VCA Antech joins the ranks of Banfield, Royal Canin, IAMS, Eukanuba, Pedigree and more under the MARS Inc umbrella, adding laboratory diagnostic capability to some of the largest US-based networks of veterinary practices. To me, this signals a continued strong trend in the blurred line between what have previously been strongly segregated markets of the pet industry — Pet Health and Pet Care.
While pet health companies — especially B2B specialists — have previously enjoyed quite a bit of focused ability to withdraw from wider pet-market forces, global consumer leaders in the pet space, such as MARS, have never had that luxury. I suspect that as time goes on, financial forces and alliances will continue to push their way into the previously encapsulated pet-health space, forcing wider adoption of already established consumer best practices and the holy grail of providing pet owners everything “in one place” — serving all their pet-related needs and wants just as Google has done so for data management and Amazon for online purchases.
What do you think?
See the news here. See MARS’ other pet brands.
