Blue Buffalo Pet Products's Customers Performance

BLUE products are sold in specialty channels, including national pet superstore chains, regional pet store chains, neighborhood pet stores, farm and feed stores, eCommerce retailers, military outlets, hardware stores, and veterinary clinics and hospitals. Our sales in the veterinary channel are currently minimal.

We sell our products directly to retailers in the specialty channels and through distributors that focus on the specialty channels. Management believes specialty channels accounted for 47% of U.S. pet food sales, with FDM channels accounting for the other 53%. Specialty channels include a diverse set of retailers with over 20,000 stores (which includes national pet superstore chains (i.e., PetSmart and Petco), regional pet store chains (e.g., Pet Supplies Plus, Pet Supermarket, Petsense and Pet Valu), neighborhood pet stores, farm and feed stores (e.g., Tractor Supply Company and Mid-States), eCommerce retailers (e.g., Amazon, Chewy and Petflow, as well as websites of major specialty retailers), military outlets and hardware stores) and 25,000 veterinary clinics. We have chosen to sell BLUE in the specialty channels as we believe these channels provide a better environment for us to interact with and educate pet parents, help position BLUE as a premium brand and dedicate more shelf space to pet food, which grants consumers access to a broader range of our products. Pet food sales in specialty channels have grown faster than pet food sales in the FDM channel for the past 20 years as a result of the expansion of the channel and its pet focused environment and superior product selection.