In separate reports filed this week throughout several major U.S. newspapers, the trend toward feeding Fido and Fluffy gourmet meals is again on the rise.
David Lummis, the senior pet-industry analyst for Packaged Facts, a market research company, shared, “It is now considered socially acceptable to treat pets as members of the family and to express that by spending lavishly on them, especially when it comes to food.”
An article in the New York Times this week reported that chef-inspired pet foods account for no more than five percent of the pet food market, but that market is considered big. Pet industry experts agree that while the family vacation or car repairs might be scaled back, spending on pets seems to be recession proof.
Bigger pet food companies including the makers of Fancy Feast cat food, Nestle Purina Pet Care, have launched a line of gourmet flavored cat foods such as turkey Florentine. It costs about 20 cents more a can than their Fancy Feast, but is considered a part of their “luxury line.”
Attributed in part to the pet food scare and recall of 2007, wherein gluten and rice proteins from China caused kidney failure and many deaths in dogs and cats worldwide, the face of pet food has indeed evolved and changed.
Christine Hackett, who founded Petropics with her husband, Robert, in 2005, told a reporter, “A lot of midline premium brands, which still have a lot of grain and carbohydrates in them, lost traction to companies like mine.”
Seeking more human grade, higher quality ingredients, many foods for pets are now produced in factories that manufacture canned foods for humans. Included in the upswing toward a more homestyle and delicacy of taste options, pet food company Merrick has introduced their all-American temptations line, featuring titles like Burger Pies and Sweetie Fries, Campfire Trout Feast and Gameday Tailgate.
For more about the article quoted in this piece, visit www.nytimes.com.
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