Years lands growth backing to expand UK retail and Europe
Bottom line
UK fresh dog food company Years has secured a growth investment from Verlinvest and Five Seasons Ventures, a deal the company says will help accelerate its retail rollout in the UK, expand manufacturing capacity, and support entry into continental Europe. The announcement, made July 1, follows Years’ recent push into physical retail, including a nationwide launch with Pets at Home. Years positions itself as the UK’s first “cupboard fresh” dog food brand, using shelf-stable, minimally processed meals as an alternative to frozen or refrigerated fresh formats. (publicnow.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the deal is another sign that fresh, minimally processed pet nutrition is moving further into mainstream retail, not just direct-to-consumer channels. That could mean more pet parents asking practice teams about ambient-stable fresh diets, ingredient quality, processing methods, and whether these products are complete and balanced for long-term feeding. It also reflects continued investor interest in premium pet nutrition even as deal activity has cooled from earlier highs, suggesting the category still has room to grow in Europe. (retailtimes.co.uk)
What to watch: Watch for whether Years can translate new funding into broader European distribution, more retail placements, and clearer clinical or nutritional messaging as competition in fresh pet food intensifies. (publicnow.com)
UK-based dog food company Years is taking its next growth step with backing from Verlinvest and Five Seasons Ventures, as investors place another bet on premium, fresh-style pet nutrition in Europe. Years announced the investment on July 1, saying the partnership will help fund a faster UK retail rollout, added manufacturing capacity, and expansion into continental Europe. (publicnow.com)
The timing matters because Years has been moving quickly from a direct-to-consumer model into stores. In June, Pets at Home said it had launched the brand nationwide across 460 UK stores and online, giving Years a much larger physical footprint. On its own retail page, Years also lists Pets at Home, Just for Pets, and Pets & Friends as partners, framing retail as its “first step” into a broader in-store strategy. (retailtimes.co.uk)
Years is pitching itself as a new category player rather than just another fresh food brand. The company says its proprietary “Cupboard Fresh” format combines gently steam-cooked, wholefood-style meals with ambient storage, avoiding the frozen or refrigerated logistics used by many fresh competitors. Third-party deal coverage described the meals as ambient-stored with shelf life ranging up to 18 months, while Years’ own retail materials say the food can stay naturally fresh for up to three months without freezing or refrigeration and without preservatives. That discrepancy likely reflects differences across product lines, packaging, or markets, but it’s a detail veterinary teams and retailers may want clarified as the brand scales. (pehub.com)
The investors bring category experience that helps explain the deal. Verlinvest highlighted its investment in Years in a July 1 announcement, and Five Seasons Ventures has previously backed fresh pet food brand Butternut Box. In the announcement, Five Seasons partner Ivan Farneti said the firm had been an early believer in the shift toward fresh pet nutrition and subscription models. Verlinvest also pointed to its consumer brand-building experience and, through its pet retail brand Tom&Co, operational knowledge in Belgium and France that could support Years’ move into Europe. (publicnow.com)
From an industry standpoint, the deal fits two overlapping trends: premiumization in pet food and a search for formats that feel fresher and more human-grade without adding friction for pet parents. FoodNavigator reported in January that pet food growth in 2026 continues to be driven by premiumization and “humanisation,” with demand rising for natural, minimally processed, and tailored nutrition. Years’ proposition lands squarely in that space, especially as it tries to combine fresh-feeding cues with shelf stability and mainstream retail convenience. (foodnavigator.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is less about one financing round and more about what it signals for client conversations. As fresh and fresh-adjacent diets gain shelf space in major retail chains, practice teams are likely to see more pet parents asking whether these products are nutritionally complete, appropriate for life stage or disease state, and meaningfully different from conventional wet or dry diets. The “cupboard fresh” concept may also create confusion if marketing language outpaces clinical understanding, particularly around processing, storage, digestibility, and evidence for health claims. (retailtimes.co.uk)
That makes product transparency especially important. Years’ website emphasizes real wholefood ingredients, personalized meal plans, and breed-specific supplements, while retail messaging focuses on convenience, minimal processing, and recognizable ingredients. Those themes are likely to resonate with pet parents, but veterinary teams may still want to ask practical questions about formulation standards, feeding trials, quality control, and how these diets compare with established therapeutic or life-stage nutrition options. Those details weren’t prominent in the materials reviewed. (years.com)
What to watch: The next markers will be distribution and execution: whether Years adds more UK retail partners, how quickly it enters mainland Europe, whether manufacturing scale keeps pace with demand, and whether the company publishes more detailed nutritional substantiation as it moves from startup disruptor to broader category contender. The deal also bears watching as a read-through on investor appetite for pet nutrition after a quieter 2025 funding environment. (publicnow.com)