On the latest episode of the Trending: Pet Food podcast, Kevin Ryan, CEO of Malachite Strategy and Research and keynote speaker at Petfood Forum 2026, joined host Lindsay Beaton, editor of Petfood Industry, to explore how human wellness trends are increasingly shaping product innovation in the pet food space.
Ryan drew on his background in food anthropology and corporate strategy to break down the consumer mindsets driving demand for raw, longevity-focused and sustainability-oriented pet food products — and why the lag time between human food trends and their pet food counterparts is shrinking. He also offered practical guidance on consumer research methods for companies of all sizes.
Here are 10 takeaways from Episode 107: What do human wellness trends mean for the future of pet food?
1. The lag between human food trends and pet food is shrinking. Trend transfer from human food to pet food has been happening for years, but the timeline is compressing. "That lag time has been slowly decreasing over the years," Ryan said.
2. Raw, gently cooked and ancestral diets are among the most direct transfers. Ryan cited raw and gently cooked formats as some of the clearest examples of human-to-pet trend transfer, noting they reflect both ancestral diet philosophy and consumer demand for visible, whole ingredients — "the carrots, the pieces of meat, all of that."
3. Longevity positioning is an emerging growth area. While pet food has long used life-stage segmentation, Ryan sees significant runway ahead. "You're seeing that concept stretch, just as you are in human food and beverage" — pointing to longevity-focused products as a space with room to grow.
4. Convenience and snackification are reshaping pet food formats. Just as humans have moved from structured meals to on-the-go snacking, pets have followed. "As we have moved from main meals to the snackification of those meals in human food, we've seen the same thing with pets," Ryan said.
5. The human-pet relationship isn't one-size-fits-all — and that matters for trend transfer. Ryan cautioned against assuming all pet owners relate to their animals the same way. "The relationship could also be that of a friend, a companion, a helper, someone seen as a life partner," he said, noting that the nature of the bond influences which human trends migrate to pet.
6. Consumer "tribes" drive distinct product demands. Ryan identified three primary archetypes: the optimizer (drawn to nootropics, adaptogens, performance nutrition); the ancestral consumer (oriented toward raw, paleo and carnivore-aligned diets); and the ethical consumer (motivated by sustainability, upcycling and insect protein). "Those are just a few examples of the consumer tribes whose thinking gets transferred over into the pet space."
7. Consumer segments overlap and shift across life stages. Segments are real but not rigid. "There's definitely overlap, and that overlap may change during the life cycle of either the human or the pet," Ryan said — adding that multi-person households may hold competing perspectives on pet care decisions.
8. Qualitative research should come before surveys. Ryan cautioned against leading with surveys, which embed assumptions and capture idealized responses rather than real behavior. "Deep insight almost always comes through qualitative work first," he said. "Surveys, to me, are best used for quantifying what you already know."
9. Small companies can do meaningful consumer research without big budgets. For startups and smaller brands, Ryan recommends a "snowball approach" — starting with existing contacts and asking each interviewee for referrals. "Ten to 12 conversations of 45 minutes to an hour each is not a huge lift," he said. "At the end of that, you have a much more robust sense of who these people are and what they need."
10. Human and pet food trends will continue to converge. Ryan sees no end to the intertwining of human and pet food innovation. "The closer our pets are to us, and the more they are part of our daily lives — especially for people who work from home — the more impossible it becomes not to feel empathetically connected to them," he said.
Petfood Forum and Petfood Essentials show dates are April 27-29, 2026, in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. To register or stay informed on the latest event developments, go to PetfoodForumEvents.com.
