Bret Furio

Bret Furio is the chief executive officer at Canidae Pet Food, where he leads a team of over 150 employees spread across 22 states including manufacturing operations in Brownwood, Texas, a national sales force and a corporate headquarters team based in Stamford, Connecticut. Bret has more than 20 years of experience in strategic marketing, sales and general business management from a diverse range of companies in the consumer-packaged goods sector, including senior leadership positions at Zarbee's Naturals, Philips Consumer Lifestyle and The Gillette Company. Growing up in Ohio, Bret attended Cleveland’s prestigious St. Ignatius High School, where students are introduced to the principles of service and community. That emphasis on doing good for others was a lesson that Bret has worked tirelessly to implement in his personal life and particularly in his professional career. After graduating from Fordham University, he began his sales career at Gallo Wines and the Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories before growing his career to national leadership positions with The Gillette Company and eventually leading a global team at Phillips. Bret brings a passion for doing good to every company and every position, but it was during his time at Zarbee’s Naturals—his first CEO role—that he realized the power and true potential for change that can arise when a company and its people share the same passion for doing good. As chief executive officer and member of the board at Zarbee’s from 2014 through 2018, Bret was integral in growing the brand through its eventual sale to Johnson and Johnson. After shepherding Zarbee’s to the next stage of its corporate journey, Bret joined the team at Canidae, a pet food company for whom doing good is a daily part of their business. With Canidae, Bret is constantly finding new ways to enact meaningful change in the pet food industry while inspiring team members to bring that goodness to everything they do—at work and at home—with an internal creed for all employees to be “hungry for goodness.” Under his leadership, Canidae has instilled a mission to create a more sustainable world of goodness for pets, people and our planet. While living their mission, Canidae has introduced Sustain, a brand-new, eco-friendly pet food line; increased its investment in renewable agriculture and sustainable proteins; and introduced point-of-purchase innovations and industry disruptors that sharply decrease the use of single-use plastics, while passing the savings along to the consumer and their pets.

Bret Furio is the chief executive officer at Canidae Pet Food, where he leads a team of over 150 employees spread across 22 states including manufacturing operations in Brownwood, Texas, a national sales force and a corporate headquarters team based in Stamford, Connecticut.
Bret has more than 20 years of experience in strategic marketing, sales and general business management from a diverse range of companies in the consumer-packaged goods sector, including senior leadership positions at Zarbee's Naturals, Philips Consumer Lifestyle and The Gillette Company.
Growing up in Ohio, Bret attended Cleveland’s prestigious St. Ignatius High School, where students are introduced to the principles of service and community. That emphasis on doing good for others was a lesson that Bret has worked tirelessly to implement in his personal life and particularly in his professional career.
After graduating from Fordham University, he began his sales career at Gallo Wines and the Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories before growing his career to national leadership positions with The Gillette Company and eventually leading a global team at Phillips. Bret brings a passion for doing good to every company and every position, but it was during his time at Zarbee’s Naturals—his first CEO role—that he realized the power and true potential for change that can arise when a company and its people share the same passion for doing good.
As chief executive officer and member of the board at Zarbee’s from 2014 through 2018, Bret was integral in growing the brand through its eventual sale to Johnson and Johnson. After shepherding Zarbee’s to the next stage of its corporate journey, Bret joined the team at Canidae, a pet food company for whom doing good is a daily part of their business. With Canidae, Bret is constantly finding new ways to enact meaningful change in the pet food industry while inspiring team members to bring that goodness to everything they do—at work and at home—with an internal creed for all employees to be “hungry for goodness.” Under his leadership, Canidae has instilled a mission to create a more sustainable world of goodness for pets, people and our planet. While living their mission, Canidae has introduced Sustain, a brand-new, eco-friendly pet food line; increased its investment in renewable agriculture and sustainable proteins; and introduced point-of-purchase innovations and industry disruptors that sharply decrease the use of single-use plastics, while passing the savings along to the consumer and their pets.