Dogs and cats move from D to C class and sector sells an additional US$ 1 billion
Valor Econômico - 07/02/2008
Last year, nearly 900 thousand dogs and cats left D class to join C class, according to estimates of the pet industry. They followed the two million Brazilian families that improved their standard of living between 2006 and 2007. Similarly to what happened in the universe of people - that started consuming more and better - pets also felt the benefits of the upwards social mobility. "These dogs, which previously did not receive vaccines, treatment or that only used to eat leftovers, now eat feed, take vaccines and use anti-flea products", says Luiz Luccas, officer of the Brazilian operation of Merial, one of the largest veterinary industries in the world. Thanks to these new canine - and also feline - consumers, feed for pets became part of the basic consumer products of more people, according to data of the National Association of Pet Food Manufacturers (Anfalpet). In 2006, according to the executive secretary of the entity, José Edson Galvão de França, 42% of the pet dogs and cats were fed with animal feed. Now they are 47%. In relation to an estimation of the Brazilian population of dogs and cats made by the industry, in 31 million, 5% of growth means that exactly 900 thousand pets have socially moved upwards. With that, the sales of the manufacturers of feed went from US$ 2.33 billion to US$ 3.06 billion in the period. The segment of economic or basic products, which represents 65% of the animal food market, absorbed the entire growth of the sector last year, according to Anfalpet. The arrival of more animals to the C class also fattened the sales of other articles that are part of the market, such as vaccines, medicines and accessories (leashes, perfumes and "clothes"). That was seen, for instance, in Merial sales, which went from R$ 292 million (US$ 134.1 million) in 2006 to R$ 316 million (US$ 163.7 million) last year. The result of so much care was the significant growth of the sector, which sold US$ 1 billion more, including the sales of feed, medicines, services (veterinary appointments and grooming) and accessories, between 2006 and 2007. According to Anfalpet, the sales went from US$ 3 billion to US$ 4.1 billion. For this year, they expect to reach US$ 5 billion.