Humanisation, sustainability, and functionality are the three most important trends driving the pet food industry today, and brands are beginning to cater to vegan and vegetarian options as research emerges showing a plant-based diet could improve pet health.
These are some of the main industry insights presented by Andrew Knight, professor at the University of Winchester, and Javier Muñoz, senior research analyst at Euromonitor International, at the inaugural pet food spotlight held at the Fi Europe conference in Frankfurt last month.
Humanisation – the transferring of needs, wishes and likes of people to their pets – is a well-established trend that continues to gain momentum. According to Muñoz, survey data from Euromonitor indicates that as this trend evolves, concerns about sustainability are likely to play a more important role for consumers.
A large majority (63%) of consumers told Euromonitor that they are worried about climate change and are trying to have a positive impact on the environment ‘through their everyday actions’ – including purchasing decisions.
These concerns are redefining what ‘premium’ means to pet food shoppers. “Premium used to mean better quality when it comes to ingredients, to sources of proteins used, and meat sources ... [Today], premium is about health and sustainability added value, and consumers are willing to pay a bit more for it,” said Muñoz.
Unlike other food and beverage segments, pet food remains relatively resistant to crises. This means that while consumers often cut back on premium items as the cost of living rises and belts tighten, premium pet food continues to have a positive outlook.
“After the inflation that started in 2022, we see that [pet food] is crisis-resilient because it's not completely immune ... [S]till, consumers are showing that they're willing to invest in their pets, and this humanisation trend where pets are more and more considered a member of the family is adding to this,” said Muñoz.
Alternatives to conventional meat-based products form a small, but rapidly growing area within pet food – both in the premium and more affordable segments.
“The fastest growing area within pet food is vegan pet food ... This sector is already worth $27 billion globally and is expected to more than double in the next 10 years,” said Knight. As a niche area, little research has been done on the appeal of vegan pet food, but recent surveys are showing that there could be a lot of room for growth.
Two large-scale surveys conducted by Knight show that nearly half (46%) of dog and cat owners are interested in alternatives to conventional or raw meat. Cultivated meat is remarkably popular among owners who would consider a dietary change, with more than a quarter (27.6%) of consumers saying they would ‘realistically consider’ this option. Almost one in six (15%) of pet owners would consider vegan, vegetarian, or insect-based alternatives. Algal-based and funghi-based alternatives are the least popular, with only around 8% of respondents interested in either option.
Research by Euromonitor on the same subject shows that while ‘vegan’ and ‘vegetarian’ fail to reach a large proportion of pet owners, ‘plant-based’ is a much more appealing label. “Plant-based, which is a bit more open as a different approach to catch consumers, is the one really growing and really having an impact in pet food industries,” said Muñoz.
With more plant-based products entering the market, the body of academic research on the impact of pets’ short- and long-term health has also started to expand. Knight acknowledged that due to the nascent nature of this research, it is still too early to draw definite and robust conclusions about every nutritional and health aspect of a non-meat diet; especially when it comes to cats.
However, the evidence that is emerging almost all points in the same direction: plant-based diets have a lot more positive health outcomes than conventional meat-based ones. In the largest survey of health outcomes in dogs fed vegan diets, which covered more than 2,500 dogs, the strongest health indicators were found among dogs on a vegan diet. While almost half (49%) of dogs on a conventional meat diet experienced at least one occurrence of a disorder, just over one-third (36%) of vegan-fed dogs were ‘unwell’.
“The chances of suffering from one of 22 most common health disorders was highest when dogs were fed conventional meat-based diets for 11 out of 22, highest when dogs were fed raw meat-based diets for eight out of 22, and highest when dogs were fed vegan diets for three out of 22 of these illnesses. It is clear that the healthiest diets with the least dietary hazards were actually nutritionally sound vegan diets,” said Knight.
A similar study conducted on a population of 1,300 pet cats showed similar results, with the vegan diet associated with a lower risk across all seven illness indicators prompted in a survey. The most common problems in cats were dental and oral disease, followed by high body weight and gastrointestinal illnesses. The chances of suffering from these disorders were highest when cats were fed meat for two-thirds, and highest when cats were fed vegan diets for one-third.
Scientific evidence for a significantly lower climate impact of plant-based versus meat-based pet food is even more robust. Knight cited one study that 5% of all greenhouse gases are a result of pet food. His own research showed that even after accounting for the use of animal byproducts, dogs and cats consume about one out of every five livestock animals.
“[I]f all of the world's cats were to transition onto nutritionally sound vegan diets, you could feed more people than are in the United Kingdom, 69 million additional people. If all the dogs were to transition, you could feed the whole of the European Union, 449 million additional people,” said Knight.
The pet food industry still faces a challenge communicating these sustainability and climate upsides to consumers. According to Muñoz, consumer are often unsure what sustainable features to look for. “There are a lot of different claims, terms, and buzzwords, and [consumers] are not sure how to adjust their purchasing to them,” he said.
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