Successful niche operator

According to Euromonitor International, the natural trend is driving the growth.Blue Buffalo Pet Products was found-ed in 2002 and is headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut. It develops, produces, markets and sells dog and cat food under the Blue Life Protection Formula, Blue Wilderness, Blue Basics, Blue Freedom, and B Blue Natural Veterinary Diet lines. At the start of 2018, General Mills Inc. agreed to buy it for about 8 bn dollars, adding the maker of natural dog and cat food to a portfolio that includes Haagen-Dazs ice cream and Cheerios cereal.
Paula Flores, Euromonitor International's head of pet care research, commented in a recent analysis: "Blue Buffalo saw one of the highest growth rates in recent years, due to its presence in the US market, and it has been bucking the natural trend. Speaking to pet parents and highlighting the freshness, naturalness and quality of its ingredients, the player currently ranks sixth at global level. Freshpet's ongoing success is founded on the convergence of human and pet food trends. Just as chilled products are seen as less processed, fresher and more nutritious in human packaged food, the same is being seen in pet food. An emerging "mass premium" trend, embodied by brands such as Rachael Ray Nutrish, has led consumers to trade up. Rather than buying a super-premium brand, some consumers will choose the quality offered by brands such as Nutrish in convenient mass channels at a lower price point."
Pet food strategies
Paula Flores adds: "The concept of health has changed over the years, and it now entails a more holistic and global approach, also including wellbeing, and taking a preventative approach. A change in human eating habits and patterns has been driven by the need to take greater control over what is eaten, its quality and its quantity. This has given rise to a number of product reformulations, changes in packaging either for convenience or for portion control, and a number of "cut-downs", sugar and salt being the main ones. The rise of intolerance and allergies, or just the idea that some foods or nutrients are preferable, has also led to a rise in free-from diets. In pet care terms there are obvious similarities. More educated humans are also more educated pet owners, who transpose such concerns and knowledge whilst shopping for their pets. This has given rise to the development of many pet food strategies.

Natural, which was once a sign of premium, has now become mainstream, and…