What fluid consumer sustainability views mean for pet food

New consumer survey reports on perceptions and purchasing behaviors related to sustainability offer valuable insights for pet food and treat brands.

Tim Wall Dall E4 Sustainability Pet Food Cans
Created by Tim Wall using DALL-E 4

A large majority, 77%, of global consumers surveyed agreed that living a sustainable lifestyle means enjoying the good things in life, vs. having to deprive themselves. That’s the good news for sustainability advocates and companies, including pet food and treat brands, marketing and selling more environmentally products.

The not-so-good-news is that these consumers’ perceptions of sustainable products in certain categories being better (than conventional ones, presumably) are declining, and in most regions of the world, fewer people are buying sustainable products.

The data highlights were recently released in the “Healthy & Sustainable Living Report 2024” by GlobeScan, a global insights and advisory firm specializing in sustainability (along with trust and engagement). While the survey and report do not seem to include pet food or pet care among the product categories surveyed, they still offer good information and insights into what consumers around the world are thinking and feeling about sustainability.

Changes in sustainable purchasing behaviors

Conducted in July and August 2024 and encompassing 30,000 consumers in 31 countries, the survey is done annually by GlobeScan. The new report compares some 2024 data with the same questions and metrics from 2022.

For example, while the percentage of consumers saying they have purchased a sustainable product in the past month increased to 60% in Africa and the Middle East, up from 51% in 2022, the percentage decreased in every other region: Asia-Pacific, 53% in 2024 vs. 55% in 2022; Europe, 46% vs. 53%; Latin America, 45% vs. 51%; and North America, 42% vs. 43%. Some of those declines were slight, but some were significant.

Similarly, in every product category included in the survey, ranging from cars to cleaning products to electronics, home furnishings and even financial services/banking, the perception of sustainable products being better fell. In the category closest to pet food, packaged food/snacks/beverages, 57% of the consumers surveyed in 2022 said sustainable products were better, but in 2024, only 49% did. Nearly the same level of decline happened in personal care products, 57% compared to 50%.

The report gives some clues to these changes. “Interest, engagement and behaviors related to sustainable living are declining in some parts of the world as brands pull back on sustainability communication due to anti-greenwashing regulations while the cost-of-living crisis continues,” it reads.

Ah, the cost factor of sustainable products

It’s not surprising that cost concerns cme up in the report, though it’s curious that there are no data on attitudes like whether consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products, or for ones in certain categories. (Did the survey not include that type of question?)

We have seen consumer data on this in pet food/pet care. Another newly released study, “Haustier-Studie 2024/2025” by Takefive-media and reported by Interzoo, showed fewer than half, 48%, of nearly 2,000 German pet owners surveyed are willing to pay more for sustainable products. Still, that’s much higher than Euromonitor International found in a survey of global pet owners conducted in early 2024, in which only 12 to 16% said they’re willing to pay more for pet foods that are environmentally friendly, sustainably raised or produced, locally sourced or manufactured, or with a fair trade claim.

For 44% of the German pet owners surveyed by Takefive-media, price remains the most important purchase criterion, though 40% place increasing importance on sustainability in pet foods.

Food for thought for pet food brands

Despite the falling sustainable product perceptions and purchases among the consumers surveyed by GlobeScan, the percentage saying they feel greatly affected by climate change has steadily increased since 2020, from 31% then to 45% in 2024. That is influencing their daily habits, with 46% of people affected by climate change saying they’re avoiding food waste, for example, while 34% are using less water, 27% are changing how they choose the products they buy and 22% are changing the kind of food they eat (among other actions and habits).

This creates an opening for brands to develop and offer new products and services, GlobeScan advises. “Understanding how consumers are shifting their daily behaviors because of climate change will have strategic implications for brands and will provide new opportunities for the design and innovation of adaptation-focused products and services,” the report says. How might that apply to pet food and treats?

Another finding offering food for thought for pet food and treat brands: The GlobeScan survey found younger families with children are “driving the sustainable living agenda while younger consumers [without children] are disengaging.” People with children report being more likely to engage in sustainable purchasing behaviors such as avoiding products that are bad for the environment (56% vs. 47% for people living without children), buying from responsible brands/companies (53% vs. 41%), buying natural/organic products (49% vs. 38%) and buying products in returnable/reusable/refillable containers (45% vs. 38%).

Do those data possibly hold implications when it comes to younger pet owners and/or the growing number of pet owners who consider their pets their children?

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