Year In Review: Dog Food

The following insights are powered by Nielsen in partnership with Unioncrate, an artificial intelligence demand planning platform that combines consumer behavior and historical shipment data to predict sales and inventory with up to 91.6% SKU-level accuracy.

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Welcome to Day 8 of Unioncrate’s Year In Review, taking a look at the dog food category and its 3% YOY growth in the January-December period.

Dog Food

• When the pandemic hit and a mad dash to the stores ensued, pet owners made sure to stock up on their dogs’ favorite snacks as well—dog food saw a 25.8% increase in sales during the 4-week period ended 3/21.

• While dry dog food wasn’t a favorite, dropping 4.9% in the past 40 weeks, wet dog food grew 11.3%. Refrigerated food was especially popular, growing 37.6% during the same period.

• Many of us needed a pick-me-up to get us through the dog days of 2020, and our pups were no exception: the dog treat category is up 9.6% in the past 40 weeks.

Pawpular News

• Canadian pet food manufacturer Petcurean released three new lines of dog food to target specific issues, including skin and coat care and ingredient sensitivities, making mealtime even better.

• In Switzerland, dogs are dining on an interesting new ethical protein source: insects. Purina launched a pet food line that includes protein from larvae and plant-based sources like fava beans and millet.

• Nulo tapped into a previously-ignored part of every dog’s diet and created a line of canine water enhancers in four flavors, including roasted lamb and beef brisket, perhaps the biggest water-focused innovation in the pet world...ever.

• To the delight of dogs everywhere, Merrick Pet Care introduced BBQ-inspired dog food and partnered with DoorDash to donate over $50,000 to pet shelters across the U.S..

Up Next: Cat Food

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About Unioncrate

Unioncrate is an AI-powered Integrated Business Planning (IBP) platform that delivers demand forecasts with unmatched accuracy, collaborative visibility, and actionable intelligence—enabling CPG brands to plan and execute agile supply chain strategies at the click of a button.