Pet Food Market in the US Faces a Challenging Period

The pet food market in the US is emerging from the extreme fluctuations of the pandemic years and is shaping a new stable economic reality. Despite supply chains stabilization and a reduction in inflationary spikes, production costs remain elevated, and retail prices increasingly reflect consumers’ growing sensitivity to product costs.

According to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, conducted using AI tools, price dynamics over the past seven years show a significant shift. From the end of 2018 to the end of 2025, retail prices for pet food have increased by approximately 27%, while production costs have risen by 34%. The higher rate of cost growth is due to the rising prices of labor, energy resources, packaging, and key ingredients—primarily animal-based protein and grains. The sharpest increase occurred between 2020 and 2022, when logistics disruptions led to a significant rise in raw material costs, and brands and retailers partially passed these costs onto consumers.

By 2025, it became clear that the increased costs for producers had become the new norm. This “elevated base level” is affecting the entire market: moderate retail price growth is encouraging more cautious consumer behavior and shifting focus to product value. This is most noticeable in the premium segment, grain-free pet food, and high-protein diets—categories that are particularly sensitive to ingredient price volatility.

Industry indices show that while the market has moved past the sharp pandemic-related price jumps, it has entered a stable phase, where rising production costs and cost pressures continue to shape strategies for producers and retailers. This trend is shaping new consumer price behavior and setting the framework for the development of the pet food industry in the coming years.

Source: feedlot.ru