Grain-free pet food now accounts for nearly 30% of pet food sales in the US pet specialty retail channel, as well as four of every 10 new pet food products launched, according to Maria Lange, director of client services and analytics for GfK. Lange presented this data at Petfood Forum 2015 on April 28 in Kansas City.

While growth of grain-free pet food sales in US pet specialty retail has slowed somewhat from nearly 42% in 2012 and 31.5% in 2013, it still hit almost 24% in 2014, adding up to a total of US$2.2 billion sold in US pet stores (both chains and independent shops). Within that sales number, grain-free pet treats are still increasing at a 40.5%, Lange said.

What’s more, grain-free is now driving continued growth in the natural pet food category. Sales of natural pet food with grain-based ingredients actually declined slightly (-2.3%) in 2014, while grain-free natural products increased 23.4%, continuing a three-year pattern.

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