I and love and you buys Made by Nacho, adds Bobby Flay

“I and love and you” is making a bigger bet on premium cat nutrition with its acquisition of Made by Nacho, the chef-founded cat food brand co-created by Bobby Flay and Elly Truesdell. The deal, announced March 17, 2026, also brings Flay into the combined business as chief culinary officer, investor, and board member, giving the Boulder-based company a high-profile culinary face as it looks to grow across cat and dog nutrition. (prnewswire.com)

The acquisition fits into a broader pattern in pet food: premium brands are looking for scale, and cat-focused brands are becoming more strategically important. Made by Nacho launched in 2021 with a chef-led, cat-first positioning, emphasizing palatability and premium formulations. In 2023, it expanded distribution through Phillips Pet to reach more independent pet specialty retailers, signaling that the brand was already moving beyond its initial launch footprint. (petfoodindustry.com)

Under the new structure, both brands will continue operating under their existing names, and the combined organization will remain headquartered in Boulder with a remote operating model. The companies said their products will now be sold in more than 30,000 retail locations nationwide, including Sprouts, Walmart, Albertsons banners, Publix, PetSmart, Amazon, Chewy, Thrive Market, and their own direct channels. Flay said the combination would allow him to extend his culinary influence beyond cats and into dog nutrition as well. (petfoodprocessing.net)

Company statements framed the deal as a way to strengthen position in the premium cat category while broadening distribution and product development capabilities. Pet Food Processing reported that the transaction brings together more than a century of combined expertise, while the PR announcement described “I and love and you” as the top independent pet food brand in the natural channel. That positioning matters because natural-channel credibility and mainstream retail reach don’t always coexist, and the company is signaling it wants both. (petfoodprocessing.net)

Industry reaction so far has centered less on controversy than on strategic fit. Trade coverage has highlighted the acquisition as a category-expansion play for “I and love and you,” and a scale opportunity for Made by Nacho. Flay’s continued involvement as an investor and board member, rather than simply a brand ambassador, suggests this is meant to be a longer-term integration of product development, marketing, and retail strategy. That’s an inference based on the structure described in company and trade reports, but it’s a notable one for a celebrity-founded brand. (petfoodprocessing.net)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is a business story with clinical relevance at the shelf. As premium cat food brands gain scale and broader placement, pet parents are likely to encounter more products marketed around culinary appeal, ingredient sourcing, and species-specific feeding. That can create opportunities for better engagement around feline nutrition, but it may also increase the need for veterinary teams to help clients separate branding from evidence, especially in a category where palatability, life-stage appropriateness, and complete-and-balanced formulation all matter. The deal also underscores how competitive the cat segment has become, with brands investing in differentiation just as more companies expand feline offerings. (petfoodindustry.com)

There’s also a channel implication. With products spanning pet specialty, grocery, mass, and e-commerce, the combined company is positioned to meet pet parents wherever they shop. For clinics, that means nutrition conversations may increasingly involve brands that clients already recognize from mainstream retail and celebrity-driven marketing, not just traditional veterinary or specialty-only lines. (petfoodprocessing.net)

What to watch: The next signals will likely be new product launches, reformulations, or line extensions tied to Flay’s chief culinary officer role, along with any evidence that the company is using this acquisition to deepen its position in premium feline nutrition before expanding more aggressively into adjacent dog categories. (prnewswire.com)