A connected dog collar with GPS tracking and collection of health data, a litter box which collects and analyzes cat urine, a teleconsultation offer with the veterinarian or simply news in diets… The innovation sector for animals company is in full bloom.
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Already in great shape, the sector is doped by the Covid
The French spend nearly 5 billion euros each year on their pets. Dogs and cats attract the bulk of the expense. Globally, the sector is expected to weigh around 185 billion euros in six years, thanks to annual growth of around 5%. As a result, a slew of companies have sniffed the blow and innovations are multiplying: in the jargon we speak of "
pet tech
".
Nestlé, through its subsidiary Purina, set up the world's first start-up incubator in 2020, to support technological initiatives. And not only those related to the food industry: among the six winners of the first vintage, two companies are platforms for putting masters in touch with animal nannies. The Cat in a Flat service, reserved for cats, is already available in France. Note, for the 2021 vintage of its selection of promising young shoots, the Swiss group received 31 applications from French companies.
The way pet owners look at their companions has evolved, driving innovation.
"
There is a trend that we have observed for ten years which has been accentuated with the Covid
," notes Matthieu Wincker, co-founder, with his wife Sophie, of Ultra Premium Direct, the first direct sales company of kibble.
The pet becomes a member of the family, it is humanized.
During the pandemic, only people were happy to have their pets with them.
"
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Innovations inspired by what is done for humans
As a logical consequence of this humanization, entrepreneurs are looking at human innovation. Invoxia followed the emergence of smartwatches that collect health data and adapted it to animals. The company therefore offers collars with this function, in addition to GPS tracking which allows domestic companions to be tracked. "
We are monitoring what is happening in human health,
" says Amélie Caudron, the president. The manager also claims to have experienced a 50% increase in sales of her product last year.
The other source of inspiration is on the other side of the Atlantic. “
Americans have many more domestic animals than the French
,” explains Matthieu Wincker.
There is a very big market there and therefore a lot of innovation. The most promising are arriving in Europe. Usually Great Britain acts as a filter.
"
Her Majesty's country thus saw the arrival last year of a video-on-demand system, quickly nicknamed "Petflix" by its users, with programs designed for dogs.
The service, billed $ 5 per month, claims ten million users, with an increase of nearly 20% of its subscribers in April 2021. The music streaming giant Spotify even tried in early 2020 to launch a specially designed playlist for pets.
The group did not wish to communicate on the results of this operation.
But one thing is certain, this kind of experience “
works better in the United States or in Great Britain
, entrusts the communication.
It is less common in France.
"
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French innovation focuses on food
The most promising French innovations are for the moment confined to the food sector.
It is the core activity of the only two companies in the sector labeled “French Tech”, a badge awarded by the French authorities to the most promising start-ups.
Ynsect thus provides insect protein to develop kibble with incomparable nutritional virtues, while Ultra Premium Direct sells quality kibble directly at an affordable price.
“
The pet food industry is growing in terms of volume and value
,” explains Laurent Droin, member of the board of directors of Eurazeo, an asset manager who has invested in premium kibble.
There is a disruption in the supply when large groups have been sharing the market for years. There had been no big innovation for a long time.
The fact remains that the agri-food behemoths are still crushing the market. Online commerce, which newcomers rely on, accounts for only 15% of total sales. And even in this segment, the majority of sales are made by supermarkets.
Here again, entrepreneurs hope that this anthropomorphic phenomenon will rebalance the balance, with an acceleration of the trends observed during this confined year: increased attention paid to food and its origin, direct sales to the detriment of intermediary distributors ...
