A recent headline on a website covering the human food industry caught my eye, because it mentioned demonized ingredients. I immediately thought of a parallel in pet food, where certain types of ingredients have long been demonized by some pet food rating sites and other self-appointed “experts” online or on social media, as well as consumers and even pet food companies themselves.
Yet the article on human food, based on new consumer survey data from Innova Market Insights, revealed surprising findings about not just ingredient perceptions but also long-held beliefs about consumer food preferences and trends. For instance, “only 36% of North American consumers describe their approach to healthy eating as actively limiting ingredients deemed harmful,” wrote Louis Gore Langton on FoodIngredientsFirst.com. “A substantial share of shoppers admit to rarely scrutinizing product labels.”
Another example from Innova, which will be presenting the survey results at the IFT First trade show in Chicago July 13-16, concerns “natural” foods and “clean labels,” popular trends and buzzwords for quite some time. More than a third (37%) of the consumers surveyed said “they would forgo natural flavors if the alternative offers superior taste,” Langton wrote.
What gives? Has everyone been fixated on specific food trends and purchasing habits pursued by small minorities all these years, inflating them into more than they are? Or are consumer preferences merely shifting, especially as food prices continue to climb? Maybe both? Is the same happening with pet food?
Some pet owners financially challenged, but commitment to premium endures
I can’t answer all those questions here, but I think the current economic climate has some impact. Lu Ann Williams, global insights director for Innova and quoted by Langton in the article, seems to agree: “Our research shows that affordability and enjoyment are strong drivers of food choice, and while demonized ingredients are a concern for consumers, it isn’t necessarily changing how they shop and eat.”
More and more, affordability is key with pet owners, too. A Packaged Facts survey of U.S. dog and cat owners conducted in November 2024 showed 68% were somewhat or very concerned about rising prices for pet food; just two months later, in a similar survey, 42% said they had been challenged by the high cost of pet food over the preceding 12 months. That ranked highest as a challenge, though it barely edged out health care at 41% and veterinary services at 39%.
However, just 21% of respondents said they had switched the pet products they buy due to high prices, and that’s for all pet products, not just pet food. Also, data from Bloomberg Intelligence showed U.S. sales of premium pet products still outpacing those of mid-priced and value, though projections indicate value-priced products will keep growing through 2030 (with premium continuing its dominant share).
Bottom line: Some pet owners are definitely feeling financial pain — but not all. Many still feel compelled and committed to feed their pets the best they can. Which brings us back to how much they investigate and worry about the ingredients in the pet foods they buy or are considering.
Pet owner surveys say …
A survey by Kerry, an ingredients company, in 2021 revealed up to 90% of U.S. pet owners agree that it’s important to read ingredient labels before purchasing a pet food or pet treat. Such a high percentage seems very positive and indicative of pet owners being more discerning label readers than are most consumers about their own food labels. But, besides the fact that the data is several years old now, it spoke to intent rather than actual behavior; agreeing something is important to do isn’t the same as actually doing it.
It’s difficult to find data on how many pet owners do read pet food labels, but a more recent survey, from 2024, helped get at the question. Surveying 1,000 U.S. dog owners, Get Joy, a “holistic dog wellness company,” found that 39% characterized themselves as very confident in knowing the ingredients in their dogs’ food, with 44% somewhat confident. Those figures far outweigh the “not very confident” at 14% and “not confident at all” at 3%. Yet, when the survey queried further, 58% of respondents could name only three ingredients in the dog foods they buy.
Outside of how many pet owners read labels, another survey corroborated the Get Joy one in terms of respondents’ confidence in interpreting them. Yummypets, an online pet community, and Pets International magazine surveyed 800 pet owners in Canada, France, the U.K. and the U.S. earlier this year, and 79% expressed some level of confidence. On the other hand, that means 20% didn’t feel at all confident. U.S. consumers were most likely to express a high level of confidence, at 34%, contrasting with French pet owners, with only 14% feeling very confident. (I don’t think the survey asked follow-up questions to confirm how many ingredients these pet owners could actually name in the pet foods they buy.)
Also, these pet owners expect certain things from pet food labels: namely, honesty and transparency. Sixty percent of respondents said those factors are very important; if you add in those saying honesty and transparency are just important, the overall figure rose to 88%. Respondents in the U.S. were most likely, at 68%, to say they’re very important.
Finally, the respondents identified parts of labels they find confusing or misleading, with claims such as “natural” or “premium” topping the misleading list for about 40% of the pet owners. Sources of confusion included nutritional claims (31%), ingredient lists (29%) and images on packaging (20%).
Demonization on the wane?
That circles back, in a way, to demonized ingredients, though it seems surveys aren’t asking pet owners about these as often anymore, and/or pet owners aren’t naming them. Or, best case scenario, attitudes toward ingredients like rendered proteins and other by-products, corn, soy and the like have actually shifted, as organizations like the North American Renderers Association, Pet Food Institute and others (and pet food companies themselves) continue to educate consumers about the nutritional quality and, in many cases, sustainability of such ingredients. And again, people’s financial situations may also be playing a role.
