The largest pet product market is petfood, not animal health or veterinary services. The July issue of Petfood Industry magazine list 111 petfood companies globally, but 4 companies represent half or more of all petfood sales – Nestle Purina, Mars, Hill’s and General Mills. Nestle Purina and Mars, each with more than $22 billion in petfood sales, dwarf all other companies. (Hill’s, in third place, has sales of about $4.5 billion.) So petfood is even more concentrated than the animal health industry (pharmaceuticals, biologicals, diagnostics).
Interestingly, all of the large petfood companies are established consumer packaged goods companies. General Mills was the most recent major CPG entrant with its purchase of Blue Buffalo in 2018. Mars, one of the largest privately held companies, is also a major player in veterinary services and technology. All of the largest petfood companies market therapeutic diets, and have large sales forces calling on veterinarians, many of which were highly rated in Brakke Consulting’s 2025 Sales Force Effectiveness Study.
It’s important to recognize that there’s an immense amount of competition for veterinarians’ time and attention from a variety of different suppliers. What are you doing to earn your share?
John Volk
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