Data: Which pet products thrive under private labels?

Private label brands continue to gain traction as pet owners increasingly seek affordability and quality amid inflationary pressures.

Private label pet care sales in the US reached $5.5 billion (€4.7B) in the 52 weeks ending 13 July 2025, according to data from the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA). This is up 2.4% year-on-year.

Strongest performances in unit sales

According to PLMA’s survey, in collaboration with Circana Unify+, private label pet food is the largest segment by absolute volume: dog food reached 223 million units sold in the period, followed by cat food at 215 million.

However, they represent only 18.3% and 10% of total unit sales in their categories, respectively.

This is followed by dog treats and chews with 180 million units sold (116.5 million in treats and 63.4 million in chews). The third biggest category is toys (60.3 million), followed by cat treats (38 million), pet apparel (33.4 million), pet furniture (20.3 million) and feeding supplies (19.7 million).

At the lower end of the ranking were food for other pets, such as birds (18.2 million), cat waste management (13 million), pet grooming (11 million), pet medicine (1.9 million) and finally pet supplements, with 1.8 million units sold in the period.

Market share

In terms of private label shares, dog furniture had the largest, with 91.8%, followed by crates and kennels (89.9%), cat litter boxes (85.6%) and collars, leashes, and harnesses (83.8%).

On the other hand, small-animal food recorded the smallest share, at 9.5%. Other subcategories with small market shares were wet cat food (10.1%), grooming shampoos and conditioners (14%), and dry dog food (15.4%).