Page 33 - PET worldwide issue 04/2021

regards colours, the Hunter boss feeder that can be controlled via upcoming trade shows Dibevo to stockpiling in advance of and
says that alongside the consist- WLAN using an app and make and Zoomark International, the at the start of the first coronavi-
ently popular shades of brown, many interesting features avail- company aims to present around rus lockdown. Online shops in
grey and black, “vibrant splashes able to cat lovers,” adds Parbs. 350 of its latest products. These particular profited from this. De-
of colour” have also been well re- The company has also signifi- include new scratching posts, spite a difficult market environ-
ceived. The main trend she cites, cantly expanded its social media play and scratching surfaces ment, JRS Petcare nevertheless
however, is towards sustainable activities for the Catit brand and and toys as a licence partner managed to hold its ground in
products. “We will focus even has gained a substantial com- of Smurfs, whose latest movie the German pet supplies mar-
more closely on this in future and munity of cat enthusiasts. “Con- comes out in November. ket. It achieved a sales increase
communicate our environmen- sumers wish to communicate of 8 per cent in its stores to the
tal activities much more clearly with the brand independently of Quality is sought after delight of Michael Bodfeld, vice-
outwardly,” Trautwein promises. the trade and be informed about Trixie perceives a lasting trend president of sales and marketing
The approx. 1 500 new products events or new products,” he ex- towards large feline breeds, giv- at the firm. Here as in other Eu-
that Hunter presented in its main plains. ing rise to a demand for sturdy ropean countries, especially in
catalogue at the start of the year Where the company’s sales products, especially in the case France, the Czech Republic and
include several for cats. The trend is concerned, the man- of scratching posts, says Menzel. Spain, the company was able to
company is currently develop- ager is pleased with the double- The marketing manager also em- consolidate its market position,
ing new products that will first digit growth in cat accessories phasises that many cat owners explains the manager. This year,
be presented to customers in a last year. The feline category are becoming more interested in Bodfeld has seen large varia-
virtual showroom once they are developed better than the ca- the topic of species-specific cat tions in consumption in the mar-
ready for market. nine segment, which Parbs at- owning, with a resulting demand ket, particularly in the first quar-
Christian Parbs is managing tributes to the strong position of for suitable accessories that en- ter. In Germany, sales in the mar-
director of Hagen Deutschland the Catit brand. Added to this is able house cats to satisfy their ket as a whole fell by 4 per cent
and also responsible for the the marked rise in the cat popu- basic need for hunting and play. in stores in the first six months
Hagen Group’s European export lation in nearly all of its European For Interzoo 2021, Trixie there- compared with last year, accord-
business with the exception of country markets, resulting in an fore subjected its cat accessory ing to one market research com-
the UK and Spain. He detects increase in sales of cat acces- range to a complete relaunch pany. In spite of this, JRS Petcare
heightened demand by con- sories. In the first half of 2021, both in terms of design and achieved growth of 5 per cent
sumers in the cat segment for growth continued steadily: “Both quality. Many of its new products with its Cat’s Best brand, show-
sustainable products, elegant in eastern Europe and Scandina- were developed in collaboration ing that the brand is expanding
design, quality and also digital via as well as in France we are with a vet specialising in felines. its market share this year too,
solutions. “We are introducing recording above-average growth Flamingo is another company says Bodfeld.
sustainability into product and rates.” to find sustainability is an impor- One trend that the JRS man-
packaging development for our Increased demand for drink- tant trend with regard to cat ac- ager believes to be unchanged
consumer articles such as Catit ing fountains and also for litter cessories, says Petra Merkert, is the growing importance of
Nuna dry food and treats or Catit has been noticed by the Laroy sales manager for Germany. plant-based litters and the cor-
Go Natural cat litter,” says Parbs. Group, too. EBI managing direc- The company’s offering of toys, responding increase in the num-
With its new product line Catit tor Passia highlights the consid- scratching furniture and care ber of plant varieties, such as
PIXI the company has launched erable growth in the market for products is being expanded con- maize and tofu. “At Cat’s Best
a completely new line of drinking entry-level scratching posts. He tinuously. The manager is confi- we continue to use secondary
fountains, which Hagen hopes believes eco-friendly packaging dent that the cat accessory cat- raw materials from the timber
will satisfy the desire of cat own- to be a key trend, starting with egory will continue to grow. processing industry, as these
ers for modern design and qual- the elimination of blister packs, register the best overall values
ity. Digital solutions also play the use of biodegradable pack- Trends in cat litter across all performance criteria
a growing part for Hagen: “In aging and maize chips or re- In March 2020, manufactur- (e.g. dust, absorption capacity,
PIXI Smart we have developed a cycled paper as filler material ers of cat litter benefited quite odour elimination, clumping),”
drinking fountain and automatic instead of polystyrene. At the considerably from the tendency explains Bodfeld. n

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