Pet Care in Portugal

Pet care products, like a dog crate, and pet food in Portugal witnessed a positive growth over the last year though the sales of pet related items were significantly affected by an overall slowdown in the growth of volume. This was caused by the many economic problems in Portugal that in turn resulted in a slower growth of the pet population in that country.

The only compensation for this negative trend was provided because of the increase of the value of unit price and a greater consumer focus on premium products. Pet owners were encouraged to purchase pet care products of higher quality and value.

There are many new products that are being supplied into Portugal that are specifically aimed at the special requirements of the pet owners. This is being combined with a drive to increase the awareness of Portuguese pet owners as to the dietary and health requirements of their pets. This information is supplied in order to establish a stronger link between pets and their owners in the hopes that it will lead to a diversification of products and increase the pet owners' inclination to buy premium products for better results and pet benefits.

Most of the problems being faced by the pet industry in Portugal are a result of the economic conditions over there. Since the 2nd of 2002, Portugal has been in the grip of economic recession and this has caused severe damage to consumer confidence making the market difficult. The economic recession also lead to increasing number of unemployed people and decreased the average disposable income among the employed. This had the obviously outcome of changing consumer patterns as the pet owners became very sensitive to the cost of pet care products and were unwilling to pay the cost of premium products while focusing only on the bare minimum essentials.

Dog and cat food remain among the most valuable and biggest form of pet care and pet food products. More than 80% of the total retail sales value is made up of dog and cat related pet care products. Though there was a slight decrease in the cat population there was also a simultaneous increase in the dog population and things balanced out in the end.

The pet care industry also put in massive efforts into the Portugal market through constant innovation and product enhancement by the leading pet care product manufacturers who offered tips on crate training and more. Several breakthroughs were accomplished that eventually found favor with Portuguese pet owners.