BIG DEAL

This Newsletter’s Going to the Dogs

Like any child who grew up with four dogs, I have 1) slept in a dog house 2) barked like Eliza Thornberry and 3) ate a kibble pellet I can only describe as tasting “brown.” 

But pet food has come a long way since I had my little snack. “Human-grade” food fills doggy bowls and, just this week, Ben & Jerry’s launched a line of frozen “Doggie Desserts.”

Horsemeat hawking nearly $100 billion industry

Dog food’s earliest recipes, as chronicled by Quartz, should be added to the list of “least fun historical facts” and promptly forgotten—horse meat was a primary ingredient in pet food into the 1940s. 

But if we can learn anything from comparing Snoopy’s lifestyle to Jiffpom’s, it’s that pets have dramatically climbed the household status ladder. Spending on pets and pet care has increased 4%–5% every year since 2008. Dog treat sales in particular have spiked 44% in the past five years, per Euromonitor. 

The reason why is simple: Most US households (an estimated 57%–67%) have a pet, and that number’s only growing. Animal shelters are being emptied out, with 25% of pet-owning homes adding another to their families last year. And—judging from a sample size of my 70-ish coworkers—many WFHers are adopting their very first good boys and girls, too. (Shoutout to Morning Brew CEO Alex Lieberman’s bernedoodle pup, Rambo.)

Consumer goods giants have noticed the increased spending on kibbles and other bits, and are nudging their noses into the growing category. Roll the acquisition reel...

• General Mills bought upscale pet food maker Blue Buffalo in 2018 for $8 billion.
• Smucker’s acquired Big Heart Pet Brands (the maker of Meow Mix and Milk-Bone) in 2015, which quickly became a “key driver” of sales, and scooped up Ainsworth Pet Nutrition (Nutrish) in 2018 for $1.9 billion.
• Nestlé bought natural pet food brand Lily’s Kitchen last year, adding to its existing portfolio of Purina and Friskies.

Beyond the big dogs, boutique brands for gourmet pet meals, supplements, CBD treats, and more health products have cropped up to cater to anthropomorphizers everywhere. Moving down the supply chain from production to distribution...

If pet store aisles are yellow, e-commerce sites are gold

Online pet food sales grew about 32% last year, spurred by more frequent shopping from home during the pandemic. The industry’s alpha is Amazon, accounting for 39% of all pet food and supplies sales. But legacy retailers are learning new tricks, too:

1. PetSmart acquired online pet product retailer Chewy in 2017. Thanks to the tremendous growth in pet e-commerce, Chewy shares gained more than 270% over the last year. 
2. Petco poured $300+ million into its digital operations during the pandemic. This Thursday, Petco went public to a warm reception from investors, jumping 63% on its first day of trading. (For more on Petco's IPO, read Retail Brew's interview with the CEO.)

Zoom out: Pet food sales were already shifting online pre-Covid, but like Hollywood blockbusters debuting on-demand, the pandemic sped up the transition by years. 

Warning: Health fads aren’t always good for Fido

Grain-free food has been investigated by the FDA for reportedly causing a heart condition in some dogs. On Monday, a Midwestern pet food company expanded its recall of dry dog and cat food products after more than 70 dogs died and 80 became ill. 

• The FDA was empowered to investigate cases like these in 2011 with the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act.

Zoom out: As greater attention (and money) is spent on pets, animal rights advocates are pushing the legal system to treat pets more like family members rather than property. A few years ago, Alaska became the first state to require courts to take pets’ “well-being” into account during divorce cases. 

SPONSORED BY JUSTWORKS

Managing Remote Employees Can Be Easy Like Sunday Morning

It’s Sunday, which means we’re only interested in doing relaxing things. Sipping tea while reading poetry. Administering a tummy rub to our pet chinchilla. Managing a remote workforce.

Yeah, you read that right. Hiring and managing a workforce spread out across all 50 states can be simple—all you need is Justworks.

Justworks gives you all the tools you need to help your people out in this brave new world, including onboarding new employees with an intuitive platform, handling state-by-state legal rules and regs, and providing you access to national health care plans.

And, of course, when you use Justworks, you’ll have access to their 24/7 expert support.

We need to get back to our chinchilla rubbing, so take our word for it: Run your biz confidently with Justworks today.

LONG READS

Top 10

1. Chill imbibes: the relaxing beverage boom. (The Verge)

2. The emoji that nearly weren’t. (What Would Jennifer Do?)

3. "The Bitcoin dream is dead."  I’m sure many of you will disagree with this take. (Marker)

4. Bay Area execs kiss Karl the Fog goodbye. (NYT)

5. Welcome to Zollywood: Get to know Emmy-winning fashion icon, Zendaya. (GQ)

6. Why are flies so hard to swat? They can outmaneuver fighter jet pilots, for one thing. (Live Science)

7. More science: How Jupiter killed Venus’s Earth-like vibe. (CNN)

8. A breakdown of cities’ police budgets. (Bloomberg)

9. The problem of now, or an anti-YOLO argument in 3,000 words. (Aeon)

10. Are experts real? (Fantastic Anachronism)

Q&A

Mail Bag

Q from Beth in Indiana: When thinking about your weekly reading, how often do you read non-news, like fiction or brain candy?

Jamie’s A: I recently (finally) got a Kindle, and have subsequently upped my intake of fiction dramatically. Luckily, Morning Brew appreciates a creative metaphor, so I can tell myself that staying up late reading fantasy novels improves my writing the next day. And yes, I’m on a fantasy kick right now. I usually read one “prestige” fiction book and one “fun” title simultaneously, not that the two can’t overlap. 

• This year, I set a goal to read 100 books because I'm a “shoot for the moon when my only mode of transportation is a pogo stick” kind of goal setter. You can follow my reads here.

I know there are plenty of other non-news readers at Morning Brew, too, because we have 1) a recurring reading recommendation series called Brew’s Bookshelf and 2) an internal book club. If you want to read along with us, the last book we read was Elena Ferrante’s The Lying Life of Adults, and now we’re reading A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet.

For more book recs, Retail Brew writer Halie LeSavage reviews her reads on Instagram.

Want to ask the Brew Crew something else? Click here.

BREW'S BETS

Ain’t nothin’ getting past you this year. That is, when you protect your home with SimpliSafe. Customize your security system online, have it shipped to your door, and enjoy 24/7 expert monitoring. Try SimpliSafe today.*

For real—fussy forms just aren’t fun. What you need for collecting data from customers is a conversation. Typeforms turn your questions into a friendly chat, driving better data and engagement at scale. Try Typeform today.*

Creative process: How Hayao Miyazaki makes masterpieces like Spirited Away, threaded in 43 screenshots of naps, snacks, and work. 

Just processed: The case for canned cheese.

^{*This is sponsored advertising content}