As we compile and analyze the annual Top Pet Food Companies Database and compare each company’s revenue and other data with the previous year, we’ve often seen that several companies’ growth has come largely from mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Was that the case in 2024, the year our latest database update covers?
With a few exceptions, it seems not. This was true in the U.S. especially. While Cascadia Capital, an investment firm working in the U.S. pet care industry, noted an uptick in M&A deals over lows in 2023, activity continued to be “muted” in 2024. Among the top five pet food players in our database, only General Mills (number four) made deals, buying Edgar & Cooper, a U.K. pet food company, in April and Whitebridge Pet Brands, a U.S.-based pet treat company, in November.
There were a handful of M&A transactions among smaller companies in the U.S. in 2024; Europe was much more active, though that was mostly due to a flurry of deals by United Petfood (tied for number six in our database) and some activity by Nutriment, a German-based raw pet food company.
Halfway through 2025, this pattern — few deals in the U.S., more in Europe — seems to be continuing. Nutriment has ramped up its buying spree, with three more deals to date. Plus, a couple of smaller companies have acquired other small ones. And not all U.S. players are sitting on the sidelines: Colgate-Palmolive (owner of Hill’s Pet Nutrition, number three in our database) bought Australia’s Prime100, a fresh pet food brand, in February 2025.
Another active sector for M&A is among pet food suppliers. That has been true for several years now, and in 2025 to date, we have reported on at least five, all involving equipment manufacturers.
In its end-of-year report for 2024, Cascadia Capital predicted a surge in pet care M&A in 2025. That has not come to pass yet, probably due to the economic uncertainty driven by global trade tensions, including on-again, off-again tariffs. If some of those get settled, it will be interesting to watch if pet food M&A activity picks up later in the year.
