Citizens Pet Just Made Air-Dried Dog Food 40% Cheaper. If You Stock the Category, That's Not Actually Good News.

Citizens Pet is launching Unconditional, a premium air-dried dog food brand, at SuperZoo 2026 with nationwide retail availability to follow. The company says it can deliver air-dried nutrition at a price point roughly 40% lower than other brands in the format.

The consensus: lower pricing grows the category

The press release frames this as accessibility. Air-dried and freeze-dried formats have become one of the fastest-growing areas in pet food, the company notes, and many pet parents are moving away from heavily processed kibble but don't want the hassle of frozen or raw diets. Unconditional was created to meet that demand, the announcement says, by offering protein-forward recipes with real meat as the first ingredient, no artificial preservatives or fillers, and a proprietary air-drying process that preserves nutrients without refrigeration.

The pitch: better nutrition shouldn't be reserved for a select few. By owning its manufacturing process from start to finish in its California facility, Citizens Pet says it can deliver premium quality at a more accessible price. The brand will be available beginning September at PetSmart, Petco, Pet Supplies Plus, and independent pet retailers nationwide, plus online.

Avrum Elmakis, Owner & CEO of Citizens Pet and founder of Unconditional, said in the announcement: "By owning our manufacturing process from start to finish, we're able to deliver premium quality nutrition at a more accessible price, making it easier for families to feed their dogs the way they deserve."

The natural read: a lower price point opens the format to more customers, grows the category, and gives independents a margin opportunity that doesn't require the consumer education freeze-dried demands.

Why that reading is incomplete

A 40% price difference between a new SKU and the air-dried line already on your shelf changes the conversation with your existing supplier. If Unconditional launches at the price point the company claims, the buyer stocking a higher-priced air-dried brand now faces a question: what justifies the gap?

The source gives no actual price points, no per-pound cost, and no comparison to named competitors, so we can't model what the new number actually is. But the 40% figure is specific enough that it will shape the next reorder conversation, and that conversation happens on the new brand's timeline, not yours.

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What's actually true, with the source's evidence

Citizens Pet owns its factory in Fresno, California, and has spent more than two decades refining its air-drying process, according to the announcement. The company also owns the Plato and Furry Republic brands. Owning the manufacturing process from ingredient sourcing and air-drying to packaging and quality assurance is the stated reason it can hit the lower price point.

The portfolio includes complete air-dried diets, protein-packed kibble blends with air-dried inclusions, and functional meal toppers. Every recipe starts with real meat as the first ingredient, the company says, and is made in the USA using ingredients from trusted suppliers around the world. The air-drying process gently removes moisture while helping preserve nutrients and flavor, and the result is a shelf life of 18 to 24 months, no refrigeration, no thawing, no frozen shipping.

The brand is built on four core principles, according to the announcement: real food, high-protein nutrition, nothing artificial, and uncompromising convenience. Elmakis is a twenty-year pet industry entrepreneur who launched one of the first online dog treat retailers in 2007.

All of that is product. None of it changes the fact that a new entrant claiming a 40% price advantage resets the pricing conversation for every buyer who already stocks air-dried.

Who benefits from this being covered as category expansion

Citizens Pet benefits if the story is "air-dried is now accessible to more families." That frames the launch as a win for the format and positions the company as the one solving a consumer problem.

The buyer who doesn't yet stock air-dried benefits if the story is "here's a margin opportunity that doesn't require freeze-dried's education cost." That frames the decision as adding a new format, not replacing an existing one.

The supplier whose air-dried line is already on the shelf does not benefit from either frame, because both ignore the fact that a 40% price claim on a new SKU makes the existing SKU harder to defend on price alone.

Our read: the risk is in what happens next

We're not saying don't stock it. A brand that can actually move air-dried volume at a lower price point solves a real problem, and if Citizens Pet's factory ownership and two decades of process refinement let them hit that price and hold it, it's a legitimate play.

But if you already stock air-dried, the 40% claim is the number that matters. A meaningful price gap between two SKUs in the same format puts pressure on the higher-priced one, and that pressure shows up in your next supplier conversation, whether you initiated it or not.

If you don't stock air-dried yet, the calculation is different. A brand launching with immediate availability at PetSmart, Petco, Pet Supplies Plus, and independents is betting it can move enough SKUs to make the economics work. That's a real test, and if it works, it's a new shelf-space conversation.

The thing to watch: what the actual shelf price is when it lands in September, and whether that 40% gap holds over time. The source doesn't specify whether the claim is a permanent positioning or a launch offer, and that distinction matters. A sustained lower price point changes the category's pricing structure. A temporary one creates a short-term comp problem and then fades.

Either way, the launch is live in September, and the pricing conversation starts when the first case ships.

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