Category Analysis: Travel Gear

Manufacturers in the pet carriers and travel gear category are positioned to offer product solutions that combine functionality and creativity to make traveling with pets more user-friendly for pet owners and safer and comfortable for pets. Moderna, for example, is entering the year intent on expanding its product offerings while holding itself to its high standards of quality and customer service. Meanwhile, 4×4 North America earned trust and a following on the human side before entering the pet space with its crash-tested approved safety solutions to transport pets. By tackling comfortability and adhering to stiff transportation and safety standards, suppliers have made it easier for pet parents to feel relaxed and reassured when they bring their pets by car or plane. 

“As a renowned manufacturer of innovative plastic products for pets, we still constantly strive to develop new and innovative products that are both functional and design led,” said Rachel Skweres, Sales Executive for Moderna. “This has always been our mission and we move with the fast-paced world that demands designs that functionally improve the use for both pet and owner.”

A family-owned company with a long-standing presence, Moderna Products remains dedicated to product quality and preserving solid relationships. With production facilities in Belgium and the US, Moderna is positioned to consistently meet product demand to pet parents and retailers in 80 countries. Moderna has earned retailer and pet parents’ trust and loyalty through its portfolio of dog beds, pet carriers and food containers which reflect and reinforce Moderna’s understanding of pet parents’ concerns and pets’ needs. 

“Moderna Products is a leading manufacturer of innovative plastic products for pets,” Skweres said. “The company has been founded in 1932 and is still a 100 percent family-owned business. The headquarters are situated in Izegem—Belgium. The ultramodern production facility is equipped with 33 machines and an integrated 40m high bay warehouse. More than 90 employees are taking care of the daily operations. We also have a production facility with 17 machines and more than 60 employees in Gaffney—USA. Our products are shipped to 80 countries worldwide. Moderna produces dog beds, pet carriers, cat toilets—open and closed—bowls, feeders and waterers, scoops and food containers.”

Moderna Products is dedicated to expanding its offering of kennels and carriers and reflecting pet owners’ perception of their pets as family members by designing products that allow for pets to safely and comfortably travel with their pet parents. The company has struck a balance between offering tried and true dependable products and looking for new and creative ways to keep the travel category enticing and fresh. 

“You’ll see our offerings grow within the kennel and carriers as we invest our time and energy into bringing fresh innovation to this category,” Skweres said.

In 2025, PetWise is focusing on maximizing the potential of its premium travel brand, Sherpa, with its recently expanded product line. 

“The assortment has broadened from primarily in-air travel essentials to also capture auto and active travel solutions,” said Laura Nogueiro, Senior Product Manager, Travel and Dog Toys. “With this new line up, Sherpa continues to meet the evolving needs of pet parents who seek both convenience and safety when traveling with their pets.”

“Our team values a wide-range of inputs covering insights from consumer feedback, retail partners, and industry research to build a strong foundation of user behavior and market trend understanding,” Nogueiro continued. “We’re also pet parents and are constantly on the lookout for what’s new and what our pets love and use most. All this data allows us to identify growth areas, purchasing patterns, and unmet needs within the pet travel category.”

She added, “With more dog owners now than ever who are spending more time than ever with their pets, pet parents are looking for more pet-friendly accommodations not just in travel, but in workplaces as well. Sherpa’s new auto and active travel products provide answers for these new daily routines as people return to offices and outings with their dogs in tow.”

4×4 North America revived the pet carriers and travel gear with its unparalleled portfolio of crash-tested transportation safety products. 4×4 North America has elevated the category by incorporating design elements which can help keep pets safe in the face of the unexpected. 

“Our products are designed by real automotive crash test engineers with decades of experience,” said President Richard Casey. “Our crash tested cages, barriers, gates and seat boxes have been engineered to work in harmony with the safety engineering of vehicles. We offer the only crash tested products featuring biomechanics engineering, crumple zones, automotive door locks and a quick release escape hatch with a proven track record of safety.”

Since joining the containment solutions category, PetSafe has remained unwaveringly focused on enhancing the pet ownership experience and allowing for pet owners to safely enclose their pets regardless of the destination whether it’s outside the home or within their backyard. 

“PetSafe is on a mission to create fields of joy where pets are happy, healthy and safe whether that is in a backyard, a playing field or dog park,” VP of Marketing and Communications Janna Chollet said. “Ensuring that pets and families are free to enjoy and run around a dedicated outdoor space is the inspiration for our containment solutions. While other brands and companies make containment solutions, none offer AccuGuard Technology like our GPS + Tracking fence that not only offers a GPS boundary but is the most precise in the world within four feet whereas other brands offer 15 feet and fail under cloud or tree cover.”

Manufacturers are diligently allowing for pet owners to include them in their travels while offering something better than a superb deal or flashy designs. They are giving pet owners peace of mind their pets are safe and comfortably contained at all times even when the unexpected happens.