Petco and Chewy say consumers aren’t trading down on fancy pet food, despite ’flation

Kroger canned peas for your uncle... grass-fed lamb and organic sweet-potato kibble for Fluffy. Americans love pampering their pets, but we thought inflation would take that down a notch. While consumers have started trading down from name-brand groceries to generic labels for themselves (think: Kroger bread vs. Nature’s Own), they're still feeding their pets premium chow:

• Petco and Chewy said pet owners aren't trading down from fancy foods for their furry friends. Owners continue to pamper pets with increasingly human-ified foods.
• Fancy Fido: Petco recently teamed up with Clif to make a version of its power bar for pets and launched a line of frozen human-grade meals for dogs.
• It’s the paws for me… Petco’s CEO said that Gen Z and millennial consumers are leading the growing demand for pet health and wellness products.

Safeway frozen pizza for Paul… seared salmon for Princess. Petco’s CEO said consumers are increasingly seeking out “fresh, human-grade food for all members of the family” (we’d hope the human ones, at least). Still, both Petco and Chewy saw slowing demand for lucrative goodies like chew toys and leashes and bigger-ticket items like crates and beds.

• Chewy stock fell Monday after it reported 13% year-over-year sales growth (lower than expected). It cut its sales outlook as consumers spent less on discretionary items.
• Petco also lowered its annual forecast as #flation curbed spending on non-food goodies.