Petco and Champion Announce Partnership

Petco and Champion Petfoods today announced a strategic partnership that will bring Champion's award-winning ACANA and ORIJEN dog and cat foods to all Petco stores and petco.com beginning March 4.

In support of Petco's commitment to offering only high-quality, nutritious foods that contribute to the health and well-being of pets, the partnership adds ACANA and ORIJEN to Petco's curated assortment of high-quality, specially formulated pet foods – making Champion's "Biologically Appropriate" formulas available to even more pet lovers.

"Champion is an extremely mission-driven company that's built a well-deserved reputation for serving up award-winning foods for dogs and cats, and their ACANA and ORIJEN brands align perfectly with the bold nutrition standards we announced late last year," said Petco CEO Ron Coughlin. "As a leader in providing pets and pet parents with everything they need to live healthy, happy lives together, we're thrilled to add industry-leading brands for anyone who wants to feed their pets the healthiest foods available."

Petco recently became the first and only major retailer of pet food and treats to take a stand against artificial ingredients by announcing it will not sell food or treats containing artificial colors, flavors and preservatives* for dogs and cats by May 2019. The change reflects one of the top concerns pet parents have today: nutrition. By only carrying products Petco believes support the health and well-being of pets, the company is making nutrition decisions easier for pet parents.

What does this mean for independent pet store owners? One of the most nutritional brands of food in the industry will be sold at another big box line of stores, making it more difficult for the independent stores to stand out. As a pet store owner, your brand will have to continue to differentiate itself to consumers through in-store experience, community, and pricing.