Petfood Forum 2025 sessions, as in most years, will offer many data points and insights on the pet food market, especially related to ingredients. The following data are from concurrent session tracks scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday, April 29. (Petfood Forum 2025 takes place April 28-30 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.)
Highlights from 2025 global pet economy report
Diana Rosero-Pena, equity research analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, will provide data from a new global pet care report her company has compiled for this year, including:
- The global pet industry (all pet products and services) is projected to expand more than 45% to exceed US$500 billion by 2030.
- Pet food specifically is expected to increase nearly 7% this year and then about 5% annually to reach US$146 billion by 2030.
- The U.S. will remain the largest pet food/pet care market, with Europe accounting for about one-third worldwide.
- China’s pet care economy could grow at a 6% compound annual rate through 2030, outpacing GDP projections of 3.5%.
- That would mean growth in China of more than 50% to US$49 billion, with Alibaba dominating e-commerce.
- Investments from U.S. digital native Chewy and, to a lesser degree, Amazon may help pet e-commerce grow as much as 87% to US$58.4 billion by 2030, accounting for nearly 30% of the pet economy.
From new U.S. pet food ingredients study
In late 2024, the Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER), American Feed Industry Association, North American Renderers Association, Pet Food Institute and individual IFEEDER contributors collaborated to update a 2019 report assessing dog and cat food ingredients and sales volumes, ingredient scope and trends, economic benefits to the farm economy and the role of ingredient circularity in the U.S. The results draw from a study analyzing NielsenIQ data for in-store and online pet food sales, combined with an analysis of product nutrient profiles.
Lara Moody, executive director of IFEEDER, will present the results during Petfood Forum. She recently offered a sneak peek. The report:
- Covers 602 ingredients in wet and dry food and treats for dogs and cats.
- Analyzes 9.28 million tons of products worth US$13.2 billion.
- Shows that dry dog and cat food represent the largest volumes at 55% and 16%, respectively.
- Reveals dry dog food and dog treats represent the highest values at 38% and 12%, respectively.
- Indicates chicken and chicken-related ingredients are the most used ingredients in pet food products. Shows fishery-based ingredients have seen the largest increase in use, more than 100, in the past five years.
Sustainable pet food proteins from wild game
Another Petfood Forum session will cover fresh African wild game from South Africa as a source of sustainable protein. Angelique Myburgh, nutrition and development specialist for Montego Pet Nutrition, will share data on the topic including:
- Game meat production contributes US$493.7 million annually to South Africa’s gross domestic product.
- The country has 14 million cattle but 20 million game animals, a number that continues to grow.
- South Africa’s game meat industry aims to increase production from ± 60,000 to more than 100,000 tons annually.
- Another industry goal is to enhance compliance of game meat fit for human consumption from 10% to 85%.
- Finally, the industry intends to create more than 200,000 jobs by 2030.
