In this article:
- Things are happening in the Pet Food industry
- Overall, it’s a mixed bag
- Still, it presents quick-to-react marketers with a few angles to pursue
As we all know, every challenge is an opportunity, which is extremely relevant for anyone in marketing. And the pet supplies/foods industry is currently presenting a bunch of those to the people working in marketing the market’s brands.
One such challenge is what seems to be a surge in abandoned pets, perhaps partially due to people going back to their office lives after two years of Working-From-Home. The opportunity this presents brands has everything to do with what customers come to expect from businesses nowadays – being helpful and acting responsibly. Pet supply brands that will step in and help find these abandoned pets new homes will not only do something good for these souls but will also help build more meaningful relationships with their customer base.
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In the face of this unfortunate trend, the entire pet food industry is still growing, not withstanding real supply chain pains – with pet food shortages reportedly hitting H-E-B shelves. “Our H-E-B Partners, including our procurement teams and store teams, are working hard to provide our customers the items they need and ensure the best shopping experience,” said a company’s spokesperson.
These issues do not end with H-E-B, as you might’ve expected. According to the Wall Street Journal, some pet food manufacturers have been unable to secure the necessary ingredients in order to meet the demand. “This has led to corporations like The JM Smucker Company, which owns brands such as Meow Mix and Milk-Bone, to notify retailers that shipments would be limited for some pet products. In the case of JM Smucker, those delays are expected to persist through January 2023,” according to a report on CT Insider that focused on how pandemic-related shortages in pet food supply impact Connecticut.
Still, though, “Global and U.S. pet food exports grow 2% in 2021”, according to PetFoodIndustry.com, which continued to say that “these increases, albeit small, happened despite ongoing supply chain and transportation challenges is encouraging news worth noting for the pet food industry.”
“If the 2% increase in volume also applies to dollar amounts, that would put U.S. pet food exports through November 2021 at about US$1.75 million. Encouraging news indeed,” concluded the report – hinting at the kind of opportunities might be hiding in plain sight here.
Let’s quickly list them:
- Big Fish Eat the Little One: On Feb. 1, Swedencare, a pet healthcare company, announced its completed acquisition of US-based NaturVet for $447.5 million. Plans of the acquisition were first announced on Jan. 26. (PetFoodProcessing.com).
In addition, the same site reported that food producer Cranswick announced its acquisition of UK-based Grove Pet Foods on Jan. 31, adding that” The acquisition marks the company’s entrance into the pet food market. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.”
The marketing opportunity here is finding the angles that use such acquisitions to create more awareness for what you are doing.
- Similarly is possible when Pets at Home are appointing a new CEO. Or especially when a “former food marketer joins PetHonesty,” as is the case with “Eric Dahmer, PetHonesty new chief marketing officer. Dahmer brings more than 20 years of experience in brand building, consulting, and general management from large food brands.” (PfP)
If you’re writing content for a pet food brand, anything that can stir a conversation around your industry can be helpful, given the right platform and format (social media and an industry-facing newsletter, in this case).
- And, eventually, when shelves are empty, and product shipments are being delayed – this is when good marketers MUST step up and alleviate customers’ dissatisfaction with helpful, thoughtful communications.
Remember – in marketing, no news is bad news. And anything can become the next wood in your communication fire.