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Ten years ago, the number of pets in Italy was still far below the European average. But now the situation has changed, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Different from the past is also the status of the relationship with pets, as pets are now viewed as true family members.
According to a recent survey conducted by ASSALCO-ZOOMARK, since 2022, Italy has had approximately 65 million household pets, compared to 60.2 million in 2019: nearly 19 million are dogs and cats, with the latter stabilizing at 10 million. Italian households have nearly 30 million fish in their aquariums, and 12.88 million are ornamental birds, small mammals, and reptiles.
In 2022, approximately 676,500 tons of pet food were sold in Italy, of which 673,400 tons were for dog and cat food, representing the "core" value of this market: 2.7595 billion euros, with a total turnover of approximately 2.763 billion euros.
Compared to the previous year, the overall transaction volume in the entire segment increased by 0.8%, while turnover increased by 11.4%. According to data analyzed from the Italian National Institute of Health database, over 21,000 tons of packaging were used in the region in 2022.
From the Assault Zoomark Report 2023, bags and cans together cover about 86% of the market share: bag value increased by +2.6% while sales volume decreased by -2.5%; can sales (-7.4%) and value decreased by (-2.2%). Growth of small pouches continues (value increased by 10.1%, sales volume increased by 8.5%), reaching a value share of 12.3%, making it the most dynamic form.
Just for cat and dog food, flexible packaging dominates with a share of 72.3%: from small pouches to large bags, their contents can reach up to 15 kg. Below that are metal cans, accounting for 17.1%. Other types of packaging include: cartons at 4.8% and paper bags at 3%. Aluminum packaging currently accounts for 2.5%.
For dry dog food: from 9 to 15 kg and from 2 to 4 kg (the latter usually used for puppy food). In the wet food category, the most common packaging is medium-sized metal cans of 300 to 600 grams, equivalent to one meal for a medium-sized dog.
Similarly, in the "cat section," the most commonly used dry food packaging is bags of 1 to 2.5 kg. Cans and small pouches almost equally occupy 90% of the wet food market, while the remaining 10% is packaged in aluminum.
