Functional ingredients, protein-ification, healthy aging, personalized nutrition, weight management, gut health…and you probably think I’m just rattling off numerous powerful trends driving the CPG industry, which I am, but this time, not involving my typical contextual vantagepoint. Did you know that just over half of pet owners not only consider their pets to be a part of their family…but say they are as much a part of their family as a human member? So, with most pet owners now considering their pets full-fledged family members, it’s safe to say that “humanization” is no longer just a trend…but rather a foundation of the pet nutrition market. And while I’m not saying that I’ll be pivoting drastically (or even much at all), I am expressing that you'll begin seeing my increasing interest in adjacent CPG marketplaces like early childhood nutrition and pet nutrition within content creation, as I’m a relatively new dad in both the human and dog aspect of that definition. But where do we start, right? To create some constraint, this initial content piece will concentrate only on certain aspects of the pet industry that evolved since the “Great Shutdown” era. Firstly, compared to other CPG categories, which have seen declines and rebounds, pet sales have grown (around 10%) each year since that period. Next, what underpins that growth probably shouldn’t be surprising at this point…with stay-at-home orders and the remote work flexibility creating an environment where many Americans added a furry friend to their household. And currently, it results in U.S. consumers purchasing around $70 billion worth of pet food (and treats), but that market size increases substantially when you include both veterinary care (and product sales), OTC medications, and pet supplements. Also, while the “CV-19 Effect” didn’t create the “health and wellness” underlying driver shaping today’s pet nutrition market…it provided a powerful tailwind to this increasingly important customer purchasing behavior. Lastly, pet owners (which Millennials account for the largest category) are paying just as much attention to their pets’ health and holistic well-being as to their own…and are seeking food (and treats) that help their furry friends live longer, healthier lives. In fact, 85% of pet owners now believe proper nutrition and supplements are as important for pets as they are for humans. But with pet owners taking a more active role in their pets’ wellness, particularly in the ways they supplement their pets’ diets for optimal health benefits…pet brands are starting to face a similar challenge as their human CPG counterparts have been dealing with for the last decade (especially within low barriers-to-entry categories like sports nutrition). And no matter if we’re talking humans or pets…across today’s functional CPG marketplace, winning essentially requires a distinctive brand making great tasting products in attractive formats with proven benefits in desirable health condition segments. But in my latest first principles thinking content, I'll unpack that statement further to extract impactful insights. Nevertheless, there are many opportunities available (and no shortage of exciting market developments), so hopefully you’ll follow along as I help increase your strategic clarity by separating out the key pet industry “signals” from the immense amount of “noise.”
