The pet care market throughout the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, is one of the FMCG‘s most buoyant categories, with consumers treating their pets as ‘one of the family’.

Despite the hectic lifestyles of consumers in recent years that had led to a decline in ownership of cats and dogs, this trend appears to have slowed, though cat ownership is now greater than that of dogs, some of the reasons being that there are fewer households with children, as well as a lack of time and space to keep larger pets. Perhaps in a reaction to increasingly stressful lifestyles the benefits of pet ownership are now being appreciated more and, indeed, where people do decide to have a pet they are more likely to have two cats or two dogs rather than just one.

This may be down to lifestyle again, as owners may feel that if they are out all day at work that pets may get lonely and so two is better than one. This is, of course, a positive trend for pet food manufacturers and retailers, in that not only will purchasing be higher in volume terms but also the absence of owners for extended periods in the day encourages the purchase of treats and premium pet foods. In fact, research has shown that consumers tend to feel guilty when leaving pets and also consider them very much to be part of the family, so will be prepared to spend more to provide the best food they can afford

Indeed, there is a growing UK tendency to treat pets as if they have a gourmet palate, human desires and complex emotions. This has led to an increasing willingness amongst pet owners to spend more money indulging their pets, not only in their daily food, but also with non-essential purchases such as treats, toys and other accessories. Indeed, in 2005, the idea of ‘pet possessions’ took over the public consciousness – designer clothes, collars and leads, pet travel respite facilities, luxurious kennel services and pet insurance are among the fastest-growing areas, while sales of indulgent presents, especially to mark occasions like Christmas, have seen spectacular growth.

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