Interest in the pet food category has been on the rise over the past year, with a number of properties entering this space. For example:
• Roobarb & Custard, a British animated TV series represented by Those Licensing People, paired with Two Near The Bone for a direct-to-consumer line of pet foods under the When Roobarb Made a Dog’s Dinner label. The partnership, announced last month, is starting with three dog food flavors, with plans to add cat food in the future.
• Last August, Cesar Millan’s The Dog Whisperer brand teamed with NutriPack for wet and dry dog foods in a deal brokered by All American Licensing. Back in 2008 Millan had launched a previous pet food line with Petco.
• In May 2018, Australian celebrity chef Pete Evans launched his own paleo pet food line, Healthy Everyday Pets with Pete Evans, including dry foods, meat patties, treats, and bone broths for dogs and cats.
• Pet food and accessory brand Dog for Dog, also represented by All American, announced in March 2018 that it had licensed Tzumi Pets for a line of dog food and treats. Some of the proceeds on sales of all of the brand’s products goes toward its mission of helping dogs in need.
Pet food represents the largest share (41%) of the pet products industry, which generated an estimated $72.13 billion in total retail sales in 2018, according to the American Pet Products Association. Sales of pet food—a sector that remains relatively untapped for licensing—dwarf sales of the sorts of pet accessories and supplies typically included in licensing deals, such as leashes, costumes, pet beds, and the like. On the other hand, pet food requires a far greater investment and faces regulatory hurdles, and it can be more difficult to secure retail placement. Thus, while pet food can be an attractive opportunity, the brand has to really make sense for a deal in this category to work.
Despite the challenges, history has shown that celebrities and other properties can make good in the pet food industry, whether through licensing, via other forms of partnership, or by launching proprietary brands. Many of the ventures introduced during the last burst of activity in this category a decade ago—as well as some with even more longevity—are still on the market.
TV chef Rachel Ray, for example, launched Rachel Ray Nutrish with Ainsworth Pet Nutrition in 2008. Euromonitor estimated that the super premium dog and cat food was the fastest-growing among pet food brands in 2017 with $200 million-plus in annual sales. J.M. Smucker bought Ainsworth last April; two-thirds of the latter’s business is attributable to Nutrish.
Other examples of long-running pet food brands associated with celebrities or other licensed properties include Halo, Purely For Pets, in which Ellen DeGeneres took an ownership stake in 2008; Gentle Giants, a proprietary brand founded over a dozen years ago by Burt Ward, who played Robin in Batman, the classic 1960s live-action TV series; Chicken Soup for the Soul Pets, which launched as a division of the inspirational book brand 15 years ago, with Diamond Pet Food as its licensee; and Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Pet Food, founded by the late actor, a pioneer in this space, in 1989.
We will not publish on Monday, February 18, 2019, the President’s Day holiday in the U.S. We’ll be back on Thursday, February 21. Meanwhile, watch for our next Raugust Communications e-newsletter on Tuesday, February 19. The Licensing Trend of the Month will examine the relatively recent tendency of retailers and other marketers to take a political stand, while the Datapoint research spotlight will look at the changing shares of licensing and toyco-owned IP in the toy industry. If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can sign up here.
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