“VkusVill” conducted a survey of customers with pets and found out what food they buy more often than they are guided by when choosing, what ingredients in the composition are considered unacceptable, and how the approach to feeding dogs and cats differs.
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It turned out that buyers more often choose dry food for their pets: 83% for cats and 66% for dogs. Wet food is slightly less in demand: 75% take it for cats and 55% for dogs. Many people combine these two types of feed. Cat owners prefer food in the format of pieces in sauce or jelly, less often choosing pate and pieces in broth. More than 60% of cat owners noted that they choose a combined diet, that is, they feed dry and wet food at the same time.
About 40% of dog owners prefer natural food products to factory or commercial food. Of those who feed natural food, 84% prepare food for their pet themselves and 13% order food for their pet from various delivery services. Only 15% choose to cook for cats themselves.
Medicinal, dietary food plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of various animal diseases and, when used correctly, can significantly improve the condition of the pet. Only 15% of respondents have never purchased specialized cat food. Among the most popular: food for spayed/neutered cats (60%) and for problems with urolithiasis (31%). 34% have never bought specialized food for dogs. And those who bought, with the help of medicinal feed, solved the problems of food allergies/intolerance (30%) or digestive disorders (21.5%).
Both cat and dog owners are more likely to buy food in reserve: 86% and 75%, respectively.
The key factors when choosing dog food are composition (82%), price (39%) and veterinarian recommendations (31%). Buyers are not ready to consider a product for purchase if it contains soy, fat, sugar, dyes, legumes, preservatives or any spices. Abstractness in the description of the composition is also considered a stopping factor: an unspecified type or an unclear part of the meat.
When choosing cat food, buyers also primarily pay attention to the natural composition, but to a lesser extent (62%). The strict requirements include the absence of flavors, preservatives, dyes, flavor enhancers, mechanically separated meat and soy. A number of buyers exclude food containing vegetable protein, pork, grains and cereals from their cat’s diet, and also ensure that meat is at the top of the list of ingredients.
At the same time, cat owners have more specific requirements; when choosing food, the key factor is whether the food is suitable for spayed/sterilized cats (57%), at what age it is recommended (36%), as well as the presence of vitamins and minerals (43%).
According to respondents, food may cost more if:
has a more natural composition, selected ingredients,
imported, produced in another country,
is medicinal or suitable for the prevention of diseases,
contains only meat or fish without cereals and vegetables,
contains a vitamin and mineral complex.
An important factor is the composition of the feed and its quality, so many study this information themselves and focus on natural ingredients. When choosing food for a pet, the recommendations of veterinarians are first taken into account: 71% for cats and 66% for dogs. Cat owners trust information from trusted food brands more – 36%; for dogs this figure was 27%. Pet owners trust equally in scientific articles and specialized literature (27%) and information from forums (25%). Also, many rely on the expertise of breeders, their personal experience and studying information about feed in open sources and communities of owners. At the same time, 31% of respondents belong to kennel clubs and 16% are members of cat owner communities.
About 40% of shoppers are of the opinion that a store that specializes only in pet products has more expertise than regular supermarkets. What is more important is the brand of food they trust, and not the store that sells it.
The VkusVill chain opened its first store in Vyshny Volochyok
