Who owns CIAO?
CIAO is owned by Inaba Foods (Japan).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: いなば食品株式会社 — 会社概要, Inaba Foods Co., Ltd. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Inaba Foods Co., Ltd. reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇯🇵 Japan, Shizuoka
- Origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- Category
- Pet & animal care › Pet food › Cat food
- Last verified
- · 3 sources
About CIAO
CIAO is Inaba's main pet food brand in Japan, covering canned, pouch and cup wet foods, dry food and treats for cats. Inaba describes it as its first original pet food for the domestic market, after decades of making cat food for export. Lines include the CIAO Whitey series, launched in 1990 as tuna cat food with the dark meat removed, and CIAO Yaki-katsuo grilled bonito, launched in 2000. Inaba says it became the top-selling pet food maker in Japan in August 2019.
Ownership timeline of CIAO
- Current owner Inaba Foods [1] reported
Where CIAO sits in Inaba Foods
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Inaba Foods ownership tree →
See the full Inaba Foods brand portfolio (3) →
Other brands owned by Inaba Foods
Inaba Foods controls 3 brands on Brandtree, 2 of them in pet & animal care.
Also in pet & animal care
- CIAO Churu (2012)
Other brands in cat food, and who owns them
The 19 brands in cat food on Brandtree belong to 11 owners. The largest is Partner in Pet Food, with 4.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Bozita | Partner in Pet Food | 🇭🇺 Hungary |
| CAT'S LOVE | VAFO | 🇨🇿 Czech Republic |
| Sheba | Mars | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Felix | Nestlé | 🇨🇭 Switzerland |
| Catmor | RCL FOODS | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| Master Cat | Carozzi | 🇨🇱 Chile |
| Toptrees | China Pet Foods | 🇨🇳 China |
| Nutriplan | Dongwon Industries | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
About the owner: Inaba Foods
Inaba Foods is a privately held company headquartered in Shizuoka, Japan, founded in 1948. Brandtree records 3 brands under its control.
Inaba Foods is a privately held Japanese maker of canned and retort foods and pet food, with head offices in Yui, Shizuoka, and in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, and factories in Shizuoka, China and Thailand. Its history goes back to Inaba Shoten, which began making dried bonito in 1805; the company itself was set up in 1948. It began making pet food in 1958, at first canned cat food for export to the US, and its group company Inaba Petfood, founded in 1997, sells the CIAO range. The group reported sales of ¥166.5bn and operating profit of ¥13bn for fiscal 2024, with 5,800 employees.
🇯🇵 CIAO and other Japanese brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 456 brands that began in Japan. 23 of them (5%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; CIAO is not one of them.
- Nyantomo Clean Toilet — S.T. Corporation 🇯🇵
- "K" Line — K Line 🇯🇵
- ABEMA — CyberAgent 🇯🇵
- ADDICTION — KOSÉ 🇯🇵
- AIARU Small Amount & Short Term Insurance — Sumitomo Life 🇯🇵
- AIRDO — RegionalPlus Wings 🇯🇵
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of CIAO?
The parent company of CIAO is Inaba Foods, a privately held company headquartered in Japan.
Is CIAO Japanese?
Yes. CIAO originated in Japan and its owner, Inaba Foods, is also headquartered in Japan.
Is CIAO still owned by Inaba Foods?
Yes. As of 24 October 2026, CIAO is still owned by Inaba Foods. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (3) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] いなば食品株式会社 — 会社概要 — Inaba Foods Co., Ltd., Official document; retrieved 24 October 2026.
- [2] いなば食品株式会社 — 沿革 — Inaba Foods Co., Ltd., Official document; retrieved 24 October 2026.
- [3] いなばペットフード — 商品情報 キャットフード — Inaba Petfood Co., Ltd., Official document; retrieved 24 October 2026.
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