Reflecting on my participation in the Petfood Forum in Kansas, one of the first thoughts that spring to mind is that we, the pet trade, have an expanding range of well-documented ingredients available. Ingredients suppliers are paying more attention to conducting and sharing research with us pet food producers enabling us to make well-documented claims – claims with proven effect on the pet. However, some pet foods still feel the need to jump on the bandwagon of human food trends.
Are super foods an upgrade?
Human food trends are sporadic and some products have escalated into super food status. Super foods that in some cases have little or no proven effect on humans, never mind pets. Super foods that in some cases are no better than the “old school” foods they are replacing. I have not yet seen the use of chia in pet food, but in human food terms it proves an interesting point when compared with the “old school” oats. Chia is praised for its properties to give you the sense of feeling full for a long period of time and slowly release the energy…. exactly like the oats!
So, is it really an upgrade?
Have we made the considerations we need to make?
Furthermore, what is often forgotten both in human food and pet food is the ratio of how much of the product should be consumed to actually have an effect. Often a significantly higher inclusion than is realistic from both a production and costing point of view.
The pet humanization has already been part of the pet trade reality for years, but have we actually taken some time to critically consider how it can be translated into pet food? Is it purely a matter of mirroring the human food trends? Or offering human grade ingredients?
Have we considered that humanization could be transferred to the production process via i.e. human food level quality management and food safety or have we solely made rather primitive parallels to the human food trends?
Name or claim?
We need to relate to whether we are including an ingredient for its name? Does it sound appealing for marketing purposes or does it actually have a proven effect on the health of the pet?
I believe that the pet humanization trend is here to stay. But the human food trends change over time so how will a pet food that is adapted to human food trends life cycle develop? Will it have to adapt to the next human food trend and will this benefit the pet, our ultimate customer?
#petfood #transparency #transparentpetfood #transparentindustry
Our focus: Transparency in pet food and in the pet food industry
This article is part of our overall focus on transparency in the pet food industry. If you want to make sure not to miss out on our articles, shares and comments on industry trends, please subscribe to our newsletter in the box to your right or in the bottom of this page
Read Henriette’s previous article here
