22 April 2026
A 1.4-kg bag of Whiskas dry cat food cost €5.19 in Slovenian supermarkets in summer 2025. By spring 2026, the same bag is €6.89 — up 33% on one pack. Across the whole Slovenian pet aisle, the pattern is the same: the dog's bowl and the cat's plate inflated right in step with the human meat counter. You noticed your grocery bill going up. You probably didn't notice that your pet's did too.
What the data shows
Across 207 paired Slovenian pet-category SKUs, prices rose at roughly the same pace as the human food basket.
| Category | Median change | Paired SKUs |
|---|---|---|
| Pet treats | +17.8% | 35 |
| Pet food | +12.7% | 172 |
| Reference: meat | +12.3% | 240 |
| Reference: coffee | +12.1% | 174 |
| Reference: chocolate | +11.6% | 206 |
| Reference: yoghurt | +11.2% | 154 |
Pet food moved in lockstep with meat, coffee, chocolate and yoghurt. Pet treats — the indulgence category — outran the headline, roughly matching pet-shop-adjacent premium products. The interquartile range on pet food is narrow (+6.6% to +15.0%), meaning this isn't a handful of premium brands pulling the median; it is the full category shifting together.
The concrete packs tell the story in bowls:
| Product | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whiskas dry 1.4 kg (tuna) | €5.19 | €6.89 | +33% |
| Whiskas dry 1.4 kg (chicken) | €5.19 | €6.89 | +33% |
| Pedigree wet Junior 4×100 g | €2.09 | €2.79 | +33% |
| Whiskas wet pouch 85 g | €0.59 | €0.79 | +34% |
| Sheba pouch 85 g | €0.95 | €1.19 | +25% |
| Sheba 4×85 g mixed | €2.79 | €3.49 | +25% |
| Pedigree Rodeo treat 123 g | €1.39 | €1.69 | +22% |
| Pedigree Markies treat 150 g | €1.39 | €1.64 | +18% |
A cat that eats one Whiskas pouch a day now costs its owner €73 a year in wet food alone (365 × €0.20 extra), plus €25 more on the dry bag they top up with. A dog on Pedigree wet food with weekly treats pays roughly €50 more per year than in summer 2025.
Why this happens
Pet food shares inputs with the human meat supply chain. The commodity protein — chicken offal, fish trimmings, grain for dry kibble — is priced against the same markets that move human meat. When beef and poultry wholesale prices rose through 2025, pet food cost rose in near-perfect parallel, because the inputs came from the same trucks.
Retailers also don't treat pet food as a loss-leader. No household writes a complaint letter because Whiskas went up; political scrutiny and media attention skip the pet aisle. That means manufacturers (Mars for Whiskas, Pedigree, Sheba; Nestlé for Felix, Purina, Gourmet) get clean pass-through on cost rises, with no retailer softening them at the till.
The premium tail is pet treats. Dog biscuits, chews, and cat snacks — the indulgence products pet owners buy out of affection — sit in a category where price elasticity is low. A pet-treat shopper already decided emotionally. An 18% rise doesn't change the behaviour, so retailers capture the margin.
What it means for you
If your pet eats branded food, your annual pet-food line item is up €50–€80 compared with summer 2025. Private-label and supermarket own-brand pet food (Spar own-label, Hofer's Coshida and Cachet lines) tracked closer to +8% rather than +33%; a household switching from Whiskas or Pedigree to the house-brand equivalent can recover most of the year's rise. The pet's palate is less discerning than its owner's loyalty to the brand.
Concrete SKU rises on the Slovenian pet shelf (%)
| Label | Value |
|---|---|
| Whiskas wet pouch 85 g | 34 |
| Whiskas dry 1.4 kg | 33 |
| Pedigree wet Junior 4×100 g | 33 |
| Sheba pouch 85 g | 25 |
| Pedigree Rodeo treat 123 g | 22 |
| Pedigree Markies treat 150 g | 18 |
Source: Sivix, 207 paired Slovenian pet-category SKUs, Jun–Aug 2025 vs Feb–Apr 2026
Data source: Based on 207 paired Slovenian pet-food and pet-treats SKUs, comparing each SKU's median price in June–August 2025 against February–April 2026. Data reflects real shelf prices as reported at time of purchase.
Products referenced in this story
Real shelf prices as reported by Sivix contributors. Tap any product to see current prices.
Headline rise — +33%
Whiskas dry tuna, 1.4 kg
Slovenia · View on Sivix →
Dog wet food — +33%
Pedigree wet Junior, 4×100 g
Slovenia · View on Sivix →
Treat category — +22%
Pedigree Rodeo treat, 123 g
Slovenia · View on Sivix →
- Whiskas dry tuna, 1.4 kg Slovenia · €5.19 → €6.89 · +33% →
- Pedigree wet Junior, 4×100 g Slovenia · €2.09 → €2.79 · +33% →
- Pedigree Rodeo treat, 123 g Slovenia · €1.39 → €1.69 · +22% →
- Whiskas dry chicken, 1.4 kg Slovenia · €5.19 → €6.89 · +33% →
- Whiskas wet pouch, 85 g Slovenia · €0.59 → €0.79 · +34% →
- Sheba poultry selection, 4×85 g Slovenia · €2.79 → €3.49 · +25% →
- Sheba chicken pouch, 85 g Slovenia · €0.95 → €1.19 · +25% →
- Pedigree Markies, 500 g Slovenia · €3.05 → €3.99 · +31% →