American Pets Appear to be Addicted to Chicken; Spanish Pets Prefer Variety

NUREMBERG, Germany, May 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Most popular pet food flavors across eight countries 

Despite being one of the biggest pet food markets in the world by value, America's pet owners appear unimaginative in their choice of pet food flavors.  

GfK data on sales of dry food, wet food and treats for both dogs and cats reveals the most popular flavors across eight key countries, based on the value sold.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160506/364614-INFO )

America's dogs and cats, for example, appear to be totally addicted to chicken - at least, that is the most popular flavor that their owners are buying for them across all three categories. In a country that spent $13 billion in the 'pet specialty' market in 2015, that accounts for a significant share of wallet.

   
                              DOG                                  CAT
                    Dry       Wet       Treats        Dry          Wet       Treats

                  ------------------------------------------------------------------
        USA       Chicken   Chicken    Chicken      Chicken      Chicken     Chicken
                                                                  

                                     Bagged dry -                Chicken
       Great                           no given                    Beef
      Britain     Chicken   Chicken     flavor      Chicken        Fish      Chicken


                                        Chicken                   Chicken    Chicken
                                          Beef                      Beef       Beef
        France     Chicken   Chicken      Fish       Chicken        Fish       Fish


                             Chicken    Chicken                   Chicken     Chicken
                              Beef        Beef                      Beef       Beef
        Spain      Chicken    Fish        Fish       Chicken        Fish       Fish

       Czech
      Republic     Chicken    Beef      Chicken      Chicken      Chicken     Chicken

                                     Bagged dry - Bagged dry -
                                       no given     no given
       Greece      Chicken    Beef       flavor       flavor      Chicken     Chicken

                                        Chicken
                                          Beef                   Tinned wet,
    South Africa   Chicken   Chicken      Fish       Chicken    mixed flavor   Fish

                                        Chicken
                                          Beef
       China      Chicken    Beef         Fish       Chicken        Fish      Chicken

Spain's lucky four-legged friends, on the other hand, get far greater variety, with beef and fish flavors rivaling chicken for both wet food and treats. France's cats also do well, showing equal variety as Spain in the wet food and treats bought for them - although the ubiquitous chicken continues to dominate when it comes to selecting their cats' dry food and their dogs' wet and dry food.

The Czech Republic, Greece and China stand out in preferring beef flavor above all others for their dogs' wet food.

Pushan Tagore, vice president of global marketing for pet care at GfK, comments, "The US generally sets a trend on what is popular in pet food, but here we see clearly how different the individual markets are around the globe. Clearly the US has scope to innovate further within this area, to bring more variety to the palates of our four-legged friends."

For more detail on GfK's pet market data, please contact Pushan Tagore, Vice President, Pet Care, GfK - T +44-7824-664755 / Pushan.Tagore@gfk.com