Case Study: Del Monte Drives Cat Treats Growth with Vivaldi

Digging Up Market Expansion Ideas For Pet Treats

Del Monte Pet Foods, now Big Heart Pet Brands, partnered with Vivaldi to help grow its stake in the cat treats market, a category it had invented but was underperforming in. Facing declining brands, weak support inside a dog-focused company culture, and market share far below competitors, Del Monte needed a clearer growth strategy for this fast-growing, immature category.

Vivaldi used an outside-in commercial and competitive strategy approach, combining ethnographies and quantitative research to uncover cat-owner pain points and define a new cat treat strategy, brand architecture, and innovation roadmap. The work helped produce the Wild Catch concept, which beat Del Monte and the database average for top-box purchase intent, and supported the launch of Milo’s Kitchen, the company’s first new brand in 100 years, which generated $100 million in 18 months and became a Nielsen Breakthrough Innovation winner.

Del Monte