ORRVILLE, OHIO — Long gone are the days of treating pets as animals; today’s consumers have evolved beyond that to think of these domesticated animals as best friends and children, fueling demand for more humanized — or even super-humanized — products. One such brand staying at the forefront of this evolution is Milk-Bone. From releasing new, super-humanized dog snacks to rethinking humanization entirely, The J.M. Smucker Company’s Milk-Bone brand is determined to provide consumers with the means to spoil their fur babies.
It’s safe to say the humanization of pets is no longer a trend — it’s an expectation in today’s market. Realizing this, Smucker made a significant leap in February 2023 by divesting several of its pet food brands to zero in on cat food (through Meow Mix) and dogs snacks (through Milk-Bone) and ramping up its humanization strategy.
Since then, Smucker has optimized its existing products by incorporating more humanized flavors and attributes, as well as launched new products through partnerships with well-known human food brands. To accomplish this, the company has melded its beloved human food brands with its famous Milk-Bone dog treat brand.
“The continued trend of humanization and consumers desire to provide their pets with the very best has created high expectations for the products they purchase,” said Jasen Cusick, director of Dog Treats Marketing at Smucker, in an exclusive interview with Pet Food Processing. “In dog treats we know consumers are looking for high quality and new ways to engage and celebrate the unique bonds they have with their dogs.”
Teaming up
In April 2024, Milk-Bone first teamed up with coffee and donut company Dunkin’ to create a new dog treat. The result was a limited-edition Vanilla Glaze Flavor Biscuit treat in the shape of a donut inspired by Dunkin’s famous donuts, allowing pet owners to share the Dunkin’ experience with their dogs, as many already take their pups through coffee drive throughs. The treat included a yogurt flavored coating and was topped with sprinkles to mimic a typical donut.
“We continue to see great momentum for our seasonal and occasion specific offerings, largely because they provide a fun way for consumers to celebrate with their dogs,” Cusick shared. “We wanted to find a way to bring that feeling of fun to a more everyday use case and the Dunkin’ collaboration became a great way to do just that. We obviously have a long-standing relationship with Dunkin’ as a company, and both organizations were excited about the idea.”
Milk-Bone’s Peanut Buttery Bites are formulated with real Jif peanut butter, creating a super-humanized dog snack.
|Later in the year, Milk-Bone then collaborated with Jif® Peanut Butter to release another humanized treat, this one seeking to appease dogs’ love for peanut butter. The product represented the first dog treat made with real Jif peanut butter. In addition to peanut butter, the treats also contained bits of bacon, all in a convenient bite-sized treat.
“With Milk-Bone Peanut Buttery Bites, we had a few interesting things in play,” Cusick revealed. “First is the innate love dogs have for the flavor of peanut butter. We know that while dogs love the flavor, peanut butter isn’t commonly an everyday treat, so we were encouraged to develop a solution that brought that joy of peanut butter to dogs every day. Next, is the passion Jif fans have for their favorite peanut butter. And, when we looked at the market, we saw a number of dog treats that feature peanut butter flavoring but didn’t actually have peanut butter in the product. When you put these pieces together it was really the perfect collaboration.”
The Peanut Buttery Bites were originally launched in Walmart stores as a limited-edition offering, but consumer demand (and a passionate love for peanut butter) propelled Milk-Bone to make the treat a permanent offering. The brand is also launching the product through other retailers.
Leveraging well-known brands
Coming off the heels of these partnerships, Milk-Bone sought out additional partnership opportunities, this time going outside the Smucker brand portfolio. With Easter also just around the corner, the Milk-Bone came upon an opportunity with Just Born, Inc.’s Peeps® brand, well-known for its fluffy, chick- and bunny-shaped marshmallow candies that are a consumer favorite around Easter time.
The new Milk-Bone Peeps Artificially Marshmallow Flavored Dog Biscuits aim to help pet owners celebrate Easter with their fur babies.
|“As we reviewed our innovation and seasonal plans for this year we saw an opportunity to expand upon our Easter offering. In considering different opportunities, we quickly gravitated to a potential Peeps collaboration,” Cusick detailed.
Through their collaboration, the brands launched Milk-Bone Peeps Artificially Marshmallow Flavored Dog Biscuits, marking Peeps’ very first dog treat. The product is a marshmallow flavored, crunchy dog biscuit available in three iconic shapes: Milk-Bone’s bone shape, and Peeps’ chick and bunny shapes. Adding even further to the humanization element, the treats come packaged in a one-lb bucket, reminiscent of an Easter basket.
“The Peeps brand is obviously synonymous with the season and the collaboration was a fun way to extend the spirit of celebration to our beloved dogs with treats that take the trademark Peeps shape and offer a marshmallow flavor to further delight,” Cusick said.
Continued humanization
These partnerships demonstrate the continued value of humanization in the pet food industry, a key part in Smucker and Milk-Bone’s strategy. According to Cusick, the brand is seeing humanization shift as pet owners celebrate holidays and special occasions with their pets.
“Consumers are looking for new ways to engage and connect with their dogs and they appreciate brands that are committed to having a regular pipeline of fresh concepts to help them do that,” shared Jasen Cusick of The J.M. Smucker Co.
“Consumers are looking for new ways to engage and connect with their dogs and they appreciate brands that are committed to having a regular pipeline of fresh concepts to help them do that,” Cusick explained. “Collaborations like those that resulted in our Peanut Buttery Bites and Peeps products will continue to play a role in our broader strategy to support our commitment to delivering on this need.”
Looking to the future, Cusick revealed that Milk-Bone will continue to seek out partnership opportunities in an ultimate goal to provide pet parents and their dogs with innovative products.
“Importantly, we always want to ensure that any collaboration makes sense — both from the brand perspective and also for the pet parents and their dogs,” he concluded. “Our innovation strategy is grounded in understanding what pet parents and their dogs desire and that will continue to be the foundation of all our planning.”
Keep up with the latest pet food trends on our Trends page.
