Other Pet Food in Finland

PROSPECTS

Finns are increasingly preferring cats and dogs as pets, with humanisation trend leaving other pets behind

Other pets are often owned by children or young adults as first pets. However, the birth rate in Finland has been in decline for a number of years, approaching record low levels as couples postpone the birth of their first child, and the number of single-person households is high and growing.

The traditional pet shops channel dominates, while the shrinking birth rate offers bleak sales prospects

Mainstream channels such as supermarkets and hypermarkets continued to offer highly limited portfolios of other pet food in 2020, preferring to focus on the much more popular dog and cat food. Pet shops remained by far the most popular channel for other pet food as these outlets can provide education and professional advice to owners, which is often required, given that many of the owners of other pets are children or young adults.

Social media a useful resource for owners, though overshadowed by cats and dogs, while rising eco concerns are less applicable in other pet food

Owners of other pets are benefiting from specific groups on social media that provide advice and education on the types of other pets and how to take care of them properly. These groups are regarded as a valuable resource, and often have several hundred members in Finland.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Multinationals find other pet food too small

International giants Suomen Nestlé Oy and Mars Finland Oy, are absent from other pet food in Finland, preferring to focus on the significantly larger dog food and cat food categories. Royal Canin Finland Oy is another player from dog and cat food not in other pet food, testifying to the niche nature of the category.

Best Friend Group ranks second despite narrow distribution, while the pet shops channel is increasingly one-sided

The domestic company Best Friend Group remained in second place with its Best Friend brand in 2019. The company is exceptional among other pet food players in that it is also a relatively strong player in dog and cat food rather than specialising merely in one or more other pet food categories.

Private label – a niche within a niche

In Finland, the main grocery retailers S Group and Kesko Oyj, and mixed retailers, especially Tokmanni, have generally expanded their pet care assortments but have not shown a willingness to develop private label for other pet food. The main own-label ranges by these three players (S Group: Rainbow; Kesko: Pirkka; Tokmanni: Real Bird) are not counted as other pet food by Euromonitor International, as they are only intended for wild birds, with for example Tokmanni having quite a wide Real Bird assortment.

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