Production of quality pet food kibble is no easy feat. Of course, we’ve been producing this type of food for nearly 70 years and it makes up nearly 70% of the market. But we still have much to learn about pulling all the key elements together and producing a consistent-quality product, and when you add the scrutiny that pet food is now under from consumers, regulators, and supply chain challenges it can get complicated pretty quickly.
It all starts with consistent, quality ingredients. Many of the pet food battles today are being fought along the ingredient choice line. For the producer, one type of ingredient processes quite differently from another, and adding meats to the equation complicates things even further. While the process of pushing raw ingredients through an extruder sounds straightforward, the composition of those ingredients can have a profound effect on what comes out the other end:
