Pet food packaging focuses on customer communication

Packaging remains one of the top ways pet food brands communicate with potential and existing customers, which can be tricky since packaging must convey so much in so little time. In fact, while 94% of consumers said they’re more likely to be loyal to a brand that offers transparency, including clear and accurate product labeling (“12 insightful packaging and printing statistics to know,” Meyers.com, January 2024), consumers have been found to make their at-shelf decisions in as little as two seconds.

Given that, it can be difficult to balance the data that must be on the packaging for regulatory reasons, the information pet owners want to know about the product and the marketing language necessary to make the sale. Here’s how three pet food companies have recently tackled the conundrum:

Nulo’s new packaging leads with benefits and softens the images, bringing a sense of environment to the overall look. NuloNulo: Building on momentum, emphasizing quick consumer connection

In 2024, Nulo posted the strongest sales performance among the top 15 brands sold nationally at retail.

“Our goal in 2025 is to build on that momentum, with an emphasis on our core volume businesses like Nulo FreeStyle,” said Eric Emmenegger, head of retail and product marketing. “Packaging is the primary communication vehicle between brands and consumers. Shoppers spend an average of 20 seconds making decisions at the shelf, so there’s a lot at stake with packaging as the primary source of helpful self-guided information on functional recipes, novel ingredients and added-value claims on resonant issues like functional benefits.

“There was an opportunity to refresh FreeStyle’s designs and claims to address consumer shopping insights,” he continued. “We see this as a strategic investment at a time when our brand portfolio is showing solid gains.”

Figuring out how to make the most of those 20 seconds meant prioritizing messaging on the new packaging.

“Given the brief moment of time to be influential at point-of-sale, we prioritized helping consumers better attribute our premium nutrition with the health and longevity of their pet,” said Emmenegger. “For example, we added lifestyle backgrounds that place the dogs and cats in aspirational environments, adding vibrancy and motion. We also refocused our claims to lead with benefits and outcomes for pets. We want them to quickly grasp that our commitment to high-quality ingredients is directly connected to the wellbeing and happiness of their dog or cat.”

Finally, the company took a fresh look at the packaging’s physical functionality.

“At a time when most companies are pulling costs out of their products, we invested to improve our FreeStyle packaging,” said Emmenegger. “The new medium and large bags now include flat bottoms for improved merchandising, as well as resealable Aplix easy-lock enclosures that are much more user-friendly than zip closures. These improvements did not cost consumers anything, as our bag weights remain the same.”

Primal Pet Foods has unified its design system so that customers can find things like their chosen proteins across the totality of the company’s product lines.Primal Pet FoodsPrimal Pet Foods: After a successful test run, a strengthened brand identity

When Primal Pet Foods launched its Kibble in the Raw line in 2024, it tested a new packaging design.

“We quickly realized the impact that clear, elevated packaging could have on shopper engagement,” said Courtney Louch, chief marketing officer. “That momentum prompted us to take a holistic look at our portfolio and identify ways to build a more cohesive in-store presence. We saw an opportunity to strengthen our brand identity, improve shopability and better communicate product formats and benefits.

“As we focused on brand building and bringing new consumers into raw feeding, it felt like the right time to make the experience easier and more intuitive at-shelf,” she added.

Primal focused on visually unifying its portfolio for consistent communication.

“We leaned into visual cues — especially protein imagery and product photography — to highlight the real, whole ingredients we source and showcase the end feeding experience,” said Louch. “As a protein-forward raw brand, it was important to prioritize those benefits in a visual way to help consumers quickly understand what makes our products different and why it matters for their pet’s health.”

The company also focused on sustainability during its refresh.

“We’re focused on increasing recyclability wherever possible across our portfolio,” said Louch. “With this packaging update, all our freeze-dried recipes are now available in recyclable packaging. While there is still more progress we can make, we believe the recent packaging change represents a step forward in reducing our impact on the environment.”

Primal is already seeing signs that its vision is coming to fruition among consumers.

“Throughout the design process, we conducted consumer testing on multiple concepts to ensure we were selecting the version that most effectively communicated our proposition,” said Louch. “The new design resonated strongly with consumers and performed well in terms of clarity and appeal. In the marketplace, we’re already seeing signs that the refreshed packaging is improving our in-store presence and shopping experience — helping consumers better navigate our offerings and understand the benefits of raw feeding.”

Veterinary Formula felt that it wasn’t conveying its brand message strongly enough with its older packaging, leading to a new look that features some of the company employees’ pets. Veterinary FormulaVeterinary Formula: Telling the full brand story

Veterinary Formula has always had a strong sense of its brand identity, but the packaging hasn’t always reflected that.

“It didn’t reflect the depth of care, expertise and personality behind the company,” said Brent Stern, chief commercial officer at SynergyLabs, parent company of Veterinary Formula. “So, we made the decision to pivot — to ensure what pet parents see on the shelf aligns with what we truly stand for.

“Our brand promise is to be ‘the smartest way to care for your pet,’” he continued. “With this refresh, we aimed to better connect with pet parents on an emotional level. The new design signals that we understand their needs — because we’re pet parents, too. We wanted the packaging to feel both credible and relatable, emphasizing that we share the same commitment to our pets’ health.”

One of the company’s favorite decisions internally involves the employees’ own pets.

“One of the most meaningful aspects was featuring the real pets of our SynergyLabs team on the packaging,” said Stern. “We know how powerful that genuine connection is. In the past, whenever we’ve used our own pets in content, the response has been incredibly positive. So, we launched an internal contest and invited employees to submit their pets to be featured on our packaging. It became more than a design update — it was a celebration of the people and animals behind the brand, supported by a full campaign to share their stories.”

The company unveiled the new packaging at Global Pet Expo, and early feedback has exceeded expectations, according to Stern.

“We were thrilled by the response — not only from our retail and industry partners but from the broader pet care community,” he said. “To top it off, we were honored to receive the Best Rebrand award from BlogPaws, which affirmed that this evolution resonated exactly as we’d hoped.”