It’s now 4 months after the largest recall in US history started and many cat and dog food products still are missing from store shelves.
According to Petco, US’ number 2 pet food chain, only 15% or recalled brands are available today and they expect half of them to be available by the beginning of August.
PetSmart is the biggest pet food chain in the US. Their spokeswoman, Michelle Friedman, says that some products take longer to return and that some have been discontinued. For instance, the recalled Iams products are not expected back until next year.
Sales in cat and dog food increased with 5-6% just before the pet food scare and, though numbers obviously dropped, these are still ahead of last year. For the last years pet food sales have grown by 4% year-over-year. With an only 2% increase in pet headcount this sales growth is attributed to the humanization trend. Pet owners in the US calling themselves pet parents and treating pets as furry children.
Menu Foods is the manufacturer of most of the recalled products. Their future cuts-and-gravy orders dropped significantly when Iams cancelled their orders. In 2006, Iam’s cuts-and-gravy products accounted for 11% of Menu Food’s revenue.
As one brand loses market share, another one will fill it up. David Lummis of Packaged Facts, a publisher of market research, states that “billions of dollars in pet food brands are now up for grabs as a result of the pet food recall and it’s ongoing effects”. Nestlé says it has gained share since the recall and premium-brand Evanger’s cat and dog food claims sales has quadrupled.
In general, premium, natural, organic and raw dog food products were on the rise before the recall and now gained even stronger momentum. Brands that are going to benefit these days will have to deliver quality products, have all the right track & trace controls in place and maintain a trustful attitude towards consumers (a.k.a. pet parents 
).
