Pet supplements surge in Italy as specialist retail gains ground

The Italian pet market grew by 3.8% year-over-year (YoY) in July 2026, reaching €5.4 billion ($6.3B), according to the latest data from market research company Circana.

Pet care ranks as the second-largest category by value across grocery, online and pet shop channels combined, and 16th when considering the grocery channel alone. It follows packaged foods, which recorded sales of €5.9 billion ($6.8B).

By segment, pet food grew by 3.5% YoY to €4.3 billion ($5B), while pet care (excluding pet food) increased by 5% to €1.156 billion ($1.3B).

Circana’s data covers the 12 months ending in July 2026 and tracks pet food and pet care sales across hypermarkets, supermarkets, small supermarkets, discount stores, drugstores, traditional stores, pet shop chains, independent pet shops and online channels.

Pet food market growth in Italy(by retail channel)

Retail channel	Value growth	Volume growth
Pet store chains	9.0%	7.4%
Online	8.5%	7.2%
Drugstores	5.8%	9.7%
Traditional pet shops	4.5%	3.9%
Supermarkets, hypermarkets and discount stores	-0.9%	-3.0%

Market activity

For the first 7 months (7M) of 2026, total pet care (including pet food) sales across all retail channels reached €3.158 billion ($3.7B), up 4.2% YoY.

However, annual value growth has slowed compared with previous years. The market expanded from €4.9 billion ($5.7B) in 2023 to €5.3 billion ($6.2B) in 2025, while annual value growth fell from 12.1% in 2023 to 5.4% in 2024 and 2.6% in 2025.

Private label products accounted for 24.7% of total pet care sales, down 0.7 percentage points (pp), while their share of pet care (excluding pet food) declined by 0.2 pp to 29.4%.

Pet food omnichannel growth

From 2022 to 2025, Italy’s pet food sales value grew from €3.5 billion ($4B) to €4.2 billion ($4.9B). However, annual value growth slowed from 13.3% in 2023 to 4.9% in 2024 and 2.7% in 2025.

In January–July 2026, sales value reached €2.5 billion ($2.9B), up 3.6% YoY, while sales volume rose 0.1% to 469 million kg, following 1.3% growth in 2025.

Online channels accounted for 12.1% of Italian pet food sales, while large-scale retail and discount stores represented 42.2%. Pet shop chains and retailers accounted for 24.3%, followed by traditional pet shops (18.2%) and drugstores (3.2%).

Pet shop chains and retailers recorded the strongest value growth, at 9%, followed by online channels (8.5%), drugstores (5.8%) and traditional pet shops (4.5%).

In contrast, large-scale retail (including supermarkets and hypermarkets) and discount stores were the only channels to record a decline, with value sales falling by 0.9%.

In volume terms, drugstores led with growth of 9.7%, followed by pet shop chains and retailers (7.4%), online channels (7.2%) and traditional pet shops (3.9%). Meanwhile, large-scale retail and discount stores recorded a 3% decline.

Growth drivers

Nutrition

Italian consumers are increasingly looking for high-quality, natural pet food made with fresh ingredients and gently cooked recipes such as products made with turkey, fish, peas, vegetables, salmon and tomatoes.

These ingredients target specific nutritional and functional needs, including muscle support, energy, weight management, relaxation, skin and coat health, and hypoallergenic diets.

Snacks are becoming more than treats or rewards, as pet owners consider functional options such as supplements, toppers and beverages. For supplements, consumers look at products that target a range of needs such as gastrointestinal and skin health, immunity, weight management, oral care, stress, urinary health, joint mobility and senior pet care.

Data from Circana shows that dietetic pet food is growing faster than the overall market, with volume sales up 7.5% across all omnichannel channels. The segment accounted for 12.8% of total value sales. In specialist channels, the category grew by 7.3% and represented 24.6% of value sales.

By product category, volume growth was strongest in products targeting auditory health, up 18.8%, followed by mobility products (+13.2%), obesity management (+9.9%), gastrointestinal health (+9.5%), food allergies (+8.5%) and thyroid conditions (+8.5%).

Pet supplements also recorded 21% YoY growth in value sales, reaching €76 million ($88M). Meanwhile, monoprotein products rose 15% in volume, while grain-free products grew 11%.

Innovation and sustainability

Italian consumers are exploring innovations in pet food, including personalized meal plans tailored to pets’ ages and nutritional needs, fresh and ready-made meals, frozen BARF (biologically appropriate raw food) diets, home delivery and portion-controlled packaging.

Beyond nutrition, consumers are also putting greater emphasis on environmental sustainability and recyclable packaging.

Notably, sustainability in the pet industry extends beyond environmental concerns to include social impact, such as food donations for dogs and cats, support for pet therapy programs, protection of endangered species, recovery of food affected by disasters, donations to environmental projects and partnerships with associations.

Outlook

Circana forecasts omnichannel value sales of pet care (excluding pet food) to grow by 6.3% in 2026, while products for other animals are projected to increase by 4.3%.

Among dog-related categories, nutrition is expected to rise by 2.1%, antiparasitics by 9.5% and accessories by 7.1%. Cat nutrition sales are forecast to grow 4.8%, while cat snacks are projected to increase 7.3% and cat litter 4.4%.

In the health segment, dog and cat products are expected to record 6.4% growth, while pet supplements are forecast to see the strongest increase, at 17.2%.