ORLANDO, FLA. — Several trends are influencing the pet food industry, from shifts in global ownership to the rise of TikTok purchasing to functional product claims. NielsenIQ (NIQ) provided an outlook on these trends and more during its presentation at Global Pet Expo 2025.
Cats takeover the globe
Sam Smith, associate client director of pet manufacturing and CPG at NIQ, began the presentation with a brief overview of the global pet care market. Europe currently contributes more than half (52%) of the market’s global growth, followed by North America at 33%, Africa/Middle East at 9%, Latin America at 6% and Asia Pacific at 1%.
Thanks to rises in pet ownership, there are an estimated 1 billion pets globally and feline ownership is leading the way. In 2024, 56.1% of global households owned a pet, an increase from 52.2% in 2019. Of this, 33.2% owned a dog, an increase from 33.1% in 2019, and 27.3% owned a cat, an increase from 23.6% in 2019.
“Cat has actually been leading the way for a couple of years now, even though predominantly dog is the largest in terms of percentage of ownership, cat has risen to the point where over one in four households globally has a cat,” Smith shared.
US pet market
According to Smith, the US pet care industry achieved $83.8 billion in dollar sales in 2024, a 2.2% increase year-over-year. Brick-and-mortar accounted for 60%, a decrease of 1.8%, and online sales accounted for 40%, an increase of 8.8%. This 60-40 split of dollar share places the pet care industry in-line with similar splits seen in the health and beauty and baby care industries.
In unit sales for 2024, the pet care industry reached $8.9 billion, a 1% increase from a year ago. Of this, brick-and-mortar unit sales accounted for 79%, a decrease of 0.3%, and online unit sales accounted for 21%, a 6.5% increase.
Examining the pet care industry in comparison to other retail departments, pet care witnessed one of the biggest decreases in brick-and-mortar sales from 2023 to 2024, dropping 1.8%. The 8.8% increase in online sales is in-line with other departments. Adding to this growth in online, the industry experienced a 2.4-point increase in online dollar share from 2023 to 2024.
Looking at specific segments of the pet care industry, the cat nutrition space is one of the few experiencing retail dollar sales growth both in-store and online, though the segment has overall fewer total dollar sales. Wet cat food, dry cat food and cat treats all witnessed dollar sales growth in-store and online, whereas only refrigerated/frozen dog food witnessed growth in-store and online. All other dog food segments, including dog treats, wet dog food, dry dog food, sales dropped in-store and increased online.
Source: NIQ Omnisales; Total Omni, Pet Care by CategoryThough dollar sales show that online is gaining far more traction compared to brick-and-mortar, NIQ found that a majority of the dollar share for the overall pet care industry comes from consumers that purchase products in-store and online, called omnichannel shoppers. In 2024, 58.7% of buyers purchased products omnichannel, an increase of 1.5 points. Thirty-seven percent of buyers purchase via only in-store, a 2.2-point decrease, and 3.9% of buyers purchase via only in-store, a 0.7-point increase.
Dollar-sales wise, omnichannel accounted for 79.4% of dollar sales in 2024, a 1.1-point increase. In-store accounted for 17.4% of dollar sales, a 1.8-point decrease, and online accounted for 3.2% of dollar sales, a 0.7-point increase.
Regarding pet food buyers, NIQ found that omnichannel accounted for 44.8% of buyers, a 2-point increase, and 64.2% of dollars, a 1.8-point increase. In-store represented 51.3% of buyers, a 2.6-point decrease, and 31.7% of dollars, a 2.3-point decrease. Online represented 3.9% of buyers, a 0.5-point increase, and 4.1% of dollars, also a 0.5-point increase. Additionally, online sales are being driven by subscriptions.
When it comes to online sales, TikTok has emerged as a method for pet parents to make purchasing decisions. Overall, 70% of total TikTok users have discovered new brands and products through the social platform and 83% claimed the platform plays some role in their purchasing decision. In fact, three out of four TikTok users are likely to buy something while using the platform.
“… Even if [a consumer] sees a product in-store, they’ll still go on TikTok shop to see if they can find a deal or find more information about the product,” Smith said. “So, it’s a very influential platform.”
In the pet care industry, pet supplies are overtaking TikTok, with dollar sales reaching $158 million for the last 52 weeks ending Feb. 22, 2025, a year-over-year increase from $34 million. Pet food sales represent a much smaller fraction but are also witnessing rapid growth. In the last 52 weeks ending Feb. 22, 2025, pet food achieved $4.3 million in dollar sales on TikTok, an increase from $632,000.
Source: NIQ Omnisales; Pet Care TikTok Dollars
Pet food trends
After witnessing continued declines in dollar versus unit sales, in December 2024, the pet food industry experienced both dollar and unit sales growth of 0.7% and 1%, respectively. Currently, Natural pet food accounts for majority (43%) of total pet food dollar share, followed by grain free at 18%, dehydrated at 4.2%, fresh/frozen at 3.6%, partial and full freeze-dried at 3.1% and meal enhancers at 2.4% of dollar share.
Premium pet foods and complementary products are leading growth:
- Fresh/frozen formats grew 16.1% in dollar sales and 15.8% in unit sales in 2024
- Freeze-dried formats grew 9.9% in dollar sales and 18.6% in unit sales in 2024
- Meal enhancers grew 8.2% in dollar sales and 2.3% in unit sales
- Dehydrated grew 0.2% in dollar sales and 2% in unit sales
- Partial freeze-dried grew 1.1% in dollar sales and dropped 3.8% in unit sales
Natural formats and grain-free pet foods witnessed declines both in dollars and unit sales in 2024.
Looking at product claims, NIQ found that the top claims in the pet care industry include mood/stress, skin and coat support, microbiome, brain health, immune support, joint health, muscle health and weight management. Mental health specifically is gaining traction in the pet food space. In 2024, pet food UPCs touting mood or stress claims grew 8.2%.
Additionally, food as medicine claims continue to be popular with dollar sales for these products rising 1.4% in 2024. Amongst these claims, the highest growing ones in 2024 were inflammation health (rose 32.6% in dollar sales), cellular function support (rose 28.1%), hydration support (rose 15.2%), microbiome (rose 5.8%), kidney health (rose 7.2%) and urinary tract health (rose 5.6%).
In addition to product claims, NIQ also shared the ingredients experiencing growth in the pet food space. Overall, celery, soy protein and spinach experienced the greatest dollar share growth in 2024 at 13.5%, 2.7% and 5.8%, respectively. Prebiotics, ancient grains and soy protein all continue to represent the largest share of the pet food category at 31%, 28% and 27%, respectively.
NIQ also highlighted growth in human-grade claims and ingredients in the pet nutrition space. Overall, human-grade pet food represented 1% of all total pet foods in 2024 but witnessed 14.8% dollar growth throughout the year. Human-grade rose 10.3% in the dry dog food category, 33% in wet dog food and 12.8% in dog treats.
Amidst these ingredient innovations comes concern following regulatory issues. In the human food space, the US Food and Drug Administration banned Red Dye No. 3 as part of the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign. Though Red 3 is not used in pet food, there are several color additives that make their way into formulations. In fact, NIQ estimated that these additives were present in more than half (53.2%) of all pet food sales in 2024. Red Dye 40, Yellow 5, Blue Dye 2 and Yellow 6 are just some of the many color additives that were most commonly found in pet foods in 2024.
“Although this regulation does not apply to the pet food industry, a major theme throughout this presentation again has been on how human trends are transcending into pet food. So, I’d be remiss if I didn’t call this out as a potential threat or a risk for artificial colors and pet food,” shared Hannah Polk, associate sales director of health and wellness attribution at NIQ. “… Over half of all pet food dollar sales with Red Dye 40 and Yellow 5 have the greatest dollar share. So, there is certainly risk of this kind of negative connotation around artificial colors affecting consumer buying behavior and purchasing decisions within pet foods.”
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