Insect protein: Hype or hope for pet food’s future?
June 9, 2022 – Debbie Phillips-Donaldson
Insect protein has been making a big splash in the pet food and human food worlds for several years now. Though still a nascent category of pet food ingredients its potential to serve as an alternative protein source, alleviating shortages of other protein ingredients as well as promising to be more sustainable, has captured a lot of attention, curiosity, investment, research and media coverage (including by this website and our related publications and conferences).
Stop fake news, beliefs about dog and cat food with games
June 23, 2022 – Tim Wall
Misinformation, fake news, false beliefs and rumors have persistently caused problems for the pet food industry. From dilated cardiomyopathy to by-products to pentobarbital, diverse topics have spawned their own sets of rumors and false beliefs about dog, cat and other pet foods. Along with these specific myths, pet owners often harbor wider misunderstandings about pet food formulation, processing and regulation.
Pet food online searches track human food, other trends
June 23, 2022 – Debbie Phillips-Donaldson
As yet another indication that human food trends impact pet food, recent data from Nielsen IQ shows the influence of consumers’ ongoing focus on health and wellness, their own plus that of their families—including the furry members. That focus has only intensified during and since the pandemic.
Pet food producer price index’s link to retail inflation
June 28, 2022 – Debbie Phillips-Donaldson
It’s well known that pet food companies have been facing rising costs for many materials and services integral to making and distributing pet food: ingredients, packaging materials, transportation, shipping containers, fuel, labor—you name it.
Dog ownership, family composition and household finances
June 1, 2022 – David Sprinkle
In the wake of COVID-19, as Packaged Facts has recently reported in Petfood Industry magazine and at Petfood Forum 2022, a spike in dog ownership among upmarket consumers was offset by pet ownership attrition among less prosperous or more budget-conscious demographics. This dynamic raises the question of whether and how COVID-19 impacts have altered the longstanding association between dog ownership and married-with-children households, and the relative importance of these household composition metrics compared with levels of household income.
