Pets at Home still leads, but the top dog is under pressure
Specialist direct-to-consumer (D2C) pet food brands have taken a growing share of the UK pet retail spend since 2024. But no single brand is running away with the market.
Pet food is a staple repeat purchase for millions of UK households, and the rise of subscription and D2C brands has made it one of retail’s most closely watched categories. We used Fable Data’s transaction data to see who is winning that spend.
While Pets at Home remains the clear leader in UK pet retail, its grip is loosening. Fable Data’s consumer transaction data shows its share of UK pet retail spend fell from over 60% in early 2024 to the mid-to-high 50s through 2026.
However, the share it lost didn’t go to traditional rivals; Jollyes, Zooplus, Pets Corner and Viovet have barely moved. Instead, it went to specialist D2C pet food retailers. These are subscription and online-first brands selling fresh, raw and tailored food straight to pet owners. Their combined share rose from around one-fifth of the market to roughly a quarter.
Fighting like cats and dogs: a fragmented D2C market
One might expect a fast-growing segment to settle around one dominant brand but that hasn’t happened here.
- Butternut Box has led the segment throughout, but its share has slipped slightly rather than grown.
- Tails.com has lost ground steadily. Its share of D2C spend has dropped by around a third since early 2024.
- Pure Pet Food and Untamed were the standout challengers in 2025. Both roughly doubled their share or more.
- A long tail of smaller brands, taken together, still accounts for more D2C spend than the leader.
The result is a fragmented, competitive segment where share is still up for grabs.
The tail end: what this means for pet retailers
For established retailers, the risk is gradual but growing. Customers aren’t switching all at once. For D2C brands, the next stage is a fight for scale, where acquisition and retention will decide who comes out on top.
Fable Data tracks this at brand level, week by week, across the UK and Europe. That includes customer switching, retention, basket size and regional performance.
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