Good Company

Pet Food Experts Takes Unconditional Nationwide in All Regions as Air-Dried Tries to Get Cheaper

The leading U.S. pet specialty distributor added the California-made air-dried brand on October 1, giving independent retailers a shelf-stable premium food that the maker says costs roughly 40 percent less than other air-dried brands.

By Good Company Editorial Desk

Unconditional pet food logo on a white background

The News

Pet Food Experts (PFX), the pet specialty distributor based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, has added Unconditional to its portfolio in all regions as of October 1. PetfoodIndustry reported the move on October 19, and PETS+ published the companies' announcement the same week. Retailers can now order the brand through PFX Marketplace.

Unconditional is the dog food brand from Citizens Pet, a family-owned company that manufactures in Fresno, California. The portfolio has three parts: 100 percent air-dried complete diets, grain-free blends that pair high-protein kibble with air-dried inclusions, and functional toppers. The recipes are protein-focused, with 80 percent of the protein coming from animal ingredients, according to the announcement. They contain no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, and no corn, wheat or soy.

The brand itself is new. Citizens Pet launched Unconditional at SuperZoo 2026 and brought it to retailers nationwide in September, including PetSmart, Petco, Pet Supplies Plus and independent pet retailers, according to its launch coverage in Pet Food Processing and PetfoodIndustry. The PFX deal is the next step in that rollout: a single specialty distributor carrying the line in every region it serves, rather than a patchwork of regional arrangements.

Founder Avrum Elmakis framed the brand as a price and access story from the start. "This isn't just a business to me," Elmakis said in the PFX announcement. "It's personal. Good dog food exists, but it's rare and usually priced out of reach."

Why It Matters

Air-dried food has been one of the faster growing corners of pet food, according to Citizens Pet, as some owners move away from kibble and others look for an alternative to raw and frozen diets that is easier to store and serve. The format's problem has been price. Air-dried and freeze-dried foods usually sit at the top of the price ladder, which limits how many shoppers a retailer can convert in the aisle.

Unconditional is explicitly built to attack that problem. The company says owning its Fresno factory, keeping more of the production process in house and air-drying ingredients on site lets it price the food roughly 40 percent below other air-dried brands. That figure is a company claim from its launch, not an independent price audit, and shoppers will judge it bag by bag. But the strategy is clear: keep the minimally processed positioning, remove the contract manufacturing margin, and use the savings to widen the market.

Distribution through PFX matters because specialty distribution is how independent stores discover and trial new premium lines. GlobalPETS has described PFX as a U.S. specialty distributor serving over 10,000 pet retailers. A listing in all PFX regions at once gives a two-month-old brand instant national reach into the exact channel where staff recommendations move premium food. It also puts Unconditional on the same ordering system retailers already use for much of their specialty assortment, which lowers the friction to a first order.

There is a convenience story for stores, too. The food is shelf-stable, requires no freezing, thawing or preparation, and has a stated shelf life of 18 to 24 months. That means a premium option that needs no freezer space and can sit in the regular food aisle.

The Numbers

  • October 1, 2026: the date Unconditional joined the PFX portfolio in all regions, according to the announcement.
  • 80 percent: the share of protein in Unconditional recipes that comes from animal ingredients, according to the companies.
  • 25 years: the time the company says it has spent developing its air-drying method, a slow, low-heat process done largely by hand.
  • Roughly 40 percent: how much lower the company says its pricing is than other air-dried brands, a claim made at launch in August.
  • 18 to 24 months: the shelf life the company states for its air-dried food, with no refrigeration required.
  • Over 10,000: the number of pet retailers PFX serves in the United States, according to GlobalPETS reporting on an earlier PFX partnership.
  • Three product families: 100 percent air-dried complete diets, grain-free kibble blends with air-dried inclusions, and functional toppers.
  • Financial terms of the distribution arrangement were not disclosed.

Those numbers describe positioning and reach, not yet performance. Neither company has disclosed how many PFX retailers have ordered since October 1 or how repeat orders are trending.

What It Means For You

If you run an independent store, this is a low-risk trial candidate, and you should treat it that way rather than as a full reset. Order through PFX Marketplace, start with the format that fits your customers: the complete air-dried diets for the shopper already buying premium, the kibble blends for the shopper who wants to trade up without changing their whole routine, and the toppers for the shopper who will spend a little more but not switch foods. Train staff on the one sentence that sells it: shelf-stable, minimally processed food from a brand that owns its factory and says it costs meaningfully less than rival air-dried lines. Then track sell-through for 60 days before you expand the set.

If you run a competing premium brand, pay attention to the price architecture, not just the new listing. A rival that claims a 40 percent price advantage and now has all-region specialty distribution will show up in price comparisons in your best stores. Check your own cost per day for a typical dog against theirs, and be ready with a clear answer on what your higher price buys.

If you are a founder building a food brand, copy the sequence, not just the product. Citizens Pet launched with its own manufacturing story already in place, debuted at SuperZoo, opened with national chains and independents in September, and then added an all-region specialty distributor in October. Each step made the next one easier to sell. Owning the factory was also the source of the price claim, which gave retailers a reason to listen beyond another new recipe.

If you are a marketer, note what the brand is not leading with. The pitch is not a novel protein or a celebrity. It is real food, honestly priced, sold where staff know the dog. That clear price and channel story is itself a differentiator, but only if the shelf price holds up when customers compare bags.

What To Watch

Watch the first reorder cycle. A distributor listing gets a brand into a catalog. Reorders in November and December will show whether dogs like the food, whether the price point converts, and whether stores keep facing it after the launch attention fades.

Watch whether the roughly 40 percent price claim survives contact with the shelf. If retailers price Unconditional well below established air-dried rivals and it still holds margin, expect rivals to respond with blends and toppers that lower the entry price. This line already has those ladder formats built in.

Watch PFX for follow-on additions in the same format. A second or third signing would signal the distributor sees lower-priced, shelf-stable premium food as a category it wants to own for independents.

Finally, watch for disclosed door counts or sales from Citizens Pet, which also owns Plato and Furry Republic, according to its launch release. Until numbers appear, this is a promising distribution story, not a proven sales story.

Sources

  • PetfoodIndustry, Pet Food Experts adds Unconditional air-dried dog food, October 19, 2026: https://www.petfoodindustry.com/news-newsletters/pet-food-news/news/15837931/pet-food-experts-adds-unconditional-airdried-dog-food
  • PETS+, Pet Food Experts Welcome the Unconditional Brand to PFX (company announcement, Pawtucket, Rhode Island): https://petsplusmag.com/pet-food-experts-welcome-the-unconditional-brand-to-pfx/
  • Pet Food Processing, New premium dog food brand Unconditional debuts, August 19, 2026: https://www.petfoodprocessing.net/articles/20805-new-premium-dog-food-brand-unconditional-debuts
  • PetfoodIndustry, Citizens Pet launches Unconditional air-dried dog food brand, August 2026: https://www.petfoodindustry.com/pet-food-market/product-launches/news/15832092/citizens-pet-launches-unconditional-airdried-dog-food-brand
  • GlobalPETS, Round-up: Pet food brands widen their reach across North America (PFX serving over 10,000 pet retailers): https://globalpetindustry.com/news/round-up-pet-food-brands-widen-their-reach-across-north-america/
  • Unconditional official site (product families, factory and positioning): https://unconditionalpetfood.com