VISIONS Magazine (August 2026 Edition)

Hartz at 100: A Century of Caring for Pets and the People Who Love Them

A hundred years gives a company plenty of history to talk about. Hartz has spent that century watching the place of pets in American homes change dramatically, while the company itself changed ownership, products, priorities and the way it speaks to consumers.

For Stacy Kisla, Senior Director of Marketing for Hartz, the throughline reaches back to the company’s earliest years, with an idea that was never especially complicated: pets belonged close to the center of family life. 

“Hartz’s ability to remain relevant for 100 years has been shaped by many defining choices and moments,” Kisla said. “For much of our history, Hartz was a family-owned company, and that heritage created a lasting foundation: pets have always been viewed as family members, and their well-being and care have always been at the center of every product and innovation our teams bring forward.”

Longevity also required a willingness to change when the business around Hartz changed. Manufacturing evolved, retailers changed, and the company made decisions that opened new paths for growth.

“As the pet care industry evolved—both in manufacturing and retail—Hartz made important decisions to evolve with it,” Kisla said. “Becoming part of the Sumitomo Corporation Group, and later the joint business venture between Sumitomo Corporation of Americas and Unicharm, helped fuel new growth, strengthen innovation, and bring additional tools and advantages to the business.”

pictured above: Former Hartz CEO Tatsuya Suto addresses employees at the Hartz 100 Celebration

The Sumitomo relationship reaches into daily operations as well as long-range planning. Tina Le Lay, President and CEO of Hartz, sees that influence in the discipline and perspective the company brings to a fast-moving consumer category.

“Since becoming part of the Sumitomo Corporation Group, Hartz has evolved into a more disciplined, growth-oriented consumer products business while staying true to its purpose in pet care,” Le Lay said. “The relationship has provided strong strategic support, access to broader global capabilities, and a long-term perspective that is especially valuable in a competitive and fast-changing category.”

Some of that support arrives in a very literal way. Sumitomo employees from abroad come to the United States, join Hartz teams and work inside functions that affect how the business performs from one day to the next.

“It has also brought meaningful hands-on support through trainees and expats who come to live in the U.S. and become embedded within Hartz, working shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. team,” Le Lay said. “Their contributions have strengthened day-to-day execution and provided important leadership in vital functions such as Customer Planning, Procurement, and Marketing.”

pictured above: Hartz President and CEO Tina Le Lay addresses employees at the Hartz 100 Celebration

Kisla sees another measure of Hartz’s evolution in the people buying its products. Younger pet owners now shape how the company thinks about communication, loyalty, and the relationship it wants to build over the life of a pet.

“Hartz has adapted by focusing on where the brand has the strongest right to win while building greater relevance with today’s pet parents, especially Millennial and Gen Z dog and cat owners,” Kisla explained. “We focus on engaging them early, supporting them across pet life stages, and providing products and information to help pet parents care for their pets with the same unconditional love that they give.”

That has pushed Hartz toward a more concentrated view of where the brand belongs. The company has also changed how it talks about those products, moving toward a message built around the emotional reality of living with a companion animal.

“By combining dependable, effective products with the ‘Unconditional Love’ platform,” Kisla said, “Hartz can strengthen trust, build equity, and better reflect the real bond between pets and pet parents.”

For Le Lay, the centennial also turns the conversation toward what comes next. The next stretch will depend on how well the company understands the person buying the product as well as the animal it is designed to help.

“As Hartz looks to its next chapter, one of the biggest opportunities is to continue supporting not only the needs of dogs and cats, but also the needs of the pet parents who care for them,” Le Lay said. “The future of pet care will be shaped by products and experiences that help make everyday life with pets easier, healthier, and more joyful.”

That thinking rests on a familiar fact of pet ownership: emotional reciprocation. People get something back from the animals they care for, and Hartz sees value in staying close to that exchange rather than treating pet care as a purely transactional category.

“Pets bring tremendous joy to individuals, families, and society, and Hartz has an important role to play in helping people experience that joy every day,” Le Lay said. “Life with pets is richer; it encourages happiness, connection, and compassion for others.”

The Hartz 100-year anniversary employee celebration brought the anniversary down to the people who carry the business from one year to the next. Le Lay sees the company’s culture in the way employees connect their daily work with the pets and families on the other end of it.

pictured above: The gathering of employees and management at the Hartz 100 Celebration

“The people at Hartz have always been the heart of our business, and that was especially clear during the Hartz 100-year anniversary employee celebration,” Le Lay said. “After a century in business, our culture is built on a strong sense of team, family, pride, and shared purpose.”

That connection can run deeper when people know they are working inside a company with a century behind it. History matters most when it shows up in how people approach the work in front of them.

“Many employees feel a deep personal connection to the company’s history and to the pets and pet parents we serve,” Le Lay said, “and that connection shows up in the care, creativity, and commitment they bring to their work every day.”

pictured above: Employees at the Hartz 100 Celebration

The next chapter will bring new consumers, new ways of working and opportunities the company could not have anticipated a generation ago.

“As Hartz continues to evolve, our employees play the most important role in carrying the legacy forward,” Le Lay said. “They honor the company’s past by staying focused on quality, trust, and the well-being of pets, while also helping the business adapt to new consumer expectations, new ways of working, and new opportunities for growth.”

A century can become a museum piece if a company spends too much time admiring it. Hartz enters its second hundred years with a more useful measure of its history: whether the business can keep earning a place in the everyday lives of people and their pets.

“It is that combination of respect for Hartz’s heritage and energy for the future,” Le Lay said, “that will continue to define the company in its next chapter.”