Food companies moving into mega pet food industry

For a food company to expand from jams to doggie treats or chocolate bars to cat food may seem drastic, but some say it's a wise move given the healthy state of the pet food industry.

According to research director David Sprinkle of market research publisher Packaged Facts, it would be worthwhile for "just about any food company" to enter the pet food industry in the U.S. given the slew of premium-priced pet products, as well as natural and organic pet goods, that keep coming out and boosting sales.

Notable recent acquisitions of this sort include J.M. Smucker buying Big Heart Pet Brands and Mars acquiring Iams and Eukanuba.

A MediaPost article pegs the value of the U.S. pet food market at $28 billion and cites a recent Packaged Facts report that states pet food industry sales will grow at 3 per cent to 4.5 per cent rates between this year and 2018.

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