Colgate-Palmolive reported 4.6% sales growth in the third quarter of 2026, but its decision to reduce private-label pet-food business created a contrasting trend beneath the headline performance.

The consumer goods group published its results on 30 October. Organic sales increased 3.6%, including a 0.2-percentage-point negative effect from lower private-label pet food sales. Reported earnings per share rose 3% to $0.94, while adjusted base business earnings per share increased 7% to $0.97.

Colgate-Palmolive owns a broad portfolio of oral-care, personal-care, household and pet-nutrition brands. Its Hill’s Pet Nutrition division sells branded pet-food products, which compete in a category increasingly important to grocery retailers and specialist pet chains.

The decline in private-label pet-food sales is commercially relevant because retailer own brands depend on manufacturing partners for formulation, quality assurance and reliable supply. The reported impact is relatively small at group level, and the results do not establish that particular supermarket contracts have been cancelled or that pet-food shelves face shortages.

Buyers should distinguish a supplier’s portfolio strategy from a change in consumer demand. A manufacturer may choose to concentrate investment on its own brands even while retailers continue to expand own-label offers through alternative suppliers.

Colgate-Palmolive also reported a 41.4% year-to-date global share of the toothpaste market and a 33.1% share of manual toothbrushes, according to the company’s measures. These categories matter to supermarket health and beauty buyers, although the reported shares are worldwide and should not be applied directly to individual countries.

Profitability improved: reported gross margin rose by 80 basis points to 60.2%, and the group raised its full-year gross margin and adjusted earnings guidance. That provides context for how the company is balancing growth, pricing and its product mix.

GTN has previously included the company in its US FMCG brands ranking and reported on FMCG collaboration in the PaperFlex packaging consortium.

The next results update should provide further evidence of whether branded pet nutrition and oral care continue to offset the company’s reduced private-label activity.

Editor’s Note: Figures come from Colgate-Palmolive’s official 30 October 2026 third-quarter announcement. GTN separates company-level sales growth from private-label pet food and category purchasing implications.