IndexBox, a leading market research firm, has recently published a comprehensive report on the global dog and cat food market, offering valuable insights, trends, and market forecasts through 2030. According to the report, the global dog and cat food market is expected to grow significantly between 2022 and 2030. This growth is primarily driven by increasing pet ownership, rising disposable incomes, and a growing awareness of pet health and nutrition. As consumers continue to prioritize high-quality food for their pets, the demand for specialized and premium pet food products is also expected to increase.

The report highlights several key factors affecting the demand for dog and cat food. These include the growing interest in natural and organic pet food products, a trend towards pet humanization, and an increasing focus on sustainability and eco-friendliness in product packaging and ingredients. On the other hand, challenges facing the industry include stringent regulations, fluctuating raw material prices, and increased competition among manufacturers.

Segmentation:

The global dog and cat food market can be segmented into three main categories based on product type, end-user, and region.

Product Type:

a. Dry Food: This segment includes kibble and extruded food products, which are popular due to their convenience, affordability, and longer shelf life. Dry food is typically lower in moisture content and can help maintain dental hygiene in pets.

b. Wet Food: Wet food, such as canned, pouched, or tray-packed products, offers higher moisture content and is often preferred by pet owners for its palatability and perceived higher nutritional value. Wet food can be more expensive than dry food and has a shorter shelf life.

c. Treats and Snacks: This segment encompasses a variety of pet treats, chews, and snacks, including dental chews, functional treats, and training rewards. These products are gaining popularity due to their role in pet training, dental care, and addressing specific health concerns.

d. Specialty and Premium Food: Specialty and premium pet food products cater to specific dietary requirements, such as grain-free, high-protein, organic, and natural formulations. This segment is experiencing rapid growth due to increasing consumer awareness of pet health and nutrition.

End-User:

a. Pet Specialty Stores: These stores are dedicated to pet care products and services and are a significant distribution channel for dog and cat food, offering a wide range of products, including premium and specialized options.

b. Supermarkets and Hypermarkets: Supermarkets and hypermarkets offer a broad selection of pet food products at competitive prices. These retail channels are popular among price-conscious consumers looking for convenience and variety.

c. Online Retailers: The online retail segment is experiencing significant growth due to the convenience of home delivery, personalized shopping experiences, and an extensive range of product offerings. Online retailers also provide opportunities for smaller, niche brands to reach a wider audience.

d. Others: This category includes smaller retail channels, such as local pet shops, veterinary clinics, and convenience stores.

Region:

a. North America: The United States and Canada are major contributors to the global dog and cat food market, driven by high pet ownership rates, increasing pet care expenditure, and a focus on premium pet food products.

b. Europe: European countries, such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, represent a significant share of the market due to a high level of pet ownership, strong demand for premium and specialty pet food products, and stringent regulations on pet food quality and safety.

c. Asia-Pacific: The Asia-Pacific region, including China, Japan, and Australia, is expected to witness substantial growth in the coming years, driven by increasing pet ownership, rising disposable incomes, and growing awareness of pet health and nutrition.

d. Latin America, Middle East, and Africa (LAMEA): The LAMEA region is anticipated to experience steady growth in the dog and cat food market, driven by factors such as urbanization, increasing disposable incomes, and a growing middle class.

The report lists the ten largest manufacturers in the global dog and cat food industry, including:

Nestlé Purina PetCare

Mars Petcare

Hill's Pet Nutrition

J.M. Smucker

Blue Buffalo

Diamond Pet Foods

WellPet

Nutro Products

Ainsworth Pet Nutrition

Merrick Pet Care

Institutional investors are continuing to flag votes during this proxy season at Climate Action 100+ focus companies to bring attention to key shareholder resolutions that encourage more robust climate action. This includes management proposals, where, just this week, Climate Action 100+ flagged votes for directors at four focus companies. Informed by five years of investor engagement supported by Climate Action 100+ including high shareholder votes in recent years, these director votes seek to improve corporate governance on climate issues to mitigate exposure to climate risk.

Climate Action 100+, of which Ceres is one of five investor network partners, flags key shareholder proposals and other votes for investors to consider when they vote their proxies. This season, the initiative has (to date) flagged 17 shareholder proposals and signatory-declared votes on management proposals at six companies related to company progress against the expectations of Climate Action 100+. In addition to more robust corporate governance on climate, investors are calling for disclosure on key issues including greenhouse gas emissions targets, transition plans including policies to ensure a just transition for workers and communities, and reporting on methane measurements.

Mercy Investment Services is urging shareholders to vote against the reelection of three directors at Valero for failure to adequately manage the risks that climate change and the energy transition pose to its core business of refining and selling fossil fuels. After nearly a decade of dialogue, and more than four years of engagement with Valero's senior management, there has been limited progress on aligning with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Forecasts from the International Energy Agency indicate that the global demand for petroleum liquids, including refined products such as Valero's core transportation fuels, is expected to shrink in the coming decades, and Valero lags its peers in setting out a transition plan that includes lower carbon energy sources. Valero's annual general meeting is on May 9.

At Chevron, Wespath Benefits and Investments is urging shareholders to vote against the election of two directors. This is due to the company's failure to provide a meaningful response to a shareholder resolution approved by a majority of the company's shareholders concerning climate-related lobbying and a failure to establish sufficient governance to address risks from misalignment between the company's lobbying practices and its stated support of the Paris Agreement. Chevron's annual general meeting is on May 31.

"One of the main roles of corporate boards is to ensure that companies take the long view on matters of strategy. For oil and gas companies, while current product demand may be robust, the long-term holds significant risks to that demand as the world decarbonizes," said Andrew Logan, senior director of oil and gas at Ceres. "Boards that do not take these risks into account are simply not doing their jobs. Boards that ignore significant shareholder votes on climate issues or refuse to engage seriously with the investors who filed them, are placing investors and their own companies at real financial risk."

The Church of England Pensions Board is calling for votes against the reelection of members of the supervisory board at Volkswagen AG due to failure to produce requested disclosure on lobbying as well as an update to their targets during fiscal year 2022. The Church of England Pensions Board has been engaging with Volkswagen AG (VW) for over four years on its approach to climate change, urging the company to set stronger emissions reduction targets and to provide public disclosure on its lobbying activities regarding climate change policy. VW's GHG targets and transparency regarding climate lobbying lags its German peers-including Mercedes Benz and BMW, which both have produced lobbying disclosures and have been independently assessed as having stronger short- and medium-term emissions reduction targets by the Transition Pathway Initiative. Volkswagen's annual general meeting is on May 10.

An accelerating number of CEOs whose companies depend on manufacturing to produce and deliver their goods are planning or have already successfully re-shored some of their overseas operations, the latest quarterly survey on American manufacturing resilience finds. The poll, a joint effort with Forbes, Xometry and veteran polling firm John Zogby Strategies, tracks CEO and decision-maker sentiment at more than 150 leading companies nationally and finds that 82% of CEOs have or are actively embracing reshoring strategies, up significantly from 55% in the previous survey fielded in January.

Fueling the reshoring strategy is growing optimism in American manufacturing. The survey finds that more CEOs – 71% now vs 64% in Q1 – believe there is enough manufacturing capacity in America to address the world’s supply chain concerns. As they bring manufacturing closer to home, CEOs and their management teams are making good on their promise to embrace technology, especially AI, to modernize their operations and future-proof their businesses. While 59% of CEOs saying investing in digital/automated workflows is their #1 strategy, a growing majority – 51% – are now investing in AI, significantly ahead of robotics, at 30%. Nearly all CEOs and decision-makers (97%) said they believe AI will play a large role in their future operations.

For those companies investing in AI, 68% have seen a significant ROI while just 27% of respondents say more time is required before they see any significant return. Only 5% are still developing AI for their operations.

“CEOs are optimistic about the future of American manufacturing and business in general, and are increasingly embracing AI and other digital tools to navigate a constantly changing environment,” said Randy Altschuler, CEO of Xometry. “The pandemic, the global supply chain crisis and now the emergence of AI on a wide scale are combining to accelerate manufacturing’s digital transformation and reinject much needed resources into the more than 500,000 small- and medium manufacturers across the country. All of the ingredients are there to make American manufacturing as strong as it has ever been.”

“After three consecutive quarterly surveys measuring how manufacturing CEOs are allocating their capital and resources, it's clear why a vast majority are optimistic despite major headwinds: they are effectively leading industry into the digital age,” said Jeremy Zogby, Managing Partner of Zogby Strategies.

When it comes to the economy, executive sentiment remains positive, despite the recent banking crisis. Eighty-seven percent are firmly committed to their original 2023 strategic plans and 97% say the future's looking bright or that they see light at the end of the tunnel, up slightly from 95% in the last survey. Still, the vast majority of CEOs and corporate decision-makers – 89% – now say that a recession is likely or very likely to occur this year and more than half – 54% – say the Federal Reserve should lower interest rates.

Additional survey findings include:

- 84% of the companies embracing AI are deploying the technology to solve supply chain management/operations; 76% for manufacturing procurement; 58% for digital procurement; 57% for quality control, and 40% for job management/automation;

- When it comes to robotics, 44% are developing autonomous mobile robots; 33% for articulated robots, and 22% for automated guided vehicles;

- 39 percent of CEOs are expected to hire more, while 56% will maintain their employee current staffing levels. Less than 5% said they are considering a reduction in their workforce.

- 58% of decision-makers said they are increasing wages this year; 38% are maintaining current wage levels, and only 3% said they are decreasing.

Xometry’s two-sided marketplace plays a vital role in the rapid digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, connecting enterprise buyers with manufacturers who build the big ideas that fuel the global economy. Xometry’s AI-driven instant quoting engine, cloud-based software and digital sourcing tools are deeply embedded with procurement managers, buyers and engineers on one side and thousands of manufacturers on the other side. Xometry’s proprietary technology shortens development cycles, drives efficiencies within corporate environments and helps stabilize supply chains to make them more resilient.

About John Zogby Strategies

A full suite veteran survey research company known for accuracy, quick turnaround and vast experience polling in 80+ countries covering a wide sector including politics, market research, branding, and trendspotting.

About Xometry

Xometry (NASDAQ:XMTR) powers the industries of today and tomorrow by connecting the people with big ideas to the manufacturers who can bring them to life. Xometry’s digital marketplace gives manufacturers the critical resources they need to grow their business while also making it easy for engineers and purchasers at small and large enterprise companies to tap into global manufacturing capacity and create locally resilient supply chains.

Shell USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Shell plc, has completed the previously announced acquisition of Volta Inc. (Volta) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately USD $169 million. With this acquisition, Shell now owns and operates one of the largest public electric vehicle (EV) charging networks in the U.S. The closing of the transaction occurred after receiving various regulatory clearances and approval from Volta's stockholders.

Volta provides Shell with an existing public charging network of over 3,000 charge points at destination sites (shopping centers, grocery stores, pharmacies, etc.) across 31 U.S. states and territories, a development pipeline of more than 3,400 additional charge points, and capabilities to continue developing, operating, and monetizing EV charging infrastructure.

"We want to make charging as convenient as possible for our customers," said István Kapitány, Executive Vice President of Shell Mobility. "As demand for EV charging continues to grow, destination sites will play a key role in meeting people where they spend a great deal of time: the store, the gym, and everywhere in-between. Beyond providing a charging service, Volta specializes in generating advertising revenues from screens embedded into the charge point, adding a source of non-fuel revenue from sites both in the U.S. and globally."

Volta's advertising capability and early mover advantage have allowed the company to secure prime spots and portfolio-level contracts with site hosts in high-value, high-traffic markets. While most of Volta's current revenue is generated through advertising, there are plans to increase the number of fast charging DC outlets with a paid charging model.

The acquisition enables Shell to scale its existing network and offerings to better participate in the long-term EV charging market opportunity within the U.S.