Industry Trends

What pet companies are doing in sales, marketing, growth, product trends, AI, and investment, and where the industry is headed.

• The Healthcare Land Grab: Clinics, Diagnostics and AI Are Where Pet Money Is Moving

  Veterinary care was the second largest revenue line in US pet last year, and in a single week in November the industry showed every way it plans to own more of it, from a 300 specialist acquisition to a diagnostics beat and a drug giant going backwards.

• US Petflation Cools to 2.2 Percent While Canadian Pet Prices Jump 2.8 Percent in a Single Month

  September price data show American pet prices easing across food, supplies and services, with veterinary care the lone riser, while Canada posted the sharpest monthly increase in the latest GlobalPETS snapshot.

• The Marketplace Squeeze: Amazon Now Sells $1.4 Billion of Pet Products a Month in the US

  Pet retail is reorganizing around platforms that own the search bar, the delivery van and, increasingly, the inventory itself, and new data on Amazon's first-party business shows how far the shift has gone.

• The Cat Economy: Cats Are Outgrowing Dogs, and the Industry Is Rebuilding Around Them

  Cat food sales grew more than three times as fast as dog food in September, cat ownership reached 53 million U.S. households, and the brands winning the shelf are the ones built for picky, multi-cat, younger owners who treat toppers, lickables and wet food as the daily routine, not the treat.

• Pet Food Makers Rethink Price-Pack Architecture as Value-Hunting Shoppers Reshape the Shelf

  Post Holdings, Spectrum Brands and a wave of manufacturers are reworking pack sizes and price points to hold margins at the top of the line while keeping budget shoppers in the franchise.

• Fresh Food Grows Up: Subscription Brands Become Acquirers, Retail Brands and Manufacturing Bets

  Fresh and gently cooked dog food is leaving its novelty phase, as leading subscription brands buy other companies, win shelf space in thousands of stores, and compete on factories, fridges and formats that remove freezer friction.

• The Calming Boom: Pet Brands Are Moving Anxiety Support From the Occasional Fix to the Daily Routine

  Two calming launches in two days, one in a chew and one in a complete food, show a category being rebuilt around daily habits, branded ingredients and subscription economics, with strategics, private equity and the biggest names in pet food all buying in.