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Research firm Packaged Facts expects U.S. pet retail sales to fall 17% in 2020, to $78.5 billion; food sales will likely still grow.

Sales of charcoal grills grew 9% from 2014 to 2019, according to The Freedonia Group, which predicts grill sales, especially online sales, to remain steady as the pandemic continues and people stay home.

Industry players, from big box retailers to foodmakers to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, are hopeful that they can eventually get pet owners to spend on their cats like they spend on their dogs—and thus expand an underexplored market.

Early interest in bioplastics stemmed from an attempt to find cheaper alternatives to plastics based on fossil fuels, says Kent Furst, polymers practice leader for U.S. researcher Freedonia Group. When oil prices plummeted with the shale gas revolution in 2015, however, plastic production costs fell with them. “Bioplastics were sidelined while a massive reinvestment in traditional plastics took place,” says Furst.

The convenience, practicality and comfort of offering food as tokens of recognition, appreciation and affection could help insulate the US food gifting marketing during the coronavirus pandemic, but it may not be enough to fully offset losses in 2020 from corporations pulling back on the practice in the short term, according to new research from Packaged Facts.