Packaged Facts data presented at the closing “What’s Next for Pet Food?” panel at Petfood Forum 2023 give perspective on the direction of pet food formulation trends, based on the percentage of millennials/Gen Zers who report buying pet foods with specific characteristics, compared with their Gen X and boomer counterparts.
Based on self-reporting by pet food shoppers, 34% of millennial/Gen Z pet parents buy “natural” (excluding certified organic) formulations, compared with 19% of boomers (see Table 1). Although “natural” is notoriously vague as a pet food positioning, more specific spins such as organic, holistic, human-grade and fresh (refrigerated/frozen) exert considerable appeal, both in the pet specialty sector that incubated these trends and across-the-board in mass and e-tail channels.
