Other Pet Food in Japan

PROSPECTS

Small mammal food a key product area

Small mammal food is maintaining a positive performance in other pet food, with a stable population of rabbits, hamsters and hedgehogs supporting sales.

Compatibility with lifestyle and living space important in choice of fish

Medaka, or killifish, remain a popular pet in Japan, thanks in part to the fact that they require less attention than other fish and are, therefore, compatible with hectic modern consumer lifestyles. In addition, developments in breeding have made them more appealing as pets.

Premiumisation offset by pricing competition

As in dog and cat food, other pet food is experiencing a premiumisation trend, with pet owners paying attention to factors such as natural ingredients and functional benefits when making purchasing decisions. However, this is counterbalanced by more persistently intense pricing competition than in dog and cat food, as other pet food is subject to significantly higher levels of commodification.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

New premium fish food

The increasing popularity of medaka as pets encouraged major fish food player, Kyorin, to launch three new types of premium food specifically for medaka in 2018. The products, which include Medaka no Mai and Medakapros, claim to improve the amount of eggs spawned and hatched, as well as offering health benefits.

Segmenting the small mammal food offer

As in dog and cat food, the small mammal food offer is becoming increasingly segmented and targeting factors such as age. In 2019, for example, GEX launched a new rabbit food designed specifically for pets over five years-old.

Wide range of snacks

The small mammal food offer contains a wide variety of snacks, including dried fruit snacks, dried fish and biscuits, amongst others. Sudo, for example, sells 47 snack items targeting rabbits and hamsters.

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