Major pet food companies like Purina, Hill's, and Smucker are shifting their growth strategies away from relying on overall market expansion and instead focusing investments on high-growth segments including cat food, wet products, and fresh formats where consumer demand is strongest and market share opportunities are greater.
- Cat food growth momentum: Nestlé reports U.S. cat ownership growing 2-3% annually with wet cat food expanding about 7%, supported by premiumization and restored production capacity
- Market share over market growth: Hill's grew 4% in Q2 while the overall pet food category remained flat, demonstrating the value of targeted segment focus
- Strategic portfolio concentration: Smucker exited dog food entirely to focus exclusively on Meow Mix cat food and Milk-Bone dog snacks, with plans to expand into wet cat food and treats
- Fresh pet food expansion: Hill's launched Science Diet fresh dog food rolls in July, building on Colgate-Palmolive's 2025 acquisition of Australian fresh pet food company Prime100
- Changing pet ownership patterns: Consumer shift from larger dogs toward smaller dogs and cats, plus increased use of wet food, is driving manufacturers' investment decisions
Major pet food companies increasingly look for selective growth in cat food, wet products and fresh formats rather than relying on a rising tide to raise all their ships. As the overall waters of the dog, cat and other pet food industries remain uncertain, executives steer their brands into currents where the market is expanding.
Executives from Nestlé, Colgate-Palmolive and J.M. Smucker Co. highlighted that approach during the 2026 Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference. Although conditions differ among the companies and categories, their comments point to a common strategy: Invest in market segments experiencing strong demand, with market share growth opportunities or with room to expand into adjacent formats.
Nestlé leans into cat food growth
For Nestlé Purina, cat food, particularly wet cat food, is providing momentum. Nestlé Chief Financial Officer Anna Manz told Barclays attendees that U.S. consumer sellout, or the volume of products sold directly to the end consumer, remained strong despite a temporary reduction in retailer inventories.
"I would point you to the sellout data because that really tells you what consumer offtake is," Manz said in Nestlé's official Barclays conference transcript.
Manz said U.S. cat ownership was growing 2% to 3% and wet cat food was growing about 7%. She linked that opportunity to premiumization and Purina's restored production capacity, which allows the company to offer more varieties consistently.
Nestlé's financial results support the broader trend. PetCare organic growth was 2.8% in the second quarter, including 2% real internal growth. Both cat and dog food contributed, with Pro Plan, Purina ONE and Felix leading brand growth. Nestlé also reported that premium wet cat food contributed to growth in Europe and wet cat food was a key PetCare growth driver in Asia, Oceania and Africa.
Purina is also investing behind the format. Nestlé described superpremium wet cat food as one of its growth platforms when it relaunched and expanded Gourmet Perle in Europe in June. The company said premium wet cat food was generating about 6% value growth globally.
Hill's targets cat, wet and fresh
Hill's Pet Nutrition executives described a similar effort to concentrate investment in selected growth areas.
Noel Wallace, Colgate-Palmolive chairman, president and CEO, said Hill's grew about 4% in the second quarter when the effect of its private-label exit was excluded, compared with a pet food category he characterized as flat.
"Clearly, we're growing share in all the key segments," Wallace said during the Barclays discussion.
Among those segments are cat food, wet food and products for smaller dogs. Wallace pointed to changes in pet ownership, including a shift from larger dogs toward smaller dogs and cats, along with increasing use of wet food in the bowl.
Colgate-Palmolive reported Hill's second-quarter net sales of US$1.195 billion, up 3.4%. Organic sales increased 2.1%, including an approximately 2-percentage-point drag from the company's exit from private-label pet food.
Hill's is also expanding into fresh dog food. Its Science Diet Single Protein Dog Food Rolls launched at pet specialty retailers in July, marking Hill's entry into refrigerated fresh pet food under its core brand.
The launch builds on Colgate-Palmolive's 2025 acquisition of Australian fresh pet food company Prime100. Wallace said at Barclays that Prime100 has provided experience with fresh pet food manufacturing and cold-chain distribution as Hill's develops its U.S. fresh strategy.
Smucker concentrates on cat food and dog snacks
Smucker's strategy is even more explicitly focused. The company previously exited dog food and now concentrates its pet portfolio on Meow Mix cat food and Milk-Bone dog snacks.
"We've made a conscious choice to exit dog food and really double down in dog snacks and cat food," Mark Smucker, chairman, president and CEO, said at Barclays.
Smucker said Meow Mix growth is being supported by category fundamentals, brand investment and innovation. The company plans to defend its leadership in dry cat food while expanding Meow Mix into wet food and treats.
The strategy is showing results. U.S. Retail Pet Foods sales increased 1% to US$371.7 million in Smucker's fiscal 2027 first quarter, with increased cat food volume driving the improvement in volume and product mix.
Growth increasingly depends on category mix
While the pet food executives tended to agree on where the pet food was growing, they had different messages about the industry overall. Hill's described the overall category as relatively flat, Nestlé reported improving consumer pet food demand alongside retailer inventory adjustments, and Smucker sees structural tailwinds in cat food and dog snacks.
Despite the differences, the commonality lies where the companies invest their resources.
Purina is using capacity and innovation to capture wet cat food demand. Hill's is targeting cats, wet food, therapeutic nutrition and fresh products. Smucker is concentrating its pet portfolio around cat food and dog snacks while looking for additional growth in wet cat food and treats.
For pet food manufacturers and suppliers, the shift suggests category mix may matter increasingly as much as overall market growth. Growth opportunities remain, but the Barclays discussions indicate that major manufacturers expect to find them by competing more aggressively in specific formats and pet segments rather than waiting for the entire pet food market to expand.
