Pet owners are increasingly open to supplementing kibble with alternative pet food formats — and that shift represents a significant opportunity for fresh, freeze-dried and health-and-wellness-focused wet food marketers, according to Shannon Landry, research director for pet at Packaged Facts.
Landry will present "Flexible feeding: Alternative pet foods, feeding opportunities and value propositions" on Tuesday, April 28, at Petfood Forum 2026 in Kansas City. Her session will draw on Packaged Facts consumer data to examine how pet owners are using pricier formats as add-ons or supplements to traditional kibble and wet food diets, and what that behavior means for the broader market.
"With many pet owners looking for ways to economize, offering them a way to more affordably feed alternative format pet foods is a timely positioning tactic," Landry said.
The session will cover pet food spending patterns, owner attitudes toward traditional formats and novel proteins, and the pet/owner dynamic that drives variety-seeking behavior. Landry will also explore what factors influence pet food purchasing decisions and how value is defined by today's shoppers.
Fresh formats move from niche to mainstream
The fresh pet food segment has moved well beyond niche status, Landry noted, and its growing share of the overall market is putting new pressure on manufacturers to meet premium demand at accessible price points.
"Growth in the fresh pet food market has reached critical mass as it has come to make up a larger and larger part of the overall pet food market," she said.
Economic headwinds are intensifying that pressure. Packaged Facts has tracked the fresh and alternative format segments for years, and Landry said the past two years have exposed fault lines across even stable categories.
"Finding a way for pet owners to feed premium products on tighter budgets is critical to keeping the pet food industry in growth mode," she said.
Looking ahead, Landry sees the industry's reliance on high-income households as a structural vulnerability.
"The pet food industry is facing headwinds that it hasn't faced in years, and higher-income households can no longer carry the entire market forward in terms of driving sales growth," she said.
She expects manufacturers to shift focus toward delivering premium benefits across a broader range of price points in the next five years.
Petfood Forum and Petfood Essentials show dates are April 27-29, 2026, in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. To register or stay informed on the latest event developments, go to PetfoodForumEvents.com.
