Pet food brands have long leaned on contract manufacturers and contract packagers (co-mans and co-packers) to reach the market without building plants. That model is still in place, but the terms are shifting.
Here are five trends that are on the radar of packaging and processing teams working in pet food right now.
1. Private label and asset-light brands drive demand
Retailer store brands and e-commerce labels are expanding fast, and most rely on contract partners to make product. In a recently released report, Fortune Business Insights named private-label and contract processing as a major growth opportunity in a global pet food processing market it projects will reach $10.39 billion by 2034.
Many premium names own no plants at all. A 2023 Pet Nutrition Alliance manufacturer evaluation lists Annamaet, Evermore, Nulo, and Pet Plate among brands with zero plant ownership. For co-mans, that means more SKUs, more changeovers, and more pressure on packaging line flexibility.
2. Brownfield beats greenfield
New capacity is going into existing walls through brownfield expansions. Giants still build from the ground up. Purina's $550 million Batavia, Ohio, plant, which opened in August, is its first built from scratch in more than 50 years. For most brands and co-mans, though, retrofitting keeps capital costs down, even if it means squeezing new equipment into tight footprints.
In May, contract manufacturer Bimini Pet Health opened an expansion at its Topeka, Kan., supplement and treat plant, the site's third growth phase since 2018. In August, freeze-dried co-man Glacial Freeze Dry, whose customers include a range of pet brands, finished retooling its Wales, Wis., plant, adding freeze-drying units that increased capacity sevenfold.
3. Specialty formats raise the technical bar
Freeze-dried, human-grade, functional, and high-protein products demand processing capabilities many brands can't build themselves, opening up opportunities for co-mans that can. Those formats also push co-mans toward hygienic design and automation.
Treats are a standout: QY Research projects pet treat contract manufacturing will grow from $3.2 billion in 2025 to nearly $5 billion by 2032.
4. M&A deals are redrawing the map
Consolidation is also reshuffling co-man capacity. In May, Golden Pet Brands closed on its acquisition of Scoular's 170,000-square-foot Petsource freeze-dried plant in Seward, Neb. The site, which had served as a contract manufacturer for many independent freeze-dried brands, now produces exclusively for Golden Pet's own brands, including Dr. Marty Pets and Ultimate Pet Nutrition.
In September, Belgian private-label manufacturer United Petfood agreed to buy Wellness Pet Company's dry pet food plant in Decatur, Ark., along with a long-term supply deal. It will be the company's third North American site and the second it has bought from Wellness. Elsewhere, France's Nasta acquired Canadian premium manufacturer First Mate in February, expanding its North American manufacturing base.
In such a climate, the lesson is clear: brands relying on a single co-man should be lining up contingency capacity.
5. Transparency moves upstream
Pet parents increasingly want to know what's in the bag and where it came from. Tail Wag Vitals' post relayed that 62% of pet owners want to know the country where their pet's food is made.
Because so many brands outsource production, much of that sourcing burden can land on co-mans in the form of documented ingredient sourcing, lot-level traceability, and audit-ready records.
Co-mans and co-packers working in pet food can expect traceability software, lot coding, and supplier verification to appear more frequently as standard requirements in contracts.
The bottom line
For brands, choosing a co-man is becoming a strategic decision rather than a procurement exercise. The co-mans that win will be those that pair specialized capacity with flexible lines and data they can hand over on demand.
