AlphaPet Ventures, a technology-driven brand platform for premium pet food in Europe, has announced the acquisition of Arden Grange. The takeover strengthens the German company’s ambition to establish itself as a leading Pan-European player serving over 200 million healthy meals for pets in 2022.

The acquisition of the UK company Arden Grange strengthens the AlphaPet portfolio with another premium brand and is a big step towards further internationalising the AlphaPet platform.

Arden Grange is one of the leading UK brands in the premium dog food segment and pioneered the category as a species-appropriate dog food brand in the UK more than 25 years ago. 

Wendy Stephens, founder of Arden Grange, said: “Together with my late husband, Graham, we founded the Arden Grange brand 25 years ago to counter the dog food offerings of the big manufacturers with a high-quality nutritional dog food. 

“The claim of Arden Grange shows this clearly, ‘nutrition without compromise’, and we have always remained faithful to this. This has enabled us to build up a large and loyal group of customers in the UK and win them over to our brand.” 

Emma Stephens, daughter of Wendy Stephens and director of Arden Grange, added: “The high quality and innovative recipes have enabled us to successfully establish the brand in the premium market and make it one of the most popular dog food brands in the UK. 

“Through the team at AlphaPet, I see great potential in further building the brand, not only nationally but also internationally. I am convinced that together we can fully realise the potential of Arden Grange.”

Marco Hierling, founder and managing Director of AlphaPet Ventures, commented: “Arden Grange is a strong and well-positioned premium brand for which we see great potential not only in the UK but also in DACH. Above all, we can make a good contribution to the further growth of the brand through our digital know-how, direct end-customer access as well as through our sales team in DACH with access to over 13,000 points of sale. 

“With the acquisition of Arden Grange, we strengthen our position as the leading digital brand platform for premium pet food in Europe. We are building on the existing and long-standing supplier and customer relationships in the UK and look forward to expanding these further in the coming years.”

The acquisition is still subject to regulatory approval.

AlphaPet's brands include Wolfsblut, Wildes Land, Müllers Naturhof and PRIMUM.