J.M. Smucker’s net pet food sales decreased by US$31.7 million, or 8%, to US$368 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 compared to Q1 FY25. Smucker's pet segment profit declined 12% to US$101.3 million.
Although dog snacks dragged on sales in Q1 FY26, Smucker’s leadership remained confident in the category as Milk-Bone increased household penetration.
“Overall, the dog snacks category has rebounded in recent periods, providing a positive outlook for our portfolio,” Mark Smucker, CEO, said during an earnings call. “And in cat food we continue to see strong momentum.”
With positive category tailwinds and the strength of our leading brands, Smucker remained confident in the long-term growth outlook for the company’s pet portfolio.
Details of Smucker’s pet segment performance
Compared to Q1 FY25, volume/mix reduced net sales by eight percentage points, primarily driven by a decrease in dog snacks and lower contract manufacturing sales related to divested pet food brands, Tucker Marshall, the company’s CFO, said during an earnings call. Net price realization was neutral to net sales. Segment profit decreased US$14.0 million, primarily driven by unfavorable volume/mix and higher costs, partially offset by lower marketing spend.
“For the Milk-Bone brand, net sales declined as we lapped distribution gains from our highly successful Milk-Bone Peanut Buttery Bites innovation in the prior year and consumers continue to be cautious in their spending,” Smucker said. “Overall, household penetration for the brand continues to increase, reinforcing its strong leadership position in the dog snacks category. Pet parents continue to treat their pets, but treating frequency has moderated due to the discretionary nature of the category. We are focused on growing the Milk-Bone brand through a combination of marketing, innovation, and targeted merchandising investments. We continue to anticipate the Milk-Bone brand will return to net sales growth in the back half of the fiscal year.
“In cat food, the Meow Mix brand continued its momentum with an increase in volume/mix in the quarter,” Smucker said. “We saw strong distribution gains for our dry cat food business in the latest 13-week period, with total points of distribution increasing by a double-digit percentage. And our innovation, Meow Mix Gravy Bursts, reinforces our ability to bring meaningful innovation to categories that have seen little disruption in the past. We also continue to refresh and invest behind our multi-year Meow Mix Brand ReMix campaign and are focused on capturing new pet parents as the cat category is experiencing strong tailwinds from pet population growth.”
