OurPet''s Company (fka OPCO)

[MissionIR]

OPCO: Millennials’ Robust Growth in Pet Ownership Should Attract Attention

Millennial pet ownership grew 25 percent between 2007 and 2015, while the number of pet owners in the 35-and-older age group increased just 14 percent, according to an article on the MediaPost website (http://dtn.fm/WEq3D). Even more significant, the majority of growth among millennials came from multicultural young adults, thus making Latinos, in particular, a key millennial pet owner segment.

Diversity in a company’s product portfolio is essential to capitalizing on this type of trend. Packaged Facts projects that millennials will be responsible for adding another 2.6 million pet owners between 2015 and 2020. There are 43 million pet owners in the 18- to 34-year-old age group, accounting for 31 percent of all pet owners, according to market research publisher Packaged Facts in the report Millennials as Pet Market Consumers. OurPet’s Company (OTCQX: OPCO) develops, produces and markets various pet accessory and consumable products designed to awaken pets’ natural instincts, be it in feeding, playing or waste management.

While the pet industry has previously been reliant on the spending patterns of pet owners from the baby boomer and gen X generations, millennials are closing the gap. In 2014, households headed by millennial consumers spent almost $11 billion on their pets.

Sold globally through pet specialty retailers; food, drug and mass chains; e-commerce and international channels, OurPet’s Company’s products are marketed under the OurPets®, Pet Zone® and PetTastic® brands with well-known sub-brands such as Play-N-Squeak®, Cosmic Catnip™, Durapet®, SmartScoop® and Flappy®. In total, OurPet’s has an intellectual property portfolio featuring more than 160 individual patents, giving the company sustainable access to the pet products industry for the foreseeable future. Constantly developing and launching new products to satisfy changing business environments is one of the company’s biggest strong suits.

The past year helped confirm the pet industry as one of the most dynamic parts of the U.S. economy. Even when sales haven’t kept up with the growth of recent years, the industry has managed to attract a slew of investments. The pet industry saw the biggest private equity deal of the year, when a group of investors bought PetSmart and took it private, and while one company focused on human products got out of the pet business (The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG)), another got in (The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)).

OurPet’s Company is well positioned in a dynamic, high-growth market and has the necessary relationships in place to continue its growth cycle and meet whatever demands the millennial, baby boomer, and X-generation segments want to see on store shelves or ecommerce inventory searches.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ourpets.com