Download the full 2026 Pet Care Industry Trends Report here.

This free trends report outlines industry perspectives and expert advice from our team of consumer products consultants. You can view an excerpt of the report below, and if you’d like to discuss any of the trends or other challenges in the pet care space, connect with our team today.

Key Pet Care Industry Trends

As the pet care industry moves into 2026, shifting economic realities and consumer values are reshaping how pet owners spend. The growing influence of Gen Z pet owners, continued humanization of pets, and sustainability pushes are all shaping how pet care organizations develop their products. As these influences take hold, manufacturers need to consider how to appeal to each market segment.  

Further, as the market becomes more polarized in 2026, pet care companies should make clear efforts to demonstrate how their product delivers value. Investments in digital engagement, functional nutrition, value-based offerings, and sustainable packaging will be critical for capturing consumer spending. Organizations that align their strategies with these shifts will be better positioned for success.

Clarkston’s pet products consultants have highlighted the top pet care trends that businesses should consider and keep top-of-mind throughout the year:

1. Generational Preferences Driving Pet Owner Engagement Tactics
2. Tension Between Premium Preferences & Price Sensitivity
3. Rising Costs for Pet Experiences and Insurance Cutting into Product Spending
4. Sustainability & Recycling Impacting Packaging Decisions
5. Pet Food Recalls and Industry Responses

Trend 1:

Generational Preferences Driving Pet Owner Engagement Tactics 

Throughout 2025, Gen Z showed significant growth in pet ownership. They are more likely than any other demographic to have a wide variety of pets, including cats, birds, and reptiles, and on average spend more per month on their pets than other generations.  As Gen Z represents a growing share of the pet owner market, their preferences are increasingly shaping engagement strategies across the industry. 

Gen Z is more likely to shop online and through mobile apps, making strengthened omnichannel pathways essential. Seamless mobile checkout experiences and mobile-friendly payment options are critical to meeting their expectations.  

Social commerce also plays a central role in influencing purchase decisions for younger generations. One report shares that 97% of Gen Z customers report using social media as their primary source of shopping inspiration, making these platforms a necessary pathway for discovery and conversion. Enabling a seamless transition from social posts to product pages to purchase can help improve engagement and sales among this generation. 

Trust dynamics further differentiate this generation. More than half of Gen Z consumers say they trust influencer recommendations over traditional brand advertisements, creating opportunity for pet care brands to build credibility and loyalty through authentic partnerships.  

Looking to 2026 and beyond, companies that embed digital and social-first tactics into their broader omnichannel strategies will be better positioned to capture and retain this growing population of pet owners.  

Trend 2:

Tension Between Premium Preferences & Price Sensitivity 

In recent years, we’ve seen a rapid rise in the number of premium and ultra-premium pet product offerings, stemming from the continued push to humanize pets and make them a focal part of pet-owning families. More recently, as shoppers have tightened their budgets due to inflation and difficult economic conditions, we’re also seeing a shift in spending towards budget-tier items.  

This spending disparity can be seen through the disappearance of the middle consumer. Wealthy consumers continue spending more while middle- to low-income shoppers seek value-based products. This means pet care companies need to either focus on premium offerings or turn to budget goods and impactful discount strategies to win over the average consumer.  

Premiumization and Alternative Diets 

Premium offerings for pet food will continue to expand since transparency and “good for you” value drivers are core to human choices for their own diets, and as such, owners translate that mentality to their pets’ diets. High-income shoppers aren’t afraid to spend money on food and items they believe will improve their pets’ quality of life. Consumers who choose premium usually look for ingredients focused on health benefits like overall wellness, digestion, and pet life longevity, with an extra focus toward healthy, high-quality foods that are vet approved. 

We’ve seen large growth in fresh, dehydrated, air dried, and frozen foods, with refrigerated and frozen dog food alone growing sales by 13.4% (compared to -0.2% growth of the total dog food category). Additionally, kibble-plus, gently cooked, and personalized diets are on the rise. As with any growing category, these expanding options have led to an overall rise in the number of brands producing fresh food products, such as Freshpet expanding its premium line offerings of all-natural dog food and companies like General Mills and Nestlé Purina adding fresh pet food lines.   

As expanding options for premium food offerings become more mainstream, these pet food options will become an expectation for consumers. In 2026, brands that succeed will ensure food quality and continue to enhance their range of offerings.  

Budget-Friendly Products 

At the same time, 64% of US customers, 43% globally, cited “too expensive” as the main reason for not feeding alternative diets to their pets. Across the CPG industry, we’re seeing customers shift down in spending to search for value-based offerings; the pet industry is no different.  

Due to increasing inflation and economic uncertainty, discretionary consumer spending has been declining among non-high income consumers. This has strengthened the demand for budget-friendly pet products, often shifting consumer spending to private label, and made impactful promotional strategies a necessity. From 2024 to 2025, private label pet care unit sales grew 3.5% vs a 0.6% decline in unit sales for national brands, highlighting an opportunity to see success for brands who can best highlight their budget-friendly products. 

Strategies to Reach Price Sensitive Consumers 

Just as consumer budgets are tightening, so are marketing and trade budgets for companies. Every dollar spent needs to be stretched further. Due to this, many companies are employing new strategies to capture their shoppers’ spend, such as offering affordable entry points without abandoning premium positioning to drive value for the consumer.  

For example, consider how to focus on framing value as cost per day / per use and frame the long-term value of investment in higher-priced, premium pet products. Pet owners want to ensure the best quality of life for their pet and will be more willing to focus on the value over the price if it means providing risk-prevention and care. Additionally, almost all pet retailers are leveraging loyalty and subscriptions as value tools instead of direct price cuts, providing an opening for brands to align with retailer strategies to win on the shelf.  

Beyond promotional strategies, brands need to invest internally to ensure they are capturing useful data points and utilizing tools that can directly impact ROI and the bottom line. The best ways to increase internal impact is through quality data strategies and upgrading Trade Promotion practices through a new system or more effective business processes. 

Looking ahead, this divide between premium and budget pet food segments will continue to shape the industry in 2026. As the middle-ground market segment continues to shrink, brands need to choose a direction to stay relevant in one of the two prominent segments. Pet companies that choose to specialize in high-end, premium food products will need to prioritize transparency & education, quality, and expert-approved ingredients to appeal to the health-focused consumer. Meanwhile, budget-friendly offerings will need to emphasize cost-efficiency and strengthen brand loyalty to remain competitive with consumers that value affordability.  

Continue reading by downloading the full report below.

Download the Full 2026 Pet Care Industry Trends Report Here

Read last year’s Pet Care Industry Trends Report here.

Contributions from Natalie Pollock