Pets Rule. The American Pet Products Association (APPA) validated the upward trend continues as the organization reported Americans spent $69.5 billion on their pets last year. Based on observations from the 2018 Global Pet Expo’s product offerings and discussions, pet parents will want to tuck away even more 2018 dollars for their pets. I know my family will!
First up, the pet food category continues to expand with choice, choice, choice. Transparency, humanization and eat clean were the mantras. Transparency comes in the form of food labeling. We are not only reading labels for ourselves, we are reading the pet food labels too. Any and all human food trends are carrying over to pet food. Most fascinating is the product development timeline for Crave brand pet food from Mars Petcare. According to the company, it’s the only true ancestral product available at a competitive price point. Innovated in a record eight months, Mars saw the need to become more agile to respond to consumer trends. Nestle Purina Petcare also continues support the industry and dogdom bigtime – this Easter Sunday’s telecast of the Beverly Hill’s Dog Show sponsored by Purina just one of many examples. The company’s newest Pro Plan formulation, out in June, includes live probiotics. Purina One is also going all natural by June. A new website will be launching April 9th and will highlight the sourcing of its ingredients – and will point out that no ingredients come from China. How do these companies innovate so fast? State-of-the art plants, U.S. based research facilities and veterinarians are in the mix. Stay tuned for more coverage on the fascinating pet food category reinvention story going on.
Lea-Ann With Lola
The behavior management products category continues to grow. We didn’t see many new calming coats this year – a new surgery shirt with a calming patch caught our eye after seeing the calming patch added to a collar at Western Veterinary Conference. Central Garden Pet’s Comfort Zone line now has its own new formulation (formerly licensed Feliway) and a new calming diffuser. Feliway and Adaptil pheromone products are now marketed through another company. The Thunderworks brand continues its amazing run with its pheromone line and new entry Vetality brand promises to come on strong. My favorite? Vetality Calming Kitty Litter Attractant with Pheromone + Essential Oils. Alot to cover here moving forward too.
Finally the continued blurring between where we get our pet products continues – basically we want convenience as with everything else in our lives. So, be it while we are at the veterinarian, the big box retail store, the niche pet shop, or online, we want it now and manufacturers are abiding our wishes with brands available where we shop.
We’ll have more to report in the coming weeks. For now, it’s a Holiday Weekend, so Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Spring!
Enjoy, But Don’t Get Fooled on Sunday!
Lea-Ann Germinder
@Lgerminder