Consumers loyal to preferred pet foods despite high prices
The U.S. government, through its Bureau of Labor Statistics agency, just released preliminary inflation data for February 2024, and the picture for pet food is looking rosier: Year-over-year (YOY) pet food inflation for the month came in at 2.6%. That’s more than two percentage points lower than January 2024’s YOY figure of 4.8% — and for the first time in nearly two years, the pet food number is below the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) of 3.2% for the month.
Yet before we start celebrating, it’s important to consider the long view — namely, that compared to February 2021, before inflation really started to ramp up, pet food prices are still 22.5% higher. (Thanks to John Gibbons of PetBusinessProfessor for providing all the data.)
While many pet owners are willing to make other sacrifices before cutting back on their pet food spending, everyone has their limit. Have pet food consumers reached theirs?
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