Cats drive Nestlé’s pet business: Purina grows with Pro Plan, ONE, and Felix
07:25
Nestlé’s pet food business maintained growth during the first half of 2026, although it expanded below the company’s medium-term expectations. Petcare posted organic growth of 2.7%, with brands such as Pro Plan, ONE and Felix among its main growth drivers, while the United States faced inventory adjustments by retailers. Latin America, Europe and emerging markets helped offset weakness in the U.S.
Nestlé’s Petcare business, which includes some of the most important brands in its pet food portfolio, managed to maintain growth during the first half of 2026 despite more challenging conditions in the United States.
According to the multinational company’s financial results, Petcare posted organic growth of 2.7% during H1 2026, accompanied by Real Internal Growth (RIG) of 1.8% and a 0.9% increase in pricing. Category sales reached approximately CHF 8.933 billion, compared with CHF 9.229 billion recorded in the same period a year earlier.
The difference between organic growth and the decline in reported sales reflects, among other factors, currency movements that have affected Nestlé’s consolidated results during 2026.
In the second quarter, Petcare posted organic growth of 2.8%, with RIG of 2%. Both cat and dog food contributed to the increase, while Pro Plan, ONE and Felix were among the brands leading growth.
The performance shows a category that is still expanding, although Nestlé itself acknowledges that growth remains below its medium-term expectations for the business.
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How much did Nestlé Petcare grow in 2026?
During the first six months of 2026, Petcare generated CHF 8.933 billion in sales.
Its organic growth was 2.7%, driven by:
- 1.8% Real Internal Growth.
- 0.9% pricing.
The category’s UTOP margin stood at 21.8%, compared with 22.1% during the first half of 2025, a decrease of 30 basis points.
Petcare therefore remains one of Nestlé’s highest-margin businesses.
At group level, the category represents an important part of the portfolio alongside Coffee, Nutrition and Food & Snacks, the four major businesses where the company is currently concentrating its resources.
Why did Petcare slow down in the United States?
The main obstacle during the second quarter was North America.
Nestlé explained that some U.S. retailers reduced their inventories of Petcare products, temporarily affecting the company’s sales to its retail customers.
However, the company distinguishes between sell-in, meaning Nestlé’s sales to retailers, and sell-out, referring to purchases ultimately made by consumers.
Although retailer inventories declined, Nestlé said sell-out trends continued to strengthen in both cat and dog food.
During the earnings call with analysts, CFO Anna Manz said the category’s fundamentals remained solid and attributed much of the recent weakness to these inventory movements.
According to the executive, Nestlé moved from facing capacity constraints to normalizing supply, allowing some customers to reduce the safety inventory levels they had previously accumulated.
Pet food demand in the United States
Nestlé’s results suggest that the issue observed in Q2 was not solely explained by a decline in end-consumer demand.
The company said consumer sales data showed an acceleration in purchases of dog and cat products, even though sales to retailers were affected by inventory reductions.
This distinction is important. A decline in orders placed by supermarkets or specialty stores can temporarily reduce a manufacturer’s sales even when consumers continue buying its products.
Nestlé considers part of this distortion to be temporary and said during its earnings call that it does not expect further significant adjustments associated with the normalization of supply, although inventory levels may vary depending on each retailer’s decisions.
Which brands are driving Nestlé’s Petcare business?
During the second quarter, growth was led by Pro Plan, ONE and Felix.
Performance varied across regions.
In Europe, Nestlé said Petcare maintained mid-single-digit organic growth, driven by RIG and supported by a positive trajectory over the past two years.
Growth was broad-based across markets and brands, including Pro Plan, ONE and Felix, with particular strength in premium wet cat food and the e-commerce channel.
In Asia, Oceania and Africa, Petcare also accelerated to high-single-digit organic growth during Q2, driven by solid RIG across developed and emerging markets.
Wet cat food was one of the main growth drivers, supported by innovations launched in priority markets.
Why are cats important to Nestlé’s growth?
Cat food repeatedly appears among the business’s best-performing areas.
Nestlé said Petcare was supported during the first half by continued strength in the cat category and an improvement in dog food during the second quarter.
In addition, within its new strategic growth platforms, the company specifically identifies wet cat, or wet cat food, as one of Petcare’s priority opportunities.
The earnings presentation also identifies emerging markets and the therapeutic products and supplements segments as platforms where Nestlé believes there is stronger structural potential.
This shows that the pet business is evolving from a traditional food category toward more specialized, premium segments focused on nutrition and wellness.
How did Petcare perform in Latin America?
Latin America was one of the positive contributors to the category during the quarter.
Nestlé reported that Petcare growth was supported by a strong performance in Latin America, helping offset the impact of U.S. inventory adjustments.
The region as a whole showed much more favorable momentum than North America.
During Q2, Latin America achieved organic growth of 5.8%, with RIG of 4.2% and pricing of 1.5%. Mexico and Brazil were identified as the main drivers of Real Internal Growth in Zone Americas.
The report does not provide a specific Petcare growth figure for Mexico, so it is not possible to determine how much of the category’s regional expansion came directly from the Mexican market.
It does establish, however, that Petcare delivered solid growth in Latin America.
How important is Petcare to Nestlé’s business in the Americas?
Petcare is particularly important in Zone Americas.
The category accounts for around 32% of sales in the region, making it the largest individual business within the Americas according to Nestlé’s Q2 sales distribution.
Coffee represents approximately 20%; Nutrition, another 20%; and Food & Snacks, 28%.
This helps explain why inventory movements in U.S. Petcare can have a visible impact on Nestlé’s regional performance.
Zone Americas posted organic growth of 3.3% during the first half and reported sales of approximately CHF 18.6 billion.
What role does e-commerce play for brands such as Pro Plan, ONE and Felix?
E-commerce stands out as one of the relevant channels for Petcare growth, particularly in Europe.
Nestlé specifically notes that strong European performance was driven, among other factors, by e-commerce, alongside strength in premium wet cat food.
The trend is consistent with the overall growth of the channel for Nestlé. During the first half of 2026, e-commerce posted organic growth of 12.2% and reached 21.8% of the group’s total sales.
For Petcare, the channel is particularly relevant because it enables the sale of everything from frequently purchased everyday products to premium and specialized lines.
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