Central Garden & Pet Buys 80% of Trixie: What It Changes for Pet Sourcing

PET SMART DEVICES · CROSS-BORDER CONSUMER GOODS · OCTOBER 2026

Central Garden & Pet is acquiring a majority stake in Germany’s Trixie Heimtierbedarf, one of Europe’s largest pet accessory and snack suppliers. Media reports put the price at around €400 million for an 80 per cent holding, with closing expected in early 2027. The structure of the two businesses says more about pet sourcing than the headline price does.

PET worldwide published a long-form interview with Trixie chief sales officer Burkhard Friedrichsen on 6 October 2026, following confirmation of the deal at the end of July 2026. Central Garden & Pet reported net turnover of $3.1 billion in its 2025 financial year, employs more than 6,000 people mainly in North America, and carries around 60 brands. Trixie, founded in 1974 and based in Tarp, employs about 600 staff, supplies more than 30,000 specialist retailers worldwide, and stocks over 6,000 products for dogs, cats, birds, reptiles and small animals.

Two different routes to market, deliberately kept apart

The commercial logic is complementary rather than overlapping. Central is strong in the US mass market and online; Trixie has been built for decades on specialist retail. Friedrichsen confirmed that the distribution approach — acting as a partner to specialist retailers — remains unchanged, and that management stays in place. Around 90 per cent of Trixie’s turnover comes from its own brands, with roughly 500 new products added each year.

Two portfolio observations are worth flagging for anyone sourcing pet products. First, Friedrichsen names the rodent brand Kaytee and Nylabone as candidates for the European market, and does not rule out individual products moving into the Trixie brand — so brand-level repositioning is on the table from 2027. Second, he expects a faster transfer of innovation from the US into Europe, on the basis that products tend to reach market there sooner.

The sourcing detail that matters most

Trixie sources around 80 per cent of its goods from Asia, while Central manufactures much of its own stock in the United States. How Central’s products are imported into Europe in future is unresolved, and Friedrichsen describes the company as having learned to respond flexibly across China, Taiwan, Thailand and Georgia through its US subsidiary.

That is the sentence to read twice. A transatlantic consolidation pairs a US manufacturer with a European distributor whose supply base is overwhelmingly Asian — and the stated expectation is that new products cross the Atlantic faster from 2027. For factories supplying pet accessories, snacks, cat furniture or smart pet devices into Europe, the practical effect is that brand ownership and buying decisions will be made by a US parent while the specification, volume and certification requirements remain European.

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What is actually selling

Friedrichsen’s account of demand is unusually specific and worth recording. Snacks now account for roughly 30 per cent of turnover and are trending upward, because consumers are less reluctant to spend small amounts on their animals. Large discretionary furniture — dog beds and cat trees — is being deferred. Ownership is shifting toward cats and smaller dogs, which need fewer accessories.

And the single best-selling item in the range is, by his account, a self-cleaning cat litter tray at a high price point — one that also logs the cat’s weight and the frequency and volume of urination. His conclusion is blunt: the future sits with products that solve a problem or touch on health, and health and tracking are named as shared areas of innovation between the two companies.

• Function beats décor. Categories that tidy or decorate a home are under pressure; categories that resolve a care problem are not. That rebalances which SKUs are worth developing.
• Consumables stabilise revenue. Snacks at roughly 30 per cent of turnover give a repeat-purchase base that accessories alone do not.
• Data is becoming a product feature. Weight, feeding and elimination logging turn a hardware item into a monitoring product, which changes the electronics, sensor and enclosure specification.
• Prepare for European compliance under US ownership. CE marking, WEEE, packaging and battery obligations will not disappear because the parent company is American. Documentation that travels well is a competitive advantage.
• Watch for the 2027 portfolio review. Overlap analysis between the two catalogues is already underway, and it is the most likely source of new OEM briefs — and of discontinued lines.

Sources and disclosure

Sources: PET worldwide (Dähne Verlag), “‘My absolute favourite candidate’”, issue 4/2026, published 6 October 2026, interview with Trixie chief sales officer Burkhard Friedrichsen — Central Garden & Pet acquiring a majority stake in Trixie Heimtierbedarf GmbH & Co. KG, outcome confirmed at the end of July 2026 with reported payment of around €400 million for an 80 per cent stake, Trixie founded in 1974 with around 600 employees, more than 30,000 specialist retailers supplied, over 6,000 products and around 90 per cent of turnover from own brands with around 500 new products per year, Trixie sourcing around 80 per cent of goods from Asia, Central Garden & Pet net turnover of $3.1 billion in financial year 2025 with more than 6,000 employees and around 60 brands, closing scheduled for early 2027, snacks at around 30 per cent of turnover, a shift in demand toward cats and smaller dogs with large furniture purchases deferred, a self-cleaning cat litter tray with integrated weighing as the best-selling item, and the naming of Kaytee and Nylabone as candidates for the European market. Compliance and procurement observations are TUOLAN TRADE analysis and are not attributed to any cited source. Edited and analysed by TUOLAN TRADE.