Thank you to our colleagues at GfK for offering to share this trending article with you. We are working closely with them on a nation wide project to research consumer pet product buying patterns in Canada. The article was written by Maria Lange, who some of you may be familiar with as she presented the Canadian State of the Industry report in Toronto last fall. If you are curious to learn more, visit us at the PIJAC Canada booth at the show.
Enjoy!
Originally published in Pet Business Magazine
Can you imagine a hamburger without ketchup? An ice cream
sundae without chocolate syrup? Some pet owners are starting to feel the same
way about the food they serve their pets. Meal enhancers, an emerging category
that includes everything from gravies to raw mixers, bring extra zest to
everyday pet food.
According to GfK’s point-of-sale panel data, meal enhancers
racked up $21 million in sales in 2015. That may not sound like much, but it
represents an incredible 332 percent increase versus the year before. The
number of SKUs for the category has doubled since 2013, from 65 to 128, with
roughly four out of five being for dogs.
The strong sales growth of this emerging segment in pet
retail has been driven by freeze-dried meal mixers and wet, chunky food toppers
(think beef or chicken stew). Freeze-dried mixers accounted for 63 percent
($13.1 million) of all enhancer sales in 2015, for a remarkable 625 percent
growth rate year over year. Wet food toppers racked up $6.5 million in 2015
(+224 percent YOY) and made up 31 percent of the total meal enhancer category.
That leaves $1.3 million for liquid toppers—gravies, purees, and sauces, whose
sales were flat compared to 2014.
GfK’s data also show neighborhood pet specialty shops taking
a different approach to the meal enhancers category than their superstore cousins.
Retailers appear to be focusing on premium options,with 96 percent of all meal
enhancer sales coming from freeze-dried meal mixers ($33 per pound), compared
to 38 percent in pet superstores. Meanwhile,
52 percent of all enhancer sales in pet specialty superstores are attributed to
wet, chunky food toppers ($7 to $8 per pound). Liquid topper sales growth seems
stalled in both channels.
As manufacturers of freeze-dried meal mixers ramp up their
distribution to superstores, we expect to see this category grow in importance for
the big chains—following in the footsteps of early-adopting neighborhood shops.
Their focus on health makes freeze-dried mixer SKUs an appealing offering for
an important group of superstore customers: those who seek quality ingredients
along with lower prices.
Wet toppers, meanwhile, represent a shelf-efficient
option for neighborhood pet stores to embrace, at prices not too far below premium.
A growing distribution for wet toppers in neighborhood retail—from 7 percent in
2014 to 17 percent in 2015—may indicate that independent shops have already
caught on to this opportunity.
Sales of
cat meal enhancers have risen 264 percent in just the last year, compared to
232 percent for dog items. However, while it seems you cannot go wrong with
either of those growth rates, cat SKUs are still underrepresented. Possible
reasons seem clear: Wet foods represent 42 percent of all cat food sales in the
U.S., making wet food toppers less of a draw for cats. And as raw/freeze-dried
options for cats are less developed, meal enhancers may remain an even smaller
niche premium category for our feline furry friends. But, given their strong sales
growth rate, do not forget the kitties completely when filling your shelves
with meal enhancers.
We will keep you posted as meal enhancers continue to claim
their share of pet sales dollars; be sure to check out this intriguing new
twist on pet pampering as you look to add some zest to your 2016 sales.
All of the data in this story comes from GfK’s point-of-sale (POS) panel representing over 11,000 U.S. pet retailers. Participating stores get free reports on the marketplace, and clients can use the data to learn about their brands and competitors. Find out more by writing to Maria at maria.lange@gfk.com. Maria Lange is Business Group Director for GfK’s POS Tracking (Pet) team.
