Private Equity Conversations with Fexingo · 2026-07-19 · 10 min
Episode 120 of Private Equity Conversations with Fexingo takes a closer look at the wave of private equity investment flooding the pet food industry. Lucas and Luna examine the recent roll-up strategy behind Freshpet - a maker of refrigerated dog and cat food whose market cap has grown from $3 billion to over $8 billion since early 2025. They discuss how PE firms like JAB Holding and General Atlantic are buying small premium pet food brands, consolidating manufacturing, and betting that owners will keep paying $6 per pound for fresh chicken and beef blends even as grocery inflation hovers at 3.2%. The hosts dive into the numbers: the $150 billion global pet food market growing at 5.8% annually, the 72% of millennial pet owners who say they treat their dog like a child, and the EBITDA multiples that have climbed from 8x to 14x in three years. They also ask whether the humanization trend has peaked or still has room to run. A concrete, numbers-driven look at how PE is turning kibble into gold.
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