The Pet Industry Federation, in conjunction with GfK, has revealed the first annual trends from over a year’s worth of data collected from pet and non-pet speciality stores, which shows that dog food accounts for three quarters of the sales value in a market now worth £0.9 billion.

With the assistance of PIF, GfK brought together multi-regional, independent and online pet retailers to give clear insights into the market. Since January 2015, retailers have been contributing their monthly sales data which enables GfK to provide accurate and continuous sales tracking across cat and dog food, including wet and dry food and treats and detail down to among other features such as organic, grain-free and natural (defined as products which may have ‘nature’, ‘natural’ or ‘holistic’ as a part of their name).

It is the first time that data on the UK’s non grocery food sector has been analysed in such detail and in such a robust way.

Exciting trends in the UK’s pet food industry over the last 12 months that the GfK data has unveiled include:

• The overall interest in ‘natural’ pet food increased over the last 12 months but grain-free, which is easy for pets to digest, has remained stable.
• Dog food sales for the natural food segment rose slightly during the year to almost half of the market. However, grain-free bucked the trend, indicating that natural and grain-free do not necessarily go hand in hand.
• Natural pet food for cats was significantly lower than dogs at less than a quarter of the market, yet increased all the same. Grain-free remained steady at around a tenth of the market.
• The dry dog food market rose in volume and value share throughout the year, taking share directly from wet food. When treats are excluded, dry food rose throughout the year to represent three quarters of the volume share.
• Chicken has extended its position as the pet food flavour of choice, even more important than mixed varieties whose popularity declined during the year. Another popular flavour is turkey, which made up less than 10% of the market.

PIF is able to make top line information on the size and structure of the market by each of the core categories available exclusively to PIF supplier and retail members. If, however, you would like to speak to GfK about obtaining the full data, please contact Daniel.Fearnley@gfk.com.

Further information about PIF and the benefits it offers to pet businesses, please call 01234 273933 or visit the PIF website, www.petfederation.co.uk