This article was published in the January/February issue of Pet Food Processing. Read it and other articles from this issue in our January/February digital edition.
The pet food aisle today contains numerous options for complete-and-balanced meals that provide essential nutrition for cats and dogs. Even so, today’s pet parents are also looking for a wide variety of snacking options that work together with these meals to improve the health of their furry family members.
“When pet parents want to support specific health concerns, adding functional treats or snacks into their daily routine is a fun and simple way to meet those needs,” said Marjorie Murray of W.F. Young.
“Better overall nutrition through pet food has improved drastically over the past few years,” said Marjorie Murray, senior brand manager for W.F. Young, based in East Longmeadow, Mass. “It is easier now for consumers to feed their pets high-quality food for overall health support. However, when pet parents want to support specific health concerns, adding functional treats or snacks into their daily routine is a fun and simple way to meet those needs.”
With the market for pet supplements at around $2.7 billion, Eric Emmenegger, head of retail and product marketing at Nulo, Austin, Texas, said it is obvious pet parents want to offer their furry family members additional sources of nutrition, and this extends into the treat category as well.
“[Pet parents] are out seeking any kind of addition to their pet’s diet to help with skin and coat, heart health and joints, and it’s not always something that needs to be addressed in a pure supplement,” he said. “They want to give it in additional forms and try to make incremental improvements.”
Pet parents love the experience of treating their pets and how it improves bonding, Emmenegger said. Murray echoed this idea and said since pet parents are going to offer their pets treats, choosing options that improve mobility, boost the immune system, enhance skin and coat health, and support needs in senior life stages are an ideal way to treat pets without feeling guilty.
Evaluating the market
Nulo offers jerky treats in skin and coat, heart health, mobility, gut health and puppy health varieties for canines as well as in skin and coat, heart health and kitten health varieties for felines.
Emmenegger said the company developed this line because they noticed consumers naturally gravitating toward products that offer a secondary benefit. The company had already introduced a line of jerky treats, so the combination of a functional benefit with their jerky products was a natural extension. Including Bacillus coagulans probiotics was another important ingredient in the products to help support the digestive tract.
Additionally, Nulo also offers a line of yak chews for dental benefits, and the company’s functional granola bars are often used by retail stores to draw consumers into the supplement aisle and make that section of products more approachable.
Pet parents love to indulge their furry friends — functional treats allow for treating with less guilt.
|Murray said the trend toward the humanization of pets has deepened in recent years, and it has created a bigger need for high-quality, ethically sourced human-grade pet products. She also said growth in the flexitarian and vegan movements is leading pet parents to choose plant-based foods for their pets, in part to avoid protein or dairy allergies as well as to address concerns about the environmental impact of meat and poultry production.
As a result of this demand for meat-free offerings, W.F. Young has launched Honest to Goodness Pet Snacks as a product line providing health benefits from plant-based ingredients. The line includes a variety for mobility made with flaxseed, apple, cinnamon and turmeric and a variety for digestive health made with pumpkin, cinnamon and chicory root. Its skin and coat recipe features coconut, flaxseed and turmeric, and its calming variety includes chamomile, ginger and L-Tryptophan. Blueberries, carrots and broccoli are featured in a senior support formulation, and cranberries, pomegranate and apple cider vinegar are used in a formulation designed to boost immunity.
“Our key customer is looking for wholesome formulas with ingredients they know and understand that provide functional health benefits,” Murray said. “Pet parents also value products prepared with sustainable, traceable ingredients in eco-friendly packaging.”
Chilliwack, British Columbia-based Petcurean’s Go! Solutions Benefit Chews are made with certified upcycled ingredients and provide benefits for digestion and gut health, skin and coat enhancement, weight management and joint health. The line also has a variety with limited ingredients for sensitivities.
“Our Go! Solutions collection of recipes is specifically designed to support the unique dietary needs and preferences of dogs and cats,” said Natalie Williams, nutrition manager for Petcurean. “We recognized there was an opportunity in the market to expand the collection with the launch of Go! Solutions’ first functional treat offering for dogs.”
Wild Things Trainers from O.T.I.S. come in four flavors — bison, venison, salmon and elk.
|O.T.I.S., which stands for “overcoming trauma and inspiring survivors,” is a company based in Hayden, Colo., that works to support facility dogs at children’s hospitals. It has rolled out a treat line called Trainers that comes in four flavors — bison, venison, salmon and elk. These treats include ingredients such as DHA from salmon oil to support joints, cognitive development, focus and memory.
The products were developed with the unique needs of highly trained facility dogs in mind, and these needs include support with cognitive development and focus to aid with training. Additionally, these working dogs must typically maintain a certain weight based on stature and be bathed weekly, giving them specific weight management and skin and coat needs.
Charlotte, NC-based WagWell offers human-grade freeze-dried dog treats in beef and cheese varieties. The company started in the supplement space offering ahiflower omega chews in formulations to address allergy and itch, calming and mobility needs. William Smolen, co-founder and chief executive officer, said the goal after launching those products was to then develop single-ingredient treats because many pet parents have noticed how legacy treats often contain excessive ingredients that may not necessarily promote optimal health.
“Each treat is rich in protein and free from corn, wheat and soy, addressing common pet sensitivities while promoting overall health,” Smolen said. “The freeze-drying process preserves essential nutrients and ensures both safety and flavor retention.”
Product differentiation
The treat category is crowded, so brands are looking to differentiate themselves through formulation techniques and ingredient use.
Nulo uses a cold-pressed process to help lock in nutrition and flavor. Emmenegger added that by using a jerky format the company keeps a high level of animal protein in the product. Additionally, maintaining nutritional balance is essential.
Nulo offers its Functional Jerky Bites in skin and coat, healthy heart and puppy health varieties.
|“The meal has to give [pets] the nutrition they need for a long, healthy, vital life,” Emmenegger said. “We also know that treating is something that is going to happen, so the treat has to be appropriately formulated so it’s not providing too many calories or throwing off the complete and balanced equation.”
Smolen said the freeze-drying process helps WagWell differentiate its treats and lock in nutrition and flavor, and he said the market for treats isn’t necessarily about a single hot ingredient but rather about the quality of what the products contain.
“It’s about the alchemy of everything and how you’re putting that together — having that freeze-dried process while incorporating the best, high-quality proteins and vegetables,” he said.
The company is currently working on developing a freeze-dried food recipe that will be complementary to the freeze-dried treats.
Murray said pet parents should look for products that provide Omega 3 fatty acids to support joint, brain health and immune health, and to this end Honest to Goodness uses marine microalgae oil. She added that yeast cultures are also important sources of postbiotics. Ingredients like pumpkin for digestive health, chamomile and ginger for calming, cranberry and pomegranate for immunity, and coconut and flax for skin and coat health are also beneficial.
Williams said some ingredients that can be used in functional snacks include fruits and vegetables and fiber like psyllium husk. Chicken cartilage can be a source of chondroitin for healthy joints, and salmon is a source of Omega 3 fatty acids, as are marine microalgae oil and flaxseed.
Yet with all the health benefits treats can provide, Williams also emphasized the importance of moderation.
“Limiting treats is key to ensuring optimal nutrition,” said Natalie Williams of Petcurean.
“Whenever pet parents are incorporating treats, toppers or other non-complete and balanced foods, it’s important to stick to the ‘10%’ rule,” she said. “This means that no more than 10% of a pet’s daily caloric intake should come from non-complete and balanced foods. Limiting treats is key to ensuring optimal nutrition.”
O.T.I.S. develops its treats from proteins sourced from the United States, New Zealand or Canada, and are farm-raised and farm-finished. Both O.T.I.S. and Petcurean’s Go! Solutions treats use upcycled ingredients. Go! Solutions’ products use apples, carrots and sweet potatoes that would otherwise go to waste, and O.T.I.S.’ products contain upcycled flaxseed and chickpeas.
Snacking into the future
Looking ahead, pet parents will continue to seek minimally processed products with functional benefits that are low in calories. Emmenegger said a focus on the needs of specific types of breeds will also likely be a priority.
Creating offerings that address more targeted health benefits will also be a driver, Murray said.
“Successful innovation in the functional treat category must continue to embrace unique, proven ingredients that support a variety of health concerns,” she said. “For example, moving beyond more common joint maintenance to targeted needs like cognitive support, heart health, and digestive and immune system help will drive growth.”
Petcurean’s Go! Solutions Benefit Chews provide dogs with functional benefits including digestion and gut health, skin and coat, weight management and joint health, as well as a variety with limited ingredients for sensitivities.
| Source: PetcureanMurray said focusing on sustainable ingredients and eco-friendly manufacturing processes will also be important.
“Unique opportunities for exploration could be with products that grow with conservative amounts of soil or land, organic options, manufacturing processes that reduce waste, ethical sourcing and locally grown ingredients,” she added.
Williams echoed this idea saying the opportunity to include more sustainable ingredients in treats will also shape the category.
Read more about pet treat products.
