Mark Smucker, chief executive officer, president and director, J.M. Smucker Co., reported pet food and treats is the company’s largest product category during a presentation to investors. This comes as a “significant shift” in Smucker’s overall portfolio composition over the past few years.

Pet food represents 38% of Smucker’s total revenue. Broken down, dog food accounts for 47% of the company’s pet food sales, followed by cat food at 27% and pet treats at 26%. Premium dog foods alone make up 65% of the company’s total pet food sales and continues to be a focus for future growth, according to Mark .

The company acquired the Milk-Bone brand when it purchased Big Heart Pet Brands in 2015 and gained Rachael Ray Nutrish from its Ainsworth acquisition in May 2018. These two brands are considered integral to the company’s success in this market. Milk-Bone leads pet treat sales for Smucker’s and holds a 23% share of the overall pet treat market, while Nutrish leads its premium dog food category and is projected to be the largest brand in Smucker’s pet food portfolio, according to Mark.

“With the recent leadership changes and the integration work that is well underway, we are confident about the talent we have in place to grow the pet business,” Mark said. “We retained key individuals, both from the Big Heart and the Ainsworth companies, with substantial pet food and pet snacks expertise.”

The company plans to introduce brand extensions for Milk-Bone, Nature’s Recipe and Nutrish in the upcoming fiscal year. Rawhide-free and natural meat dog treats will be added under the Milk-Bone brand. As for Smucker’s premium brands, it will unveil two flavors of teeth-cleaning dog treats under Nutrish, and True Treats chewy treats and dog biscuits under Nature’s Recipe. David Lemmon, president of pet food and snacks, J.M. Smucker Co., said these three product launches will propel the company into new pet food segments like long-lasting chew, dental and natural meat.

“We are in an outstanding position for growth [in pet food] with our variety of strong brands, upcoming innovation and our new distribution opportunities in both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce,” Lemmon said.

Both Mark and Lemmon said they anticipate a 3% to 4% growth in the company’s top line in the pet segment over the next several years.

Read more about corporate strategy, financial performance, mergers and acquisitions in the pet food segment on our Business page.