Open Farm expands into nearly 1,700 PetSmart stores
Bottom line
Open Farm said its full portfolio of pet food, treats, and supplements is now rolling into nearly 1,700 PetSmart stores across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, alongside PetSmart’s e-commerce channels. The June 8 announcement broadens Open Farm’s reach to more than 9,500 retail locations in North America and gives PetSmart shoppers access to a wider mix of premium products, including dry and wet food, freshly crafted meals, freeze-dried raw, treats, and supplements. PetSmart’s site already shows a broad Open Farm assortment for dogs and cats, including digestive and skin-and-coat formulas. (businesswire.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the partnership puts a traceability- and sourcing-focused brand in front of a much larger mainstream audience at a retailer that also has veterinary touchpoints in more than 700 locations. That could mean more client questions about premium nutrition, raw-adjacent and freeze-dried formats, supplements, and how to compare “responsibly sourced” claims with evidence-based nutritional guidance for individual patients. Open Farm also highlights in-house veterinary nutrition expertise, which may help the brand’s credibility with some pet parents, even as clinicians continue to weigh formulation quality, patient tolerance, life stage, and medical needs over retail positioning alone. (businesswire.com)
What to watch: Watch how quickly the assortment expands in-store and online, and whether the launch drives more retailer-brand tie-ins around functional nutrition, fresh and freeze-dried formats, and veterinary-adjacent education. (businesswire.com)
Open Farm is expanding into PetSmart in a move that materially widens the premium brand’s North American footprint. In a June 8 announcement, the company said its dry and wet food, freshly crafted meals, freeze-dried raw products, treats, and supplements are becoming available in nearly 1,700 PetSmart stores across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, as well as through PetSmart’s digital channels. The company said the deal lifts its retail presence to more than 9,500 locations across North America. (businesswire.com)
The partnership fits a broader pattern in pet retail, where specialty chains are giving more shelf space to premium, natural, and function-forward brands that were once concentrated in independent channels. Open Farm has been building that distribution story for some time; in 2025, it announced a separate expansion with Pet Supermarket. PetSmart has also used similar launches to deepen its premium assortment, including a prior national rollout with Stella & Chewy’s. (petfoodindustry.com)
What changed here is scale. PetSmart’s reach gives Open Farm access to a mass specialty audience and omnichannel fulfillment options, including autoship, same-day delivery, and in-store pickup. On PetSmart’s site, Open Farm products already span mainstream kibble, grain-inclusive and grain-free recipes, freeze-dried items, bone broth toppers, wet foods, and veterinarian-formulated digestive and skin-and-coat products. That breadth matters because it positions Open Farm less as a niche ethical-sourcing brand and more as a full-line nutrition player inside one of the region’s largest pet retail networks. (businesswire.com)
Open Farm’s brand proposition remains centered on ingredient sourcing and transparency. On its own site, the company emphasizes humanely raised and ethically sourced proteins, avoidance of corn, wheat, and soy in many recipes, and environmental commitments. It also says it employs an in-house board-certified veterinary nutritionist, Dr. Moran Tal-Gavriel, and is supported by nutrition scientists and veterinarians. That messaging is likely to resonate with pet parents who increasingly shop around claims like traceability, sustainability, and formulation support, not just price or protein source. (openfarmpet.com)
Industry reaction in the available coverage has been consistent with earlier premium-brand launches at major chains: wider distribution is framed as a way to make higher-end nutrition easier to access. In Open Farm’s announcement, the company described the partnership as a way to expand access to “responsibly sourced” nutrition, while PetSmart highlighted its broad store base and convenience features. In a comparable prior launch, PetSmart’s consumables merchandising leadership said premium nutrition becomes more accessible when these brands move into national distribution. That doesn’t amount to an independent expert endorsement, but it does show how both brands are positioning the deal. (businesswire.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is less about one retail partnership than about where client nutrition conversations are headed. As premium brands gain shelf space in high-traffic chains, clinics are more likely to see pet parents arrive with strong views on sourcing, sustainability, fresh formats, freeze-dried raw, or supplements before the medical conversation even starts. PetSmart also says it has veterinary care in more than 700 locations, which could further tighten the link between retail nutrition marketing and care-seeking behavior. For clinicians, that raises familiar opportunities and challenges: more engaged pet parents, but also more need to separate marketing claims from nutritional adequacy, digestibility, safety, and disease-specific appropriateness. (businesswire.com)
The launch may also sharpen competition in the premium aisle. Open Farm is entering PetSmart with a broad assortment rather than a limited trial set, and that could put pressure on adjacent brands in digestive health, toppers, freeze-dried, and ethically positioned everyday diets. For hospitals and teams that counsel on nutrition, the practical implication is straightforward: expect more questions about whether these products are complete and balanced, when supplements are warranted, how to transition diets safely, and which patients should avoid certain formats, especially raw-style products. Those conversations will still depend on the animal in front of you, not the retailer carrying the bag. (petsmart.com)
What to watch: The next signals will be shelf rollout speed, whether PetSmart gives Open Farm promotional prominence online and in stores, and whether the partnership expands into more education around functional nutrition and veterinarian-formulated products over the next several quarters. (businesswire.com)