PET Food Processing - December 2018 - 12

TRENDS

"Brands need to consider what the overall
message is and make sure the packaging
represents that in a unique way."
Lexie Berglund, The Pound Bakery

Beer Paws founder,
Crystal Wiebe, says
craft-beer-loving humans have embraced
her line of beer dog
treats that use spent
brewers' grain.
Beer Paws

events that we feel are good for the product, be it an artsand-crafts fair or a whiskey festival," she says. "We look
for places where people are going to get excited about
getting a dog treat that ties in with their favorite local
brewery. And we want them to see we are real people
who know what we are putting in our treats and not
some faceless company from overseas."
Once a brand has its consumers' attention, it helps to
have a unique story or mission that customers can relate to. Consumers will remember a good story and keep
coming back.
Julie Gasper, director of new products and innovation for Three Dog Bakery, a packaged treats company
in Kansas City, Missouri, has nearly 50 bakeries that dog
lovers and their pets can visit that offer an array of pastries and treats baked onsite, as well as shelf-stable packaged treats that can be purchased at Three Dog Bakeries
and various other retailers.
"Our packaged treats business complements our bakeries nicely and provides a way for us to share some of the
most-loved treats away from the bakery since we know

that pet parents love to treat daily, but a daily bakery visit
isn't always possible," she says. "We believe the opportunity to visit a bakery just for dogs and then be able to carry
that experience outside of the bakery is a differentiator."

A healthy option
Pet owners are concerned about their dog or cats' health
more than ever before, which has created a huge interest in functional pet treats. "Whether it's an immunity
boosting formula, joint support treat, or snack that is
naturally calming, functional treats are more popular than ever and continuing to grow," Berglund says.
"Keeping a clean ingredient panel is important as well.
We make it our focus to use as few ingredients as possible in all our treats or only use ingredients that consumers can easily recognize and trust."
Gasper notes that while pet owners expect their
functional treats to provide the health boost advertised, that doesn't mean that health doesn't matter for
indulgent treats. "For those treats, pet parents still want
to provide the healthiest option possible. This often includes avoiding artificial flavors, colors or preservatives
as well as added salt or sugars," she says. "Grain-free
often plays into this also, even with consumers that
don't feed exclusively grain free." With the treat options
available today, there is no reason why a pet owner
can't find delicious treats for their pet that still meet
their baseline requirements for health, whatever those
might be, Gasper adds.

The art of ingredients
Lucy Postins, founder and chief integrity officer for
San Diego-based The Honest Kitchen, believes there's
a growing focus for manufacturers to provide clean and
responsible sourcing of ingredients as well as environmental conscientiousness in product formulation.
For example, The Honest Kitchen's extended line of
Beams' fish skin treats for dogs uses skins from two different fish species rather than just one. In this way the
company has been able to help prevent the excessive
depletion of ocean fish stock numbers. "We're also laserfocused on gentle production methods like dehydration
to help maintain the natural benefits of our raw ingredients," Postins says.
Berglund says that with the pet industry's nutritional
PET Food Processing - December 2018

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