AUSTIN, TEXAS — Nulo is crediting its sales and volume growth in 2024 to its “Fuel Incredible” marketing campaign during the summer Olympic games. The program featured eight medal winning Olympic athletes — all of whom are pet owners — endorsing Nulo’s ultra-premium pet food.
For the 52-week period ended Jan. 18, 2025, Nielsen sales and unit growth report card reported Nulo sales volume was up 2.1% to $261.8 million and unit volume growth increased 13.4% to 40.3 million, not including e-commerce platforms, Chewy or Amazon. According to Nulo, only three brands out of the 15 listed in the report posted year-over-year sales increases. Nulo compared its pet food category sales growth to other top brands — Purina was up 0.4% and Hill’s Science Diet was up 1.7%.
“Nulo led pet food business growth during a demanding period because of our industry leading marketing investments in the ‘Fuel Incredible’ campaign,” said Michael Landa, founder and chief executive officer of Nulo.
Nulo’s campaign included TV advertising, social media integration and retail marketing programs alongside the Olympics.
“The program features eight top world-renowned Olympic medal winners, including the legendary Simone Biles, who are all pet lovers, Nulo nutrition supporters and believers,” Landa said.
All eight athletes signed multi-year contracts with the company, so even though the Olympics are over their marketing endorsement will continue through future Nulo events, sponsorships and in-market projects.
“We’re just getting started deploying these highly credible, trusted voices on behalf of Nulo’s performance nutrition story,” Landa added.
The brand is also crediting sales growth to its new pet food and treat products.
“Additionally, we’ve seen traction and incremental growth from our new product innovations including the launch of the new Cold Pressed pet food category, our shelf stable ‘fresh’ Gently Cooked Meals concept, and an innovative new line of functional treats and dental chews,” Landa said.
On the horizon, Nulo is working on new recipes and packaging improvements to its core FreeStyle kibble portfolio.
“Our five dry kibble brands represent the greatest volume business opportunities for our retailers, so we are making investments there to help build on our current business momentum,” said Eric Emmenegger, head of Nulo retail and product marketing.
Read more news from pet food manufacturers.