Food Processing - December 2007 - (Page 26)

pet o wners No optio ask proces t afraid to ns for s four- ors for he spend mo a legge r d fam lthier, safe e, By D i an e r ily me Toop mber s, Ne s. ws & Tr e nd s E d it or It’s been a rough year for the $15 bIllIon pet food industry, with the nationwide recall of 5,300 items and 60 million packages of premium to private label brand pet food. the fDa found melamine in wheat gluten that may have gotten into pet food manufactured by streetsville, ontariobased Menu foods, the largest maker of wet dog food in the americas. fur flew, so to speak, as pet owners mourned the death of their pets and reflected on the quality of food they give to their four-legged family members. not only were there safety concerns, but pet owners learned many premium brands contain some of the same ingredients as private label and that oversight of co-packers in many cases is minimal. there was a consequent drop in dog and cat food sales as consumers fed their pets people food and tried to figure out which pet foods they could trust. now the industry is bouncing back but the conversation is different. Major pet food manufacturers and private label suppliers have joined the “safety first” pack, reviewing their manufacturing practices, suppliers and recipes. Wal-Mart, bentonville, ark., is setting up a stringent audit process. royal Canin usa, st. Charles, Mo., no longer will use vegetable proteins (wheat gluten and rice protein) from China. Iams, Dayton, ohio, now has a policy forbidding suppliers from switching raw ingredients unless Iams okays it. and some companies, like san Jose, Calif.-based natura Pet Products, are planning to buy or build a canning facility to make their own wet pet foods. Many consumers who saw their favorite national brands and private label lines pulled from shelves have turned to premium, natural and organic pet foods. sixty-three percent of all u.s. households – 69.1 million – have at least one pet, according to the american Pet Products Manufacturers assn. (aPPMa). americans own an estimated 74 million dogs and more than 90 million cats. humanization is the no. 1 trend fueling growth in the $43 billion global pet food market, according to global Pet food Industry outlook, a report from new york-based Packaged facts and survey of 500 subscribers of Petfood Industry 26 • FOOD PROCESSING DECEmbER 2007 magazine. treating pets like family outranked packaging convenience and special ingredient foods. two-thirds of pet manufacturers, suppliers, consultants and marketers in the survey identified new products – such as functional ingredients, condition-specific ingredients, humangrade ingredients, hyper-premium products and fresh/baked goods – as the top growth trends. Convenience also drives pet food up until the late 1800s, when the first commercial dog food was invented by british butchers, dogs basically ate whatever their owners ate. today, the pendulum is swinging back somewhat, with current consumer interest in natural and organic dog food (some 5-7 percent of the market, according to aPPMa). natural and organic sales have been rising for some time – 46 percent in 2005 vs. 2004, 36 percent in 2006, and will continue to grow some 25 percent each year until 2010, according to the organic trade assn. (ota). both organic (free of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics or preservatives) and natural products (allows for some artificially processed ingredients) appeal to a price-insensitive segment, which spends some $241 annually per capita to feed their dogs, according to ota. Purina one natural blends are made with natural In just six years, beneful has become the No. 2 selling dry dog food. This year, Nestle Purina rolled out beneful Prepared meals (foreground). WWW.FOODPROCESSING.COm http://www.foodprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - December 2007

Contents Editor's Plate NewsBites Rollout Food Biz Kids Processor of the Year: Mars Snackfood U.S. Mass Production Meets Custom Manufacturing Product Development: Bone appetit! Show Report: Pack/Process Expo and Worldwide Food Expo New Product Profiles Toops Scoops

Food Processing - December 2007

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