6 in 10 households have at least one domestic animal, with dogs, cats and rabbits the most popular furry friends. And our love for these creatures runs deep: half of owners admit to loving their pet more than their partner! Understandably, people want the best for their animals, and this is creating lucrative opportunities for pet food companies. The global pet food ingredients market is set to surpass $20 billion by 2032, as owners are prepared to pay premium prices for premium products. But brands need to prove the quality of their ingredients if they want to build trusted customer relationships.
Thriving at the top end of the pet food market means doing more than just meeting animal feed labelling requirements. Companies need to use their packaging to clearly convey their use of high-quality ingredients, and the benefits they yield, to give animal lovers the confidence they’re making the best choice for their beloved pets.
Under EU law (which the UK still follows), pet food labelling falls under general animal feed legislation – so the same framework governs dog food and cat food as agricultural food for livestock. Unlike human food labelling, pet food labels don’t always list every single ingredient. Instead, ingredients can be labelled by category. For example, pet food labels can cite ‘meat and animal derivatives’ to show the product contains animal-based ingredients. Oils and fats can also be labelled by category. Similar guidelines are followed internationally, in markets like the USA.
Behind the label, there are also regulations on the origin of certain ingredients; although many people don’t find this information. For example, pet food manufacturers can utilise animal by-products from human food – like organ meat, which is nutrient rich, but most people don’t find it culturally palatable – provided the animal is in good health.
There are logical reasons why pet food labelling is broader-brush than human food labelling. Grouping ingredients by category means the packaging doesn’t always need to be updated if the recipe changes – for example, a particular ingredient is not available. Creating room for compliant substitution helps to keep pet food production cost-effective.
It also means that animal feed legislation can be applied across multiple sectors and use cases. There’s no need to create separate policies for different types of pets. And this makes it easier for companies to expand their range into new food types.
As the premium pet food market continues to grow, industry bodies will face new production and packaging regulation challenges. Already, questions are developing around the use of cell-cultured meat in pet food; cellular agriculture investment group Agronomics recently announced the launch of its own dog food brand.
But whether it’s next-generation processes or just using traditional, quality ingredients, clear labelling is essential to helping premium pet food brands grow customer relationships. Transparency and authenticity are key when animal lovers choose what to feed their best friends.
Private Labels
During the past several years, private label brands expanded their share of the European pet food market, with the trend seeming more potent in Eastern Europe. The ALDI press office recently revealed that since 2019, the sales of private label pet food in ALDI stores in Poland have been growing by 20% per year on average. “In 2023, our own wet food brand, Topic, ended up in the top five most frequently purchased products in ALDI stores,” said Luiza Urbańska, a representative of ALDI Polska press office. “Customers bought a total of over 5 tonnes of this food last year.”
Another powerful trend in the pet food market is the growing presence of discount stores in the supply chain. Last year, around 37.5% of pet food in Poland was sold through discount stores, 2.5% up compared with the previous year, ALDI reported, citing a study by Nielsen, a U.S.-based research firm.
Private labels, which are products manufactured by one company for sale under another company’s brand, have acquired nearly a third of the overall value share in Europe, as reported by Circana, a U.S. market research company, in September 2023. This indicates a significant shift in consumer preferences toward more affordable alternatives to branded pet food.
Circana added that in 2022, private-label pet food increased its share of the €10.8 billion (US$11.5 billion) category by 18%, or €3.6 billion (US$3.8 billion), across Europe’s six largest markets: France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the UK and the Netherlands. The tendency registered on the pet food market is consistent with the general development vector of the FMCG market, which is increasingly leaning toward private label brands, Private Brands 2023, a marketing study by GfK, an international consultancy, indicated.
In 2023, private label brands accounted for 22.1% of sales in the Polish FMCG market, which includes pet food. In monetary terms, this was equal to PLN 48 billion (US$11.8 billion). GfK analysts are confident that the growth opportunity is huge, and the private label brands’ share will climb to 25% in 2025. “This development is stimulated not only by the still high inflation but also by the quality, which, according to many buyers, is no different from branded products,” said Michał Maksymiec, retail vertical client director at Consumer Panel Services GfK.
New Rules
The European Union officially enacted new rules on the labelling of organic pet foods in October 2023. Regulation 2023/2419 specifies label requirements needed to sell organic pet food throughout the region, including ingredient specifications and a mandatory organic logo.
The new regulation was proposed by the European Commission following an adoption of Regulation 2018/848, which updated the requirements for organic production. This regulation was enacted in January 2022 and specifies that animal feed can only be labelled as organic if 100% of its agricultural ingredients and at least 95% of its dry ingredients are organic. The commission decided that Regulation 2018/848 should only be applied toward feed for production animals, and not those for pets, hence the new Regulation 2023/2419.
Before the introduction of this regulation, countries established their own national rules or followed private standards that allowed for the use of the term organic. According to the European Commission, Regulation 2023/2419 aims to harmonise all these rules, creating a more cohesive method for labelling organic pet food products throughout the European Union.
Under the regulation, pet foods can be labelled organic in sales descriptions if at least 95% of the agricultural ingredients by weight are organic. Beginning May 1, 2024, pre-packaged organic pet foods that have at least 95% organic ingredients must use the organic logo of the European Union on product packaging. Additionally, the term “organic” must be the same color, font style and size as other indications in the ingredients list.
If products do not meet the 95% requirement, the individual ingredients can be labelled as organic in the product’s ingredients list. Through this method, the ingredients list must also include the total percentage of organic ingredients in proportion to the total number of agricultural ingredients.
Asda Rebrands
Asda has relaunched its pet food ranges – Hero for dogs, Tiger for cats – with a playful look and feel by Stormbrands. The brief was to refresh and modernise Asda’s pet brand offerings in the face of increasing competition. Stormbrands found there’d been a consumer shift from pet ‘ownership’ to pet ‘parenthood’, driving a new level of care for animals, who are felt to be family members. The agency’s creative approach aims to dramatise this unspoken connection.
Stormbrands said softer brand colours mirror the incumbent design, but have been modernised to appeal to younger pet parents. The rebrand has been designed to change customers’ perceptions of an own-brand retail pet-food range, so they can see Asda’s offering can be just as credible and nutritious as branded competitors. As well as finalising the design for all lines across the range, the agency created packaging and brand guidelines to steer its future, plus point-of-sale activation and comms stimulus.
Zoe Phillipson, Stormbrands’ creative director, said: “We wanted to make sure this work delivers against what we’re famous for: energising brands to move mindsets, markets and culture.
We’re excited to see how the new range can change current consumer shopping habits and perceptions of own-label offerings by capturing ‘swing shoppers’ and creating a destination brand for Asda.”
Justine Jackson-Hickling, Head of Own Brand Design at Asda, said: “Stormbrands’ response to reposition and redesign our much-loved Tiger and Hero pet brands was spot on from the very beginning. The clarity of thinking and clear rationale they demonstrated throughout their work was invaluable, particularly given the complexity of the category and range. Their bold and brave thinking really pushed us to see the true potential of these much-loved brands. They have defined a strong, modern and relatable identity for Tiger and Hero that allows us to continue to build strength across our portfolio of own brands.”
Upgrade for US Pet Food Labelling
Pet food manufacturers and distributors in the United States soon may have to disclose the total carbohydrate and dietary fibre content of their products, as part of a once-in-decades review of pet food labelling rules. The new model regulations have been approved by members of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), a nonprofit comprised of representatives of state and federal agencies that enforce animal feed regulations.
AAFCO doesn’t have rulemaking or enforcement authority. Rather, it establishes model rules via collaboration among its members, who can choose to adopt them. The new suggested regulations for pet food, approved in July and set to be formalised Jan. 1, mark their first major upgrade in more than 40 years.
Many of the changes are relatively minor. For instance, an intended-use statement — which tells pet owners whether the food offers a complete diet and for which life stage it is appropriate — will now have to be printed on the lower third of the front display panel on the product’s packaging. Previously, a consumer would have had to reference a nutritional adequacy statement on the package and, if that was not included, assume that the product was for supplemental feeding only.
“There are more formatting changes than substantive changes,” AAFCO Executive Director Austin Therrell said in an interview. “Our goal was not necessarily to create a lot of new information but rather to present it in a way that made it easier for consumers to digest and understand.” Still, Therrell said the requirement to disclose total carbohydrate and dietary fibre concentrations represented substantive changes.
Carbohydrates are a key group of macronutrients found in food for humans and other animals, others being protein and fat. Although carbohydrates are considered to be an essential nutrient for dogs only if they are pregnant or lactating, they still are a useful source of energy. Moreover, many of the carbohydrate sources in pet food, whether they’re grains, potatoes or legumes, contain other nutrients such as fatty acids, vitamins and minerals.
Carbohydrates in cat food have been more controversial than for dogs, though they are now widely accepted as a healthy ingredient for felines, too. A recent review of the literature published last year in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association said carbohydrates provide cats with energy. The paper also concluded that there is no evidence to suggest that high-carbohydrate diets cause feline diabetes, though it added there is limited evidence that low-carbohydrate diets may help diabetic cats achieve remission.
As for AAFCO’s new dietary fibre labelling recommendation, it marks a change from the existing requirement only to disclose “crude fibre” — a calculation method for assessing fibre content that is widely understood to produce less accurate results. Overall, the changes will bring the labelling of pet food products more in line with food products consumed by humans, which, for example, already are required to have total carbohydrate and dietary fibre content listed on their labels.
Pet owners and veterinarians ultimately will benefit from more transparent information. It’s going to give them a better overall picture of the nutritional profile of products. And it’s going to make it easier for veterinarians to recommend products to clients that have the right intended use, for the right life stage of their pet.
