
Our Brandy re-launch has definitely helped to drive sales. Customers have really embraced our 100% Irish Meat message and the fact that Brandy is a local brand. The launch of our new Chunks in Jelly and Chunks in Gravy six packs has also introduced Brandy to a new customer base, which has increased our overall Brandy sales. While our continued strong promotional activity on Brandy, Brandy Complete and Cat Cub is also driving sales.
In the current economic climate, how essential has value-for-money / price promotions become within the category?
Consumers are certainly looking for value so price promotions are important to the category. As a result our new Brandy three pack range price-marked at €2 has performed extremely well, as customers know they are getting a high quality product at a value price. Dog owners view their dog as a key member of the family so they want to feed them the best. So while customers are looking for value, quality is also important. For our feline friends our new Cat Club six pack price-marked at €4 is another quality, value-for-money offering.
Is there anything new or different planned over the coming months?
We will be running a very exciting on-pack promotion for Brandy six packs and Brandy Complete 2.5 kgs later in the year. So keep your eyes and ears open for that!
What advice would you offer retailers to help drive sales in your category?
The pet category is a key retail category, as research shows that pet owners shop more frequently and spend more. Retailers should have a strong value offering at entry level into the category, for wet and dry. By drawing customers in this encourages them to shop the category. Off shelf value bulk offers also help to drive sales, reminding customers that their local store offers strong promotional deals. Of course stocking Brandy will always help to drive sales!
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