The North American Pet Products Association estimates that Americans spent $58.1 billion (about R$289 billion) on pet foods and treats in 2022.
Wednesday is a German Shepherd/Siberian Husky mix dog.
When she adopted her, her owner Amy Barkham was already determined to feed her Wednesday (“Wednesday”, in English) with top-quality dog food.
He researched the internet, read labels and reviews to select British pet food brands that were nutritionally balanced, grain-free and offered the benefits of premium ingredients, including free-range chicken and “equal vegetable flavours and plants”. your dog’s ancestors.”
Barkham is 22 years old. He describes Wednesday as “the greatest reserve of energy he has ever known.”
But the dog showed no interest in the grain-free food his owner bought. In fact he preferred to play with his stuffed pumpkin.
After a month, Wednesday began refusing food completely. Her hunger strike ended up causing her to lose a lot of weight.
Barkham didn’t know what to do. He was already paying more than 50 pounds (about R$313) for a 15kg bag of dry food from the brands he had chosen, every five weeks or so.
What more could your dog want? Would it cost even more?
The answer: Wednesday wanted human-grade dog food.
The price of this type of food can make your owners cry. But, with the increase in offers available on the market, human-grade foods are attracting more and more interest from dog and cat owners.
“Human degree” is not a new expression. But his definition was initially imprecise.
For some consumers, “human grade” simply meant better quality or indicated the idea that if it’s good for humans, it must be good for animals, too.
But in the last two years, new standards have been set in the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union. And these standards have brought stricter regulations.
“Human grade” is animal feed produced in a manner consistent with current standards for food products intended for immediate consumption by humans.
Barkham discovered this option in 2022, during a dog show in London. She was introduced to fresh, delicately cooked dog food from British brand Tuggs, which includes visually recognizable vegetables such as broccoli and carrots, as well as proteins from cod, pork, beef, chicken and even insects.
He endorsed both the advertised nutritional benefits and its commitment to sustainability. And even though she had a hard time imagining her dog accepting a food with insect protein after rejecting premium dog food, Barkham decided to take a chance.
I really liked Wednesday.
Produced fresh and quickly frozen, dog food now arrives frozen in plastic bags and thermally insulated outer packaging.
Barkham now sets aside £150 a month for direct debit for food delivery and Wednesday snacks – the food alone costs around £90 every four weeks.
The increase in spending is significant. But for Barkham, it’s worth making room in your budget for high-quality food that meets all of your dog’s needs and yours. Even if this involves “some small sacrifices, such as ordering food for home delivery fewer times a month”.
The biggest problem is that “since we live in a small apartment, with a small refrigerator, now we only have one drawer for human food.”
Many dog and cat owners have observed brands around the world advertising nutrient-rich pet foods that don’t seem all that different from human foods. Some examples are the Perfect Bowl, Smalls, The Farmer’s Dog and Elmut brands.
More and more pet owners are ordering these products, many of which are made by subscription-based e-commerce startups. So they give in to the irresistible desire to offer their beloved pets the most complete and nutritious food they can buy, also ignoring any financial logic.
Chef for pets
The North American Pet Products Association estimates that Americans spent $58.1 billion (about R$289 billion) on pet foods and treats in 2022.
In the United Kingdom, the UK Pet Food organization estimated British spending in 2023 at £3.8 billion (about R$23.8 billion).
But the modern pet food industry, despite its enormous size, is relatively new, not to mention the premium pet food industry.
“For much of the 20th century, pets were fed kitchen scraps, such as meat and bone scraps, which were more easily and cheaply available,” says PhD researcher Natalia Ciecierska-Holmes. She studies alternative diets for dogs and humans at the University of Adelaide in Australia and the University of Nottingham in the UK.
The researcher says that a popular food for dogs in the 1920s was canned horse meat. And pet food companies were only founded in the 1950s, selling dry pet food derived by extruding dry and wet ingredients to form a nonperishable product.
Ciecierska-Holmes recalls a pivotal moment that pushed people to start looking for alternative pet foods: a global commercial pet food recall in 2007.
That year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found wheat gluten contaminated with melamine and cyanuric acid in the supply chain, resulting in the deaths of 14 cats and one dog.
“This recall has created distrust in the pet food trading system [e gerou] the desire for greater control over the origin of these ingredients”, explains the researcher.
Today, many pet food manufacturers advertise specialized ingredients and offer mixes for special diets. Many offer meats from exotic animals, “such as venison, rabbit and kangaroo, which are considered more sustainable” in the countries where they are sold, explains Ciecierska-Holmes.
One of the first premium trends in this market segment was “raw food”. “Raw feeding began as a home-made diet, in which owners sought their own ingredients,” according to the researcher.
This practice has been commercialized, and today “consumers can choose the convenience of pre-prepared raw food from specialty raw pet food brands and an ever-increasing number of ‘pet butchers.'”
The best for man’s best friend
How people purchase and prioritize certain products in the huge pet food market, according to Ciecierska-Holmes, is defined by changing sociocultural perspectives on how humans view animals.
Economist and professor of global nutrition Sean B. Cash, from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, in the United States, is of the same opinion.
According to him, owners’ growing concern about how to feed their pets is essentially due to the increasing anthropomorphism or “humanization” of their animal companions.
Cash and his colleagues studied what factors determine pet food purchasing decisions. They discovered what they called “health priority disparity.”
In short, nearly half of pet owners surveyed prioritize purchasing healthy food for their pets, to the detriment of themselves.
Now, in addition to touching the hearts of owners who only want the best for their companions, luxury pet food brands are also trying to advertise exactly the same benefits that they themselves would want in their food.
They label their products with terms like “human grade,” “natural,” “grain-free” and “holistic,” but many of these labels are unregulated, according to Ciecierska-Holmes.
In the pursuit of differentiation, brands present unique selling propositions. They range from creative, research-based offerings such as fresh preparations, alternative proteins and transparent supply chains to niche markets such as gluten-free pet foods, kosher Passover food and turkey, spinach and cranberry foods.
As Cash says, they offer “not just the turkey, but the entire Thanksgiving feast.”
Harry Bremner is the founder of Tuggs, the brand adopted by Amy Barkham for Wednesday’s dog food. For him, the success of sales of “human-grade” pet foods reflects the trend toward promoting wellness in humane industries.
Bremner says some consumers are interested in brands that prioritize sustainability as a reflection of their lifestyle concerns.
Consumers know that pets “have a carbon footprint similar to their own…and this [os] it is leading to the purchase of more sustainable products,” he explains.
Dinner time
Consumers who order pet food selected by real chefs and delivered to their home every week can feel satisfied with their purchasing decisions, especially when their dogs and cats eat it with gusto.
This is important for people’s peace of mind, but experts point out that this trend may be more for the well-being of humans than that of their animal best friend. Many of them believe that a more expensive specialized diet does not always guarantee better nutrition.
Some trends in the feed market, such as whole foods, are based on veterinary research.
“The health benefits have been documented [do sistema imunológico] of whole dog foods, compared to processed foods, such as kibble,” explains veterinarian Patrick Mahaney, from California, USA, referring to a clinical trial published in 2022.
But it’s not so easy to know for sure whether human-grade pet food is actually promoting pet nutrition in ways that other foods can’t, or even creating fewer carbon emissions on its way to the bowl.
However, increasing sales and the emergence of new competitors in the market demonstrate the growing consumer demand.
For Amy Barkham, the switch was the right choice, despite the high price. It is worth seeing your pet maintain his weight, with his shiny coat and healthy stools and, above all, his happiness.
“Every night at seven, Wednesday starts singing his folk song to remind us that it’s time for dinner,” he says.
*Read the original version of this report (in English) on the site Working life of the BBC.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
