Dumesich Tabbed as CEO of Instinct Pet Food, Thompson Named Chairman

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Press release: Instinct Pet Food

The following announcement was recently posted on the Instinct website:

After over four years as CEO of Instinct, Neil Thompson has accepted the role of chairman at Instinct Pet Food.

Replacing Thompson as CEO is Gordon Dumesich, who was previously chief growth and marketing officer at Instinct. Over the last four years, Dumesich has built a highly cohesive and effective commercial team that has been instrumental in delivering consistent strong double-digit growth and ever-increasing market shares while strengthening our retail partnerships with a renewed focus on the Independent Neighborhood Pet Trade. Dumesich has effectively positioned Instinct as one of the leading brands in the fastest growing “alternative pet food” category, valued at over $1 billion.

Under Thompson’s leadership, the Instinct business has significantly strengthened its financial position, allowing it to invest over $100 million in the first phase of a new Center of Excellence manufacturing facility in Lincoln, Nebraska. This expansion will contribute to a more efficient and sustainable production footprint. In recent years, the organization has also made significant advances in the areas of operational stability, product quality and safety, and external relationships. Additionally, Instinct has invested in the scientific discovery process to quantify the benefits of raw feeding with the University of Helsinki. This research provides the company with unique and ever-increasing insights.

In his role as chairman, Thompson will work to further strengthen external relationships and will remain a member of Agrolimen’s petcare board. Instinct is grateful to Thompson for his strategic leadership in shaping a bright future and empowering our team to reach new heights. Now, the company is excited to welcome Dumesich to his promotion as CEO.

Dumesich reflects on Thompson’s contributions to the business and on what’s to come, saying, “Under Neil’s leadership we have leveraged our nutritional scientific evidence to help pet parents understand the power of minimally processed, raw nutrition. This has propelled strong category growth and Instinct market share gains. This momentum will continue as more households hear about benefits of raw and more innovation products to make it easier for pet parents to feed what best for their pets.”

Instinct Pet Food is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, with raw pet food manufacturing facilities in Lincoln, Nebraska. Since it was founded in 2002, the brand’s mission has been to transform the lives of pets with raw nutrition.