Dive Brief:

• Over a year in the making, Target will launch its latest private label in the pet category, this time focusing on cat and dog food. The new brand, dubbed Kindfull, arrives in stores and online on Sunday.  
• Kindfull will include more than 50 products ranging from wet and dry food to treats and toppers — over half of which are priced under $10, according to a press release Wednesday.
• The brand's ingredients include poultry, pasture-raised beef and fish caught through sustainable means, per the release. To further support its sustainability initiative, Target Forward, the company also said over 40% of Kindfull's products use recyclable packaging.

Dive Insight:

Target's latest private label follows a prevalent trend among its consumer demographic last year. 

U.S. consumer spending in the pet category increased by 143% in June 2021 compared to May last year, a report from Sensibill indicates. And the pet space more broadly has been a winner during the pandemic as more shoppers adopted pets during the period or increased their spending on pets while stuck at home.

The retailer's in-house team began working on a pet nutrition line upon knowing the majority of Target shoppers were pet owners and were looking for high-quality pet food, according to the release. Items such as Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food, Beef Jerky Recipe, as well as Chicken, Pumpkin and Turmeric Recipe Toppers will be featured in Kindfull's assortment.

In recent years, Target has consistently released owned brands across different categories. Kindfull joins a handful of Target's private labels in the pet category alone, which includes Boots & Barkley, as well as seasonal pet merchandise from Sun Squad, Hyde & Eek Boutique and Wondershop.

"Kindfull highlights Target's continued commitment to providing our guests with an incredible cross-category portfolio of owned brand options to choose from alongside their favorite national brands," said Jill Sando, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer at Target.

Target's private label blitz reaped rewards during this year's first quarter earnings. Sales growth for its private labels was the strongest the retailer has ever recorded, rising 36% in the recent quarter. Earlier this year, activewear brand All in Motion became Target's 10th billion-dollar label a year after its launch.