Cats & Pets Comparing USA and France

American Market

The market for pet food in the United States alone, was worth approximately $16 billion USD for 2008, against 13 billion in 2003. The market generally shows strong growth (from 8% to 10% per year between 1999 and 2002).

Dog food accounts for over half of the total market. This is particularly due to the fact that 33% of American households own a dog, while 25% only have a cat. The proportion of households owning a cat is almost identical to France, while the number of people keeping a dog is much higher in the United States than in France.

Dry food represents about half of the total market. As in France, dry foods are gaining ground in the market for cat food.

The market for cat food in 2002 was $4.20 billion USD, representing 52% of the market for dog food and presents a strong segmentation of dried foods, food canned snacks for cats, semi-moist food, drinks ...

In 1988, in the United States there was a total of 142.7 million dogs and cats, representing over three-quarters of the market for pet food. The rest of the market was targeted at 192 million fish, 17.3 million birds, 8.8 million reptiles, and 16.8 million other small animals (rabbits, hamsters, etc..) in American households [89].

The 2001 market was still very fragmented between different producers. The market leader was Nestle-Purina representing 14.2% of the overall market share.

French market

Only for France (in Europe occupying the first place for the number of pets), the food market rose to 2.3 billion (Euros) for all pets. Dogs accounted for 48.6% of total expenditure and cats have a population in France of 9.94 million (slightly more than the population of dogs, 8.51 million), representing 35.3% of the total market. The rest of the market is absorbed by the 36 million fish, 6.6 million rabbits, and 3.8 million birds (2004).

Calculated on the basis of total financial turnover a cat consumes in France between 60% and 65% of what a dog consumes. This figure is consistent with the situation in the United States.

The percentage of French households owning at least one cat is 26%; identical to the percentage of households owning at least one dog.

In France, the market for cat food is made up of 67% of wet food, a sector dominated by Nestle-Purina and Masterfoods, but the sector is crumbling (especially with the collapse of the "low end" Ronron and Kitekat of Masterfoods), and the market share of dry cat food (dominated by Nestle-Purina and Purina Friskies with one) progresses. Insofar as one kg of dry food is equivalent to 4 kg of wet food, manufacturers of cat food are struggling to offset the decline in wet foods. The French market for cat food is tending to stagnate or even decline.

Source: French Wikipedia