Zesty Paws, Solid Gold drive return to growth for H&H in Q1

Health & Happiness International Holdings (H&H Group) posted revenues of RMB 3.17 billion ($430M/€380M), a 10.4% year-on-year (YoY) increase across all segments, including pet nutrition.

This segment grew by 7.3%, with Zesty Paws leading the way in North America. In the first quarter of the year, sales of the supplement brand climbed 11.6% on a like-for-like basis, helping drive a company-wide growth rate of 1.7% on the continent.

Well-established business

H&H says it is “continuing to leverage the well-established pet premiumization and humanization trend and expanding pet population” in North America. The brand appears in a number of brick-and-mortar chains, including Sam’s Club, Costco, Petco, Walmart, Target and PetSmart.

Solid Gold, the group’s dog and cat food offering, struggled in the region in Q1. Sales of the brand’s products declined by 27.7%, which the company blamed on ongoing optimization efforts.

Solid Gold rebounding in China

In China, however, H&H says similar efforts are already paying off. Solid Gold had been in decline last year amid restructuring but has since returned to growth.

In Q1, the pet segment grew by 13.7% in mainland China, with new Solid Gold products accounting for 30.4% of total pet revenue in the country.

Trade barriers could pose risks to the company’s outlook, but in the earnings report, officials downplayed their impact. “The Group is closely monitoring the ongoing changes in the tariff environment and continuously optimizing its global supply chain footprint,” the company says.

H&H states it would be most strongly impacted by its imports of Solid Gold into the US, which it says accounted for just 2% of group revenue last year.