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Düsseldorf (dpa) - In the Corona year 2020, many people looked for comfort in pets.
The number of dogs, cats or budgies and other animal roommates in German households rose within twelve months by almost one million to just under 35 million, as the Industry Association for Pet Supplies (IVH) and the Central Association of German Zoological Companies (ZFF) announced on Monday.
In addition, the pet owners spoiled their favorites more than usual. That made the pet industry a winner of the pandemic.
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"For many people, pets are family members and pet owners are willing to spend money on their health," emphasized ZFF President Norbert Holthenrich.
In the past year, in view of the pandemic, dealing with animals, healthy eating and new purchases for the home were of particular importance for people and animals.
"This can be seen in the increased sales of reward snacks, investments in toys, garden ponds or animal enclosures," he explained.
He is not alone in making this assessment.
The owner of the largest German pet supply chain Fressnapf, Torsten Toeller, recently said: "The emotional relationship between humans and animals has become even more intense during the crisis."
This also increases the willingness to dig deeper into your pocket for dogs or cats or to buy an animal for the first time.
The Association of Dog Owners (VDH) reported in the middle of last year that puppies, cats and small animals are in greater demand than ever.
"Our breeders can no longer cope with the large number of inquiries," said VDH spokesman Udo Kopernik.
IVH boss Georg Müller also emphasized: "The trend towards four-legged friends, especially dogs and cats, which has persisted for many years, was certainly reinforced in 2020 by the special home office circumstances during the Corona crisis."
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In almost half (47 percent) of German households, dogs, cats and the like now have a permanent place.
All of this gave the pet industry a surge in growth over the past year.
Their sales rose by a good 5 percent to 5.5 billion euros.
For cat food alone, consumers in Germany spent almost 1.7 billion euros, an increase of 5.3 percent compared to the previous year.
In addition, there was just under 1.6 billion euros for dog food.
The biggest growth driver was the “snacks” with which dog and cat owners like to reward their favorites.
Fressnapf, Germany's market leader in pet supplies, achieved the greatest absolute sales growth in the company's history last year.
And the online retailer Zooplus raised its forecast three times a year and most recently expected sales of around 1.8 billion euros.
The most popular pet in Germany was again the cat in 2020 with 17.5 million specimens.
There were also 10.7 million dogs, 5 million small animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters or mice and 3.5 million ornamental birds.
In addition, there were countless fish in 1.8 million aquariums and 1.4 million garden ponds, as well as an unknown number of reptiles in 1.3 million terrariums.
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Of course, so many animals also need a lot of food.
Consumers preferred to buy this in the grocery store.
Overall, supermarkets, discounters and drugstores achieved a market share of 61 percent last year with sales of around 2.1 billion euros.
Specialist stores and online trading played a subordinate role here.
The situation was very different when it came to pet supplies and accessories, from dog leashes to scratching posts.
The specialist trade dominated here with a 79 percent share of sales.
However, the Internet is also playing an increasingly important role in the care of pets.
According to estimates by the associations, sales of pet supplies in online retail rose by more than 16 percent to 822 million euros in 2020.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210322-99-924620 / 3
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