Burgess Pet Care has launched a white-label pet food range for independent retailers, Pet Business World reported on 14 October. The range consists of a 12.5kg value dry dog food and a 10kg value dry cat food, and store owners can add their own logo to the packaging.
The offer is aimed at larger independent pet shops and agricultural stores, according to the report. Burgess said many independents want a more affordable white-label option because existing offers sit at a less accessible price point. The company also said the range is part of its plans to grow its direct retailer network. It was first shown at the PATS 2026 trade show.
Suzanne Moyes, deputy managing director of Burgess Pet Care, told PBW that independent retailers are very important to the pet care market, that value for money remains a key priority for their customers and that the range gives them another way to meet that need while protecting margin, strengthening customer loyalty and building a distinctive offer of their own.
What Burgess asks of retailers
A white-label enquiry form on Burgess’s website lists the 12.5kg dog food and the 10kg cat food, with an option for other products. It asks applicants whether they are able to order a two-pallet minimum, whether they give permission for Burgess to run credit checks, and for their estimated volume per month. Both of the first two questions are compulsory. The form gives no prices.
Own label across UK pet retail
Chains that compete with independents are also developing their own-brand food. PBW reported on 2 September that Pets Corner had launched an own-brand fresh frozen dog food. Pet retailer Jollyes is still adding stores: PBW reported on 14 October that it was opening in Mansfield that week, after reporting on 2 October that it had opened a branch inside an Asda superstore.
The wider market is still growing. UK Pet Food, the trade association, put the UK pet food market at £4.3 billion, up about 5% year on year, GlobalPETS reported in July. In the US, a First Insight survey of 2,151 consumers cited by GlobalPETS on 13 October found that 13% choose private label pet products and 22% look for value products. GlobalPETS gave no comparable UK figures.
What was not disclosed
Neither PBW nor Burgess’s form gives wholesale or suggested retail prices, where the food is made, the recipes or main protein sources, or when retailers can order. The form does not say how many bags make up a pallet. Burgess did not say how many retailers it supplies directly at present or how many it hopes to add.
Equanine’s reading
- A large bag of value dry dog food carrying the shop’s own name gives independents and agricultural stores a price-led product to set against the own-brand ranges of the chains.
- A two-pallet minimum and a credit check point to a product for retailers with storage space and steady volume, which fits the larger independents and agricultural stores Burgess names. Smaller shops may need to buy jointly or look elsewhere.
- The range also opens a direct supply line between Burgess and those stores. Retailers taking it should weigh the margin against depending on one manufacturer for a product that carries their own name, and ask where and how it is made.
