What Prima Pet Premium does

Prima Pet Premium Oy is a Finnish pet food manufacturer and brand house operating exclusively in Finland, with manufacturing facilities in Nokia and Mellilä. The company markets five consumer brands — PrimaCat, PrimaDog, Dagsmark, Hau-Hau Champion, and PrimaSmallPets — covering cat, dog, and small-pet nutrition, and sells them through mainstream grocery retail rather than specialty pet stores, framing this as a deliberate strategy to make quality pet food accessible during regular shopping trips. The company has been wholly owned by the Czech family-owned pet food group VAFO since 2021, which supplies broader European manufacturing capacity and over 30 years of category expertise.

The business operates a straightforward branded consumer-goods model: revenue is generated from one-time product sales of dry and other pet food through retail distribution, with end customers being Finnish pet owners. GTM is direct-to-consumer via grocery shelves supported by content marketing (the "Lemmikkielämää" blog), LinkedIn presence, and earned media. Prima Pet has increasingly shifted production to its own Finnish factories, with the balance sourced from VAFO Group's European plants or trusted partners, and it also offers contract manufacturing through a separate petfoodprivatelabels.com channel.

On the technology and product side, the company's notable innovation is the development, in partnership with Finnish biotech Enifer, of pet dry food containing PEKILO® fungal protein — positioned as the first such product in Finland. It has also committed EUR 150,000 to sponsor the University of Helsinki Faculty of Veterinary Medicine's CatRisk research on feline disease risk factors, and in May 2026 launched a professional community for veterinary small animal care nurses. These moves indicate investment in upstream credibility, alternative-protein formulation, and a veterinary-influencer ecosystem alongside its core grocery retail business.

Name

Prima Pet Premium

Legal name

Prima Pet Premium Oy

Website

https://primapetpremium.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Prima Pet Premium Oy is a Finnish pet food brand house that manufactures and sells five cat, dog, and small-pet food brands — PrimaCat, PrimaDog, Dagsmark, Hau-Hau Champion, and PrimaSmallPets — through mainstream Finnish grocery retail. It has been owned by Czech family group VAFO since 2021.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pet Food Manufacturing

NAICS

Dog and Cat Food Manufacturing (311111), Animal Food Manufacturing (3111), Pet and Pet Supplies Retailers (459910)

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries, General Line (5141)

akta.pro primary industry

Dry Kibble (Dog & Cat) (CRADAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Natural/Organic & Limited-Ingredient Diets (CRADAFAH), Small Animal Food (rabbit/guinea pig/hamster) (CRADAFAJ), Custom & Private-Label Pet Food Manufacturing (AFADAFAO)

Keywords

• Pet food manufacturing
• Cat food products
• Dog food products
• Pet nutrition brands
• Private label pet food

Headquarters

HQ city

Pirkkala

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Pet Food Product Sales: Revenue generated from manufacturing and selling branded cat and dog food products through retail distribution channels. Products include multiple brand portfolios (PrimaCat, PrimaDog, Dagsmark, Hau-Hau Champion, PrimaSmallPets) sold through mainstream grocery stores in Finland.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Prima Pet Premium Oy is a Finnish pet food brand house that manufactures and sells branded cat, dog, and small pet food under multiple sub-brands (PrimaCat, PrimaDog, Dagsmark, Hau-Hau Champion, PrimaSmallPets). Products are distributed through mainstream Finnish grocery retail and produced at the company's own facilities in Nokia and Mellilä, Finland, with additional manufacturing at VAFO Group factories in Europe. The company also offers contract/private label pet food manufacturing (Sopimusvalmistus) for other businesses.

Product overview

Prima Pet Premium Oy is a Finnish pet food brand house offering a comprehensive portfolio of cat and dog food brands, including PrimaCat, PrimaDog, Dagsmark, Hau-Hau Champion, and PrimaSmallPets. The company manufactures pet food at its own facilities in Nokia and Mellilä, Finland, with some products produced at other VAFO Group factories in Europe or sourced from trusted partners. The brands are sold through regular retail stores alongside other shopping, breaking the misconception that quality pet food can only be purchased from specialty stores.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PrimaCat: Cat food brand
• PrimaDog
• Dagsmark
• Hau-Hau Champion
• PrimaSmallPets

Products and services

• PrimaCat Cat food brand within the Prima Pet Premium portfolio, offering products for cat nutrition and wellbeing, with a focus on species-appropriate, low-carbohydrate nutrition for cats as obligate carnivores.
• PrimaDog Dog food brand within the Prima Pet Premium portfolio, providing products for dog nutrition and wellbeing.
• Dagsmark Pet food brand within the Prima Pet Premium portfolio.
• Hau-Hau Champion Dog food brand within the Prima Pet Premium portfolio, offering dog nutrition products.
• PrimaSmallPets Small pet food brand within the Prima Pet Premium portfolio, offering food for small animals.
• Sopimusvalmistus (Contract / Private Label Pet Food Manufacturing) Contract manufacturing service for pet food, offered to businesses seeking private label pet food production, leveraging the company's Finnish and VAFO Group European manufacturing capabilities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 150,000 EUR research funding for CatRisk study on cat health factors

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and minor.

• EniferflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 April 2026Biotechnology company partnering with Prima Pet to develop new pet dry food containing PEKILO® fungal protein. This is the first such development in Finland. The partnership aims to gather information on the functionality and palatability of the new protein source in pet food applications.
• University of Helsinki Faculty of Veterinary MedicineminorOthers · 1 April 2026Prima Pet is sponsoring the CatRisk research project with 150,000 EUR funding. The research investigates nutritional, environmental, and hereditary factors behind cat diseases. This is a research sponsorship rather than commercial partnership.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Butternut Box: Direct-to-consumer fresh-cooked dog food subscription brand in Europe. Comparable as a next-generation pet nutrition challenger whose DTC model could pressure Prima Pet's grocery-led approach.
• Wellness Pet Company: Premium natural pet food brand in dry kibble, wet food, and treats categories. Comparable as a grocery-distributed, natural/holistic-positioned pet food brand competing for similar health-conscious pet owners.
• Champion Petfoods (Orijen & Acana): Premium natural pet food maker of Orijen and Acana. Comparable on positioning around biologically appropriate, premium-ingredient dry foods — the same space where Prima Pet's species-appropriate nutrition message competes.

Regional players

• Musti Group: Leading Nordic pet specialty retailer and pet food supplier operating chains such as Musti ja Mirri. Comparable as a Finland/Nordics-focused pet category leader with overlapping target customers and product portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Mars Petcare: Largest global pet food operator with brands including Pedigree, Whiskas, Royal Canin, and Cesar. Comparable grocery-channel competitor in Finland and across Europe with similar cat and dog brand portfolio structure.
• Royal Canin: Global premium pet food brand (Mars Petcare) specializing in breed- and life-stage-specific nutrition. Directly comparable to Prima Pet's species-appropriate positioning, but operating at vastly greater scale.
• Hill's Pet Nutrition: Science-led premium pet food brand owned by Colgate-Palmolive. Comparable on the science/clinical-nutrition positioning that Prima Pet is building through its CatRisk research sponsorship and veterinary partnerships.
• Nestlé Purina: Global pet food giant offering premium and mass-market brands across grocery and specialty channels. Comparable in grocery-channel distribution and broad brand portfolio, though at vastly greater scale and resources.

Direct peers

• VAFO Group: Czech family-owned pet food manufacturer and Prima Pet's parent company since 2021. Operates multiple European pet food factories and provides Prima Pet with manufacturing scale, sourcing, and category expertise.
• Hankkija: Finnish agricultural and pet/animal feed supplier with a long domestic history. Comparable as a Finnish-headquartered animal nutrition manufacturer selling through Finnish retail and agriculture channels.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/prima-pet-premium-oy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Prima Pet Premium