Page 79 - PET worldwide issue 02/2022

Mars shows appetite for Lowe’s and Petco to cooperate
D2C companies DIY chain Lowe’s and the pet the end of March 2022. It is re-

store chain Petco have an- ported that the joint Lowe’s and
Mars has acquired Nom Nom. plements for pets. The company
The Nashville, Tennessee-based counts Anchor Capital, Coef- nounced a pilot programme for a Petco branches are likely also
direct-to-consumer (D2C) pet ficient Capital and Greycroft store-in-store concept. According to offer a selection of Petco ser-
to a press release, established vices for pets. These will include
food brand will be an autono- among its backers, according to
products, services and expert Vetco vaccination clinics, micro-
mous brand within Mars’s Royal data providers.
Canin division, according to Consumer product manufac- knowledge relating to the home chipping, prescription-only pest
Mars. The company declined to turers have been tapping into and pets are to be combined in treatments and mobile grooming
comment on the price. the growing pet market as pet selected branches of Lowe’s. in certain locations and at certain
Through its website Nom Nom ownership boomed during the The first store-in-store concept times. Knowledgeable Petco staff
will probably be unveiled in early will be deployed in the pilot stores
sells fresh, whole-ingredient pet pandemic and millennials and
foods approved by pet nutrition- Generation Z spend more on February in the Lowe’s store in during peak hours. Every week,
ists. It also sells treats and sup- pets. Last year, Mars bought di- Alamo Ranch, Texas. It is then over 300 000 employees in more
rect-to-consumer cat litter com- going to be expanded to 14 other than 2 200 Lowe’s branches
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pany PrettyLitter in a deal worth Lowe’s locations in Texas, North serve around 20 mio customers
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under 1 bn dollars. In 2020, it t Carolina and South Carolina by in the United States and Canada.
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acquired Veterinary Specialty
acquired Veterinary Specialty
Hospital of Hong
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gency health ser-
vices provider for
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Nom Nom sells fresh, , Photo: Petco
Nom Nom se
sh
whole-ingre dient pet foods
whole-ingre dient pet foods
approved by pet nutrition-
approved by pet nutrition- The new concept is expected to be extended to 15 branches by the end
ists through its website.
ists through its website. of March.
Cats for Future nominated for award Double-digit growth in pet food
sales
Cats for Future is an initiative sup- tion and grateful to have had
porting environmentally aware, the opportunity in the European Swiss consumer goods com- Japan, Australia) Purina pet care
sustainable cat owning. Its main Week for Waste Reduction to pany Nestlé increased its pet products saw double-digit sales
aim is to draw attention to the en- draw attention to the growing yet food sales from CHF14 bn to growth compared with 2020. In
vironmental problems caused by largely unknown environmental CHF15.556 bn last year, accord- Europe and North America, de-
mineral cat litter, with the initiators problem,” says Michael Behnke, ing to its annual report for 2021. mand for premium pet care was
wanting to boost a change of at- spokesman for the initiative. As in the previous year, pet food particularly strong. In Europe,
titude towards plant-based litter. Near 1 500 projects registered made a major contribution to the Nestlé Purina saw particularly
Cats for Future has now been for the week of action and pre- group’s organic growth of 7.5 per strong growth in online and pet
nominated in the Special Prize sented their approaches in vari- cent. In all regions, i.e. AMS (in- retail, according to the annual re-
category for the best campaign ous formats. The winners of the cluding USA, Canada, Brazil and port. Sales of the two acquired
of the European Week for Waste European Awards will be recog- Mexico), EMENA (Europe, Middle companies, Tails.com and Terra
Reduction (EWAV). “We are very nised at the award ceremony in East and North Africa) and parts Canis, increased by almost 40
pleased to receive this nomina- Brussels at the start of June. of AOA (including China, India, per cent.
PET worldwide 2|2022 79
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