Higher inflation for pet products and services makes owners adapt purchases

Last year, the inflation of pets surpassed that of humans. The prices of food for domestic animals rose, on average, 23.7%, almost triple the increase registered for food consumed at home (8.24%) by Brazilians in the same period, according to a survey carried out by the IBGE to calculate the Broad Consumer Price Index (HICP), the country’s official inflation.

In the case of services, the movement was repeated. treatments of animals in clinics were increased by 6.08%, surpassing the readjustment of medical and dental services, of 4.11%.

For grooming, bathing and grooming services, the increase reached 7.74% in 2021, compared to 5.85% for hairdressers and barbers.

There is no index that specifically measures the inflation of pets. But data from artificial intelligence fintech and financial organization Olivia show that, in 2021, the average monthly spend on products and services for pets was BRL 208.28, up 21.44% compared to that recorded by users of the platform. in the previous year.

In 2021, the IPCA jumped and closed at 10.06%, the highest variation in six years. “In previous years, we had these prices of items aimed at pets rising less than the country’s general inflation”, says the chief economist of the National Confederation of Commerce of Goods, Services and Tourism, Fábio Bentes.

He points out that the price of pet food has risen above the food domestic. This detachment is explained by the increase in raw material costs and higher expenses due to the exchange rate devaluation, since commodities are quoted in dollars.

For the president of the Brazilian Association of Pet Products Industry, José Edson Galvão de França, inflation in the sector would have exceeded 50%.

Faced with the pressure of the price of raw materials, the manufacturer of food for dogs and cats Special Dog Company, for example, readjusted in 28% the prices, after seeing costs rise 44%, says the Director, Marcos Tavares.

Consumer

Stores felt the impact of this domino effect. “We had an inflation in 2021, on average, of 18% of the products we sell, driven by petfood”, says Sergio Zimerman, president of Petz, a network dedicated to domestic animals.

The Executive says that most customers did not change the feed brand because of high prices. “Whoever treats the pet as a member of the family, the last thing they will do is stop giving the best for him”.

This behavior was observed both in the chain’s stores located in upscale neighborhoods and in the periphery. What happened, according to Zimerman, was that the consumer sought to compensate for food price increases by reducing purchases of other non-essential items, such as snacks, clothes, toys, for example.

choices

This was the strategy of the “parents” of pet Manoela Meinke and Lucas Barreto. To ensure the basic care of the five pets – the dogs Amora, Snow and Tequila, the cat Ozzy and the guinea pig Sushi -, they spend an average of R$ 2 thousand per month on food, medicine, toilet litter and substrate.

With the rise in prices, the couple says that buying toys, for example, has become more difficult. “We buy the ones that last longer, because everything is very expensive, you can’t go out pampering like that all the time”, says Manoela.

Another way out was to make purchases on a larger scale on the internet and stock up. “We left the big chains and started looking for these products from private sellers who advertise on Mercado Livre. An example is the litter used by the cat, which is up to 30% cheaper online”, he says.

Information from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo