Mexico’s pet retail market adds pharmacy rivals and new care models
Bottom line
Mexico’s pet sector is drawing in new retail formats and new competitors, with veterinary care increasingly tied to where pet parents shop. GlobalPETS reports that Mexico had 42,600 registered pet-related companies in 2025, with growth spreading across retail, veterinary services, e-commerce, and pet food production. The latest shift is the entry of pharmacy chains into pet products and care: Farmacias Similares launched SimiPet Care in Mexico City in June 2025, then accelerated plans to open 100 locations that year, while Farmacias del Ahorro entered the category with pet product sections and free online veterinary guidance, starting in Monterrey and aiming for national digital reach. Petco Mexico, meanwhile, continues to expand its store and services footprint, underscoring how specialized retail and care are becoming more tightly linked. (expansion.mx)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is a channel story and a care-delivery story. New low-cost clinics, tele-guidance, and pharmacy-led pet assortments could widen access to basic care and increase demand for preventive services, but they may also intensify price competition for independent practices and shift more routine care into retail settings. The backdrop is a market where more Mexican households are spending on pets, more neighborhoods are seeing new pet stores and clinics, and veterinarians remain the leading source of advice for pet parents. (eleconomista.com.mx)
What to watch: Watch whether pharmacy-led entrants stay focused on low-cost, high-volume preventive care, or move further into pharmacy, diagnostics, and broader clinical services. (eleconomista.com.mx)
Mexico’s pet market is getting more crowded, and more retail-driven. According to GlobalPETS, the country’s pet industry reached 42,600 registered companies in 2025, with growth spanning retail, veterinary services, e-commerce, and pet food production. What’s changing now is the mix of players: alongside specialist chains and established veterinary providers, pharmacy retailers are moving into pet supplies, tele-guidance, and low-cost veterinary care. (globalpetindustry.com)
That shift has been building for some time. Pet spending and pet visibility have risen across Mexico, and a 2024 survey cited by PETS International found that nearly 70% of homes in Mexico have a pet. The same report said 72% of respondents had noticed “some or many” new pet food and supply stores in their neighborhoods, and nearly 6 in 10 had seen more veterinary clinics and grooming salons locally. It also found that veterinarians are still the primary source of advice for 69% of pet parents, an important signal as more retail players try to add health services to their offer. (globalpetindustry.com)
The clearest new development is the arrival of pharmacy chains. Farmacias Similares announced SimiPet Care in May 2025 and opened its first site in Mexico City on June 12, 2025. By late July, the company said it had treated more than 1,300 pets at its first clinic and raised its 2025 expansion target from 20 locations to 100. Farmacias del Ahorro followed with its own pet-category push, combining physical in-store sections with a free online veterinary guidance service available through its website and app. Its rollout began in Monterrey, with national digital coverage as a near-term goal. (es.wired.com)
These moves matter because they suggest pet care is becoming part of a broader convenience-health model. El Economista reported in June 2025 that low-cost veterinary consult rooms could attract more pharmacy and retail chains, citing Conafab’s pet group president Ernesto Ávila, who said Farmacias Similares had taken the first step and that other major retailers could follow. He also noted that preventive-care habits are still underdeveloped for some pet parents, which means lower-cost, easier-access formats may expand the addressable market rather than simply reshuffle existing demand. (eleconomista.com.mx)
Specialist players aren’t standing still. Petco Mexico has continued to add products and services, and Grupo Gigante has described the chain’s model in Mexico as combining retail with specialized services including grooming, training, and a veterinary hospital. GlobalPETS also highlighted new brand partnerships at Petco Mexico, reflecting continued investment in assortment and omnichannel reach. Taken together, that points to a market where incumbents are defending share not just with products, but with service ecosystems that are harder to replicate online. (grupogigante.com.mx)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the immediate issue isn’t just competition, but where first contact happens. If pet parents increasingly encounter care through pharmacy chains, free online guidance, or low-cost neighborhood clinics, independent practices may see more pressure on entry-level visits, vaccines, and routine wellness pricing. At the same time, broader access could bring more pets into the care system earlier, creating downstream demand for diagnostics, chronic-disease management, dentistry, surgery, and referral-level services. The opportunity for clinics may be to emphasize continuity of care, medical depth, and trust, especially in a market where veterinarians still hold strong credibility with pet parents. (expansion.mx)
There are also operational and regulatory realities behind the expansion. El Economista noted that the real economics of veterinary consult-room models may sit partly in pharmacy sales, while manufacturing rules limit the co-production of human and veterinary medicines in the same lab. That could shape how far pharmacy chains vertically integrate, and how quickly they move from basic consults into fuller veterinary pharmacy or private-label products. In other words, retail ambition is clear, but execution will depend on supply chains, staffing, compliance, and whether low-cost models can scale sustainably. (eleconomista.com.mx)
What to watch: The next phase is whether these entrants expand beyond basic consults and guidance into diagnostics, prescriptions, preventive plans, and broader clinical networks, and whether specialist retailers respond by deepening their own service mix. Mexico’s market growth story is intact, but for veterinary professionals, the more important question is how quickly retail and care continue to converge, and which parts of the care pathway stay inside traditional clinics. (euromonitor.com)