UK vegan pet food business Omni has rolled out a nutritionally complete cat food with cultivated chicken meat, expanding its growing portfolio of products.
“Cats being carnivores do seem to require certain nutrients that can only be found in animal tissues, this new chicken ingredient represents a virtually infinite, cruelty-free source of this sort of nutrient rich meat," Dr Guy Sandelowsky, the company’s chief veterinarian and cofounder, said in a statement issued to Petfood Industry. "Unlike traditional livestock farmed meat, cultivated meat can also be optimized for health – so more essential vitamins, minerals and omegas, with no more risk of antibiotics residues and other chemicals.”
Omni was jointly established by two businessmen with different professional backgrounds. Sandelowsky is a veterinary surgeon and Shiv Sivakumar is a former investment banker.
Sandelowsky and Sivakumar joined forces to launch the brand, developing Omni’s pet food range in close collaboration with the UK’s Nottingham Vet School and a group of experts on veterinary nutrition. Some of these experts worked with the European Pet Food Industry (FEDIAF) association, according to the UK company.
Omni also said in the statement that the latest development marks a significant step for its “brand partner Meatly’s route to market, as it looks to become both the first B2B ingredient company in the world to sell cultivated meat for pets, and the first to gain regulatory approval for their ingredient in the UK and Europe.”
“Critics have been skeptical about the limited supply and high costs of cultivated meat, but Omni claims it is able to achieve price parity with other popular meat-based products due to it’s patent pending protein chunking technology,” said the UK business.
Omni produces its wet food in the Netherlands and Poland, and aims to increase its sales across Europe, focusing on Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Switzerland.
The pet food start-up said as of March 2024, it has served more than 20,000 customers and achieved more than £2 million (US$2.5 million) in sales, selling dog food made from pulse, algae and yeast protein diets.
Petfood Run expands sales in France’s Réunion
Pet food producer Petfood Run, the company behind the brand Kanéo, is expanding on France’s Réunion island where it is based. In 2013, when the business was established, the French overseas department fully depended on pet food imports. Since then, Petfood Run has captured a 30% stake of the island’s market.
As Kanéo is becoming increasingly popular among Réunion’s pet owners, the brand recently rolled out the islands’ first dry pet food vending machines, local news site Clinanoo.re reported.
Of the around 15,000 tons of dry pet food which are sold in Réunion every year, Petfood Run supplies about 4,500 tons.
Germany’s pet food palatants specialist posts positive quarterly results
German group Symrise has reported significant growth in applications for savory products and pet food in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024.
“The Taste, Nutrition & Health segment, in which Symrise consolidates flavor solutions for food and beverages, pet food and healthy nutrition, grew sales organically by 7.5%,” the Holzminden-based company said in a statement.
Symrise’s Pet Food division also witnessed double-digit percentage growth rates in the first three months of fiscal year 2024.
“The strongest growth momentum came from the Latin America and Asia/Pacific regions," said the German manufacturer. "The addition of capacities in growth markets is continuing and will provide the foundation for further international business expansion."
