Category Captains: Frozen Premium Foods and Dog Treats

Frozen Premium Foods

Raw feeding has gained popularity due to the health benefits for pets. From supporting pets’ energy, skin and coat health, to digestion, raw nutrition aims to better resemble what pets would eat in the wild. Pet owners have embraced the category and are looking to include raw protein in their pet’s diet.

While some pet owners find the nuances of raw feeding complex, Vital Essentials has made raw pet diets more accessible through its frozen options. Heather Govea, CEO, Carnivore Meat Company, reported, “The frozen premium foods category has historically had lots of confusing messages for consumers, but ‘the better for you’ trends are strong for this category. More pet parents continue to recognize the value of raw nutrition and frozen remains one of the most effective ways to deliver it.” 

Pet parents want raw feeding to be easy and practical. Vital Essentials is on a mission to help customers and their four-legged family members get all the benefits of a raw diet, with less of the prep work needed.“They’re looking for products that are simple to portion, store and feed without losing the nutritional integrity that makes raw so powerful,” Govea explained. “There’s also growing demand for variety—new proteins, textures and pack sizes that fit both single-pet and multi-pet households. Pet parents want flexibility and convenience while maintaining confidence in the quality of their pets’ food.”

“We’re committed to innovations that make raw feeding more accessible. That’s why we recently introduced frozen single-serve patties, a packaging update designed to remove barriers and give pet parents flexible options that fit their lifestyle, making it easier to start or stay with raw. With this new format, retailers can now sell patties individually or as a multi-pack, offering more choice and convenience,” Govea stated. 

Vital Essentials doesn’t just make things easier for pet parents; they also collaborate with retailers to make sure consumers understand more about the raw category. They work alongside store teams to provide category strategy, education, merchandising support and in-store activations that help drive trial and repeat purchase. “We partner closely with independent retailers who share our focus on education and community. These stores play a vital role in helping pet parents feel confident about feeding raw. We support that mission with merchandising tools, point-of-sale materials, store team education and sampling programs,” said Govea.

She added, “Our goal is to make frozen raw approachable for both store teams and customers. Retailers can leverage our wide variety of formats, including Vital Essentials’ newly launched single-serve frozen patties which create a flexible, engaging shopping experience that allows consumers to try multiple proteins.” 

Vital Essentials helps retailers feel confident recommending their raw products and helps pet parents feel confident feeding them. Their hands-on approach are building stronger partnerships and a healthier, more sustainable category for everyone.

Dog Treats

For 20 years, Loving Pets has offered topnotch, domestically made dog treats that are practical, have a low barrier to entry and promote pet parent-dog bonding and dogs’ wellness. 

“Since 2005, Loving Pets has been committed to offering pets and pet-parents high-quality, USA dog treats that are functional and affordable,” said President and Founder Eric Abbey. “Treats are now viewed as more than just empty calories; they are a means to add fun and special bonding moments with your pet but it’s also a convenient way to add more health benefits to your pet’s daily dietary routine. Whether your pet needs a daily dental chew like Loving Pets Ora-Bone and Loving Pets Toothsticks to combat tartar, plaque, or bad breath, or you prefer a low-fat training treat such as Loving Pets Houndations, or treats that taste good and provide health benefits like Loving Pets Activ-Petz for hips, joints, skin and coat, today’s pet parents are looking for treat options that serve multiple purposes, are made in the USA and are available for purchase at a good value and affordable price point.”

Leaders like Loving Pets are keenly aware that one of the functions of treats is to help build customer loyalty.

“Treats encourage repeat customers by educating retailers, who then educate pet parents,” Abbey said. “We enhance awareness with selling tools and foster closer relationships. Our goal is to help retailers increase profits with high-quality products that improve pets’ lives. We focus on providing detailed product info, convenient single pack treats that are great to drive more revenue at the register or through sampling for driving a repeat buyer and new categories and programs, using tools like displays and sampling to boost awareness.”

Loving Pets is determined to understand their retailers’ needs and challenges, with the bigger picture goal of improving pets’ lives through education and innovative, solution-focused products that reflect pet parents’ demands. 

“In short, we pay close attention to our retailers and pet parents to understand what is effective and what isn’t,” Abbey said. “We recognize their shared concerns and challenges to enhance pets’ lives. By providing education and developing our growing range of solution-oriented products, we aim to connect with retailers and pet parents at their current needs.”

“At Loving Pets, our leadership philosophy centers on clarity, quality, and consumer confidence,” Abbey said. “In a category where choice can overwhelm, we focus on a limited SKU count to serve most dogs without confusing retailers or consumers. Loving Pets has expanded their manufacturing capabilities and packaging capabilities to help make and deliver solutions in a large variety of formats to cater to every pet and pet-parent: jerky, soft treats, crunchy treats, crunchy-filled treats, chews, dental treats and chews, and many more. We will continue to invest in expansion to ensure we can continue to deliver treats that pets love at a great price point.”