As the number of pets continues to grow, and the size of the pet market is expanding, the White Paper on Insight of Trends in the 2023 China ' s pet industry, published by the Tokyo Supermarket, shows four major trends in the country ' s pet market: healthy, safe, rational and intelligent.
In particular, consumers are more likely to pursue pet foods containing health components such as the Benevolent Bacillus, for example, in the Tokyo Supermarket, where the volume of trade-off for the Boea Bacillus has increased by 113 per cent over the same period. Consumers are more concerned about the safety of pet raw materials, with greater emphasis on the source of pet food raw materials and an increase of 325 per cent in the volume of non-inducing cat bar deals over the same period.
Consumers are more willing to pay for the effects of the product, with prescription cat foods, prescription dog foods, etc., as representative products of functional pet foods, and high-end prices with a significant increase in the proportion of prescription dog food sales.
In addition, consumers have increased their focus on the good consumption experience of technology leapfrogging, with intelligent growth of 293 per cent compared to future trends.
Health component pets have doubled their turnover.
In 2023, our number of cats and dogs reached 120 million, and the number of Chinese cat-and-dog families is approaching 87 million. As the number of pets continues to grow, the size of the pet market is also increasing.
In terms of overall consumption trends in pet markets, the current pattern of pet markets shows four main trends: healthy, safe, rational and intelligent.
In particular, consumers are more concerned with health, and the rate of increase in pet foods with a health component is evident. White paper data show an increase of 113 per cent over the same period in the turnover of raw cactus at the Tokyo supermarket and 95 per cent over the same period in the turnover of goat milk pets.
At the same time, safety is the focus of attention, with natural, non-additional and high quality being the key word for consumer selection. As can be seen from the White Paper, there is a 325 per cent increase in the turnover of non-inducing cat bars over the same period.
In addition, the high-end trend towards higher-end products, such as prescription cat foods and prescription dog foods, as representative of functional pet foods, is a better indication that consumers are not blindly buying high-priced products, but rather are more willing to pay for product effects and consume more rationally. According to the White Paper, the high-end price was accompanied by a significant increase in the proportion of dog food sales.
As consumers focus more on the good experiences of technological leaps, intelligent petting continues to warm. The White Paper shows a 293 per cent increase in pets ' smart collar sales, a 62 per cent increase in smart cat sand basin sales and a 61 per cent increase in automatic feeder sales.
New growth in baked food, frozen dry food, geriatric food. Points
Baking food, frozen dry food, high meat-bearing cat and dog food, and geriatric canine food are fast-growing commodities in the pet living market and new growth points for brand-branders.
According to the White Paper, the search for baked food at the Tokyo supermarket has increased almost sevenfold; the volume of frozen dried cat food and frozen dry dog food has increased by 97 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively. In addition, the share of over 88 per cent of cat foods with high meat content increased from 43 per cent in 2022 to 80 per cent in 2023.
The “species of meat” have become one of the main considerations in the selection of users, with high levels of meat supply becoming a new trend of growth, with an increase of 148 per cent in sales of dried rice for quail cats, 127 per cent for rabbits and 42 per cent for dogs.
At the same time, consumers spend more money on geriatric dogs. By 2023, 1.3 million pets are expected to reach middle-aged age, accounting for almost 11 per cent of the total number of cats and dogs, and it can be said that our pets are “aging”. The shift in the age structure of pets has brought about new changes in the demand for pet consumption, with the frequency of the word " geriatric dog " increasing by 114 per cent in the last year. The canine diet is a high-growth category, with its sales increasing 61 times over the same period.
The first and second-line young people are the main consumers of pets.
According to the pet consumer population, the percentage of young people aged under 40 in the Kyoto Line is over 70 per cent, with nearly 70 per cent in the first and second-line cities and high growth rates showing high-line urbanization and rejuvenation. Among them, the Z generation, aged 25 years and under, grew rapidly and the penetration rate among unmarried people increased.
For this segment of the population with greater development potential, value for money, safety and quality are their main concerns, and there is a greater preference for “new” products for their own pets.
For brands to sustain stable growth, or even achieve high growth, there is a need to capture market trends and consumer demand in greater depth and to continue to provide products that meet the needs of industry markets and consumers.
According to the White Paper, the Royal and McFodie brands are now ranked first in sales and sales, respectively, with steady growth, while Internet-like selections show rapid growth; McFudi, Web-like, Karriss, Weiss, Su High, Tokyo-based, INSTRAW, etc., are growing faster than the market as a whole, driving their share.