PET Food Processing - December 2022 - 13

that the US pet care industry reached a $100 billion
milestone and was expected to grow an additional 6% in
2021. But the industry exceeded expectations and grew
to $123.6 billion - a 13.5% increase. By all industry predictions,
that growth will continue.
Growth will continue across all categories of pet care
- $34.3 billion was spent on veterinary care and products
in 2021; $29.8 billion was spent on pet supplies, live
animals and OTC medication; and $9.5 billion was spent
on services such as grooming, dog walking and boarding.
But the most money in the pet care industry is spent
each year on pet food and treats - $50 billion in the
United States in 2021.
Despite the bullish outlook for the industry in coming
years, it isn't without challenges heading into the future
- including ingredient sourcing, regulatory obstacles
and labor shortages.
" Our challenge with innovation currently is really
about ingredient sourcing - that could be a limiting
factor to innovation in the future, " said Dana Brooks,
president and chief executive officer, Pet Food Institute,
Washington, DC.
Today's ongoing supply chain challenges and concerns
of future product shortages have led processors to look at
ingredient sourcing through a more sustainable lens.
" There's a lot of opportunities to explore upcycling, "
said Seth Kaufman, co-founder and partner at
Bentonville, Ark.-based BSM Partners. " We think the
pet food industry has historically done a great job -
much of it driven by costs - of upcycling byproductbased
materials into nutritious pet food. "
However, upcycling isn't enough to meet the ingredient
sourcing needs of the future. Alongside upcycling
and utilizing ingredients not typically used for human
food, the industry is looking to novel ingredients such
as plant-based proteins, insect proteins and even labgrown,
cultured proteins to fulfill its ingredient sourcing
requirements.
Berkeley, Calif.-based dog food company Wild Earth
announced in October that it has developed a cellularbased
meat broth topper for dogs, which, according to
the company, will be the first cell-based meat product
launched in the pet food industry. The company's mission
has always been to offer " clean " protein, nutritionpacked
dog foods developed without harming any animals
or the environment.
According to Wild Earth, 30% of the meat consumed
in the United States is consumed by pets. The company
aims to use its cell-based pet food products and other
plant-based offerings to ease the environmental impact
of sourcing traditional meats for the use in pet foods
and treats.
" The shortage of protein is going to be the biggest
www.petfoodprocessing.net | December 2022 | PET FOOD PROCESSING 13
challenge for the world going forward, whether it's for
humans or pets, " said John Kuenzi, chief executive officer
and chairman, NQV8, Manhattan, Kan. " Protein that
doesn't compete with the human food supply is going to
be a major component of future ingredient innovation.
I think the ingredient streams for human and pet foods
are going to become very competitive in the future. That
should be at the back of our minds when we think about
what's truly sustainable for our planet. "
However, it's not enough to just come up with new
ingredients to incorporate into pet foods; getting these
new ingredients approved for use in pet food products is
where the true challenge lies.
" When we look at novel ingredients or any type of
innovation in a formulation, our challenge goes back to
the regulatory system that we operate that can hamper,
prohibit and delay bringing in a new product to market, "
Brooks said. " How can we get new innovative ingredients
to market faster? It can take between five to 10
Ingredient sourcing
challenges have
led processors
to become more
creative, including
using upcycled
ingredients, plantbased
proteins and
even lab-grown
proteins such as this
cellular-based meat
broth topper for
dogs from
Wild Earth.
Wild Earth
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP PRODUCTION CHALLENGES?
Source: CRB, " Horizons: Pet Food " 2022
http://www.petfoodprocessing.net
PET Food Processing - December 2022

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