The fresh and lightly cooked pet food segment, once considered niche, is rapidly emerging as one of the fastest-growing categories in the pet industry. U.S. retail data reflects this momentum: from 2021 to 2023, fresh dog food sales increased by 86.5 percent, and fresh cat food sales rose by 53.8 percent (Kerwin, 2024).
Legacy Brand Entry: Category Validation in Real Time
When legacy pet food giants enter a new market, it provides a powerful form of validation. The launch of fresh product lines by major players—Nestlé Purina, Mars Petcare, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, General Mills’ Blue Buffalo, and J.M. Smucker—not only reflects evolving consumer demand but also signals that fresh feeding is credible, sustainable, and profitable.
This phenomenon is what organizational theorists describe as category legitimization—a process in which an emerging market gains credibility through the endorsement of powerful incumbents (Navis & Glynn, 2010). By entering this space, these companies reduce perceived consumer risk, expand category awareness, and make fresh or real food more accessible to mainstream audiences.
Co-opetition in the Pet Food Space: Lessons from Coca-Cola and Pepsi
At first glance, the simultaneous entry of multiple major brands into the fresh pet food segment may appear strictly competitive. However, this dynamic is better understood through the lens of co-opetition—a strategic blend of cooperation and competition.
Consider the long-standing rivalry between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Their competition has created a dynamic in which each brand’s visibility, marketing, and innovation contribute to the growth of the carbonated soft drink category. Consumers exposed to one brand’s messaging are often reminded of the category itself, not just the specific product. Notably, a standalone Coca-Cola or Pepsi vending machine typically sells less than when the two sit side by side—illustrating how proximity to competition can drive greater consumer engagement (Brandenburger & Nalebuff, 1996; Jones, 2025). Rather than shrinking the pie, this form of competition expands it.
A similar effect is occurring in the fresh pet food space. As major brands invest in advertising and distribution, they elevate public awareness of the health and nutritional benefits of lightly cooked or fresh food. Independent and emerging brands frequently report that the entry of these companies increases category traffic overall. This dynamic illustrates co-opetition in action: competing players indirectly cooperate by building trust and educating consumers on the category’s value.
Why This Helps Raw Food Companies and Foodynamics
The rising tide created by lightly cooked pet foods does not dilute the efforts of raw or freeze-dried food manufacturers—it strengthens them. Companies such as Foodynamics, a leading producer of freeze-dried, whole food diets for dogs and cats, benefit from the increased legitimacy and consumer curiosity driven by the entry of legacy brands.
Lightly cooked products often serve as an accessible entry point for pet parents who are newly exploring real food options. These offerings introduce the concept of minimally processed feeding, but many still rely on heat processing, emulsifiers, and fortified synthetic nutrients. As consumers become more educated, they begin to seek greater nutritional integrity, fewer synthetic additives, and diets that more closely resemble a pet’s biologically appropriate nutritional model.
This is where companies like Foodynamics excel. Specializing in private-label freeze-dried foods made without preservatives, fillers, or synthetic inputs, Foodynamics provides a superior next step for discerning pet parents. These products deliver higher nutritional density, enhanced bioavailability, and ingredient transparency. In this way, lightly cooked foods validate the concept of feeding real food—while raw and freeze-dried brands fulfill its promise.
The entrance of major players serves as a market-conditioning mechanism. It builds widespread trust in the real food concept and sets the stage for a second wave of consumer adoption that includes truly whole food diets. For companies in the raw and freeze-dried sector, including Foodynamics, this is not a competitive threat—it is a strategic opportunity.
Pet Parents as Catalysts for Change
While corporate investments help legitimize the category, the ultimate force behind the rise of real food for pets is the modern pet parent. Today’s consumers—particularly younger demographics—are demanding greater transparency, cleaner ingredient profiles, and feeding formats that align with their personal health and wellness values (Cleaver, 2025).
Rodney Habib, co-author The Forever Dog, has been a vocal advocate for consumer-led transformation in the pet food space. Habib (2022) notes that “pet parents want change for the better when it comes to our pet food industries,” highlighting how consumer education and advocacy can catalyze significant reform. His work has empowered a new generation of pet owners to demand more from brands, leading to widespread interest in whole food nutrition and functional feeding.
These consumers are not only reshaping the strategies of startups—they are also influencing the direction of multinational corporations. Companies that fail to acknowledge this cultural shift risk alienating a deeply engaged, rapidly growing customer base. The impact of this consumer movement is undeniable and continues to drive transformation across the industry.
Conclusion: A Rising Tide Lifts All Brands
The entrance of legacy brands into the fresh and lightly cooked pet food category marks a defining moment in the evolution of the industry. Once relegated to niche players and boutique retailers, fresh feeding is now backed by the scale and visibility of the world’s most recognized pet food manufacturers. Their participation legitimizes the segment, accelerates consumer education, and builds the infrastructure needed to make real food accessible to more pets.
Strategic theory reminds us that competition is not always zero-sum. Co-opetition demonstrates how industry players—by competing within a shared vision—can collectively expand a market, elevate product quality, and create more value for consumers. In the pet food world, the brands that stand to benefit most are those offering the highest nutritional integrity.
For companies like Foodynamics and others focused on whole food, minimally processed diets, this is the moment the industry has been preparing for. As more pet parents become aware of real food options, the shift from curiosity to commitment becomes inevitable.
References
Brandenburger, A. M., & Nalebuff, B. J. (1996). Co-opetition. Currency Doubleday.
Cleaver, L. (2025, June 23). General Mills launches fresh pet food line, brings Edgard & Cooper to U.S. market. Petfood Industry.
Habib, R. (2022, August). [LinkedIn post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodneyhabib/
Jones, S. B. Sean B Jones 🐶🐱♱ (2025, May 12). Rethinking competition: What Coke and Pepsi taught me about market strategy. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanbjones
Kerwin, N. (2024, September 25). Refrigerated pet food category to continue its rise. Pet Food Processing.
Kerwin, N. (2025, February 20). Hill’s Pet Nutrition enters fresh pet food category through acquisition. Pet Food Processing.
Navis, C., & Glynn, M. A. (2010). How new market categories emerge: Temporal dynamics of legitimacy, identity, and entrepreneurship in satellite radio, 1990–2005. Administrative Science Quarterly, 55(3), 439–471.
Tyler, J. (2022, January 28). Nom Nom Now acquired by Mars Petcare. Pet Food Processing.
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