ATLANTA — As the pet food industry continues to battle an increasingly constricting protein supply chain and rising consumer concerns about sustainability, the industry is keeping its eyes peeled for alternatives to traditional protein sources, from insects to novel sources like alligator. 

Fortunately for the industry, companies like Boulder, Colo.-based Bond Pet Foods are taking the charge, tapping the process of precision fermentation. This process is nothing new in the food world as it’s been used to develop a range of ingredients, from natural flavors to vitamins and more, however precision fermentation is gaining traction in pet food for its ability to create nature-identical animal proteins without the use of animals.  

Rich Kelleman, chief executive officer of Bond Pet Foods, shared Bond’s process in creating these nature-identical, sustainable proteins during the American Feed Industry Association’s (AFIA) 2025 Pet Food Conference held Jan. 28. 

“Now meat in itself is a beautiful thing for pet health,” Kelleman said. “It gives our dogs and cats the essential amino acids they need to thrive and, on the whole, it’s largely digestible and bioavailable. With that, it's no surprise that the amount of meat that our pets eat isn’t trivial. If America’s dogs of cats were their own country, their consumption of meat products alone would rank fifth in the world.

“Its creation comes with a host of environmental, animal welfare and safety challenges to satiate this growing demand,” he added. “Increasingly, as the pet population turns from hundreds of millions to nearly a billion worldwide, and global events, disease outbreaks, and competition with the human supply chain grow, its availability may be constrained in a not-too-distant future. That said, there are ways to secure animal proteins that can help address the pressures and ensure the availability of high-quality protein for years to come.”

To create its “brewed” animal proteins, Bond takes a DNA sample from an animal, in this instance a chicken, then isolates the sample to get a specific protein strain that is responsible for producing skeletal muscle protein. This is then paired with brewer’s yeast and placed into a fermentation tank. 

The mixture is fed simple sugars, salt, vitamins and minerals and left to work its magic. Once the mixture achieves a specific density, it’s harvested from the tank and then gently dried and ground into a powder. The result is a protein that can be incorporated into a variety of pet food formats including extruded kibble, freeze-dried, dehydrated and baked foods and treats. 

“It has a tremendous amount of flexibility to be incorporated into a variety of different products,” Kelleman shared. “Additionally, a very simple downstream process, no need for purification… The simple downstream process and very simple drying step means that from an economic standpoint, it’s something that is scalable and that can really be incorporated at high inclusion into a variety of different products.”

Currently, Bond is in the late stages of development for its two protein products — a brewed chicken protein and a brewed protein specifically developed for Hill’s Pet Nutrition. 

According to Kelleman, feeding trials have demonstrated the nutritional efficacy of its brewed chicken protein, touting low fat and low ash levels. In fact, the protein has been shown to exceed nutrient requirements for adult dogs set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). 

The protein has also been proven to support gastrointestinal and immune health by creating a more balanced and diverse gut microbiome, and cardiovascular health, as blood cholesterol levels tended to decrease as the inclusion of the protein increased. Studies also showed that the brewed chicken protein touted high digestibility and palatability. 

Regarding the ingredient’s environmental footprint, Kelleman revealed that Bond has conducted two life-cycle analyses, taking into account the ingredient's production process, inputs, energy usage and more. 

“As far as its relative carbon impact, brewed animal proteins hold up fairly well from a carbon intensity standpoint, showing promise to help manufacturers with their sustainability goals and ambitions,” he said.

With all these pluses, Bond continues to inch closer toward regulatory approval, anticipating it will reach the market within the “next couple of years,” Kelleman shared.

“As the FDA (US Food & Drug Administration) really examines, with rigor, our science and other evaluations that we’re submitting, we will be able to have a saleable product for the industry at large to take advantage of,” he added. “We’ve produced 10 metric tons of these animal proteins to date for both the evaluations for the FDA and for our partners to work with, play with, to examine how it cooks and bakes, and really see its value and its utility in respective formulations.”

Looking to the future, Bond is looking to refine the development of its proteins, resulting in ingredients with specific essential amino acid profiles to create more tailored solutions for dogs and cats. 

“We’re excited to have these ingredients available in the near future to help diversify the protein supply chain and offer the industry all the options to incorporate into their pet food recipes,” Kelleman detailed. “We’ve just started to scratch the surface of what these proteins could represent from a nutritional chemistry standpoint in what pet food manufacturers are looking for.”

Read more of our coverage from the 2025 Pet Food Conference.