Everyone has been talking a lot lately about “the new normal,” but what does that really mean? The world is still largely in Phase 1 of vaccinating against COVID-19. Some students are back in their classrooms while others continue to learn remotely. Many employees are still working from home or under individual companies’ pandemic protocols. The way consumers shop has changed, perhaps permanently, and every industry, including pet food, is still trying to work out what that means for their business models. It’s clear that the myriad challenges that began in 2020 are unlikely to be completely resolved in 2021, no matter how diligent we all are, and I don’t know that anyone would call the current state of affairs “normal,” new or otherwise.
So, what should we focus on instead?
Rather than trying to get to a nebulous state of equilibrium that no one can quite grasp yet, the pet food industry would be best served by concentrating on evolution. That’s why March's articles focus on tying the challenges of the past and present into the successes of the future.
One safety-focused feature highlights recent changes in employee and facility safety (p. 16) that depend on the industry’s ability to pivot and adapt to continue producing as an essential business. Another discusses food safety (p. xx) and how automation technologies are paving the way to ease pet food customers’ minds about the products they’re interacting with in ways they never have before (e-commerce isn’t going away).
Our market highlight of wet pet food (p. 26) goes over how the category has evolved from simple canned options and grown to encompass products in a myriad of forms and at all price points.
Finally, our contributor columns, from a report on AAFCO’s latest meeting (p. xx) to the future of alternative proteins in pet food (p. 30) to a market report on the M&A landscape (p. xx) all provide insights into how the industry continues to morph into whatever’s needed for success.
From this perspective, perhaps the “new normal” is the same “normal” pet food has always employed — constant change, constant growth, constant evolution.
