U.S. sales share of pet food by retail channel 2018

Pet specialty chains were the retail channel which brought in the largest share of pet food sales in the United States in 2018 – some 23 percent of all sales were attributed to such stores. Discount stores or supercenters ranked in second place with 21 percent of sales, whilst around 17 percent of total sales were made online through e-commerce channels.

The pet food market in the U.S.

Pet food is, and has consistently been, the highest-selling category of pet products in the United States . In 2018, over 30 billion U.S. dollars of pet food were sold nationwide. This figure has increased by over ten billion dollars over a five-year period. When you break pet food down into categories, dry dog food is the most lucrative segment, with recorded sales of over 5.15 billion U.S. dollars in 2018.

Pet food trends

It is important for product developers and marketers to keep up with trends within the pet food market. According to a recent survey, almost one quarter of dog owners stated that they use grain-free food for their pet, whilst some seven percent use gluten-free foods.