I recently heard a longtime pet food professional say he was seeing some softening in the U.S. market (not least due to pet food inflation, which has caused some pet owners to “trade down” to lower-priced foods). For that reason, even though he’s a strong proponent of sustainability, he thought some companies might now be considering it as more of a “nice to have” rather than “must have” focus or strategy.
Yet other people in the industry have wondered if that’s the case; if so, they consider it more of a short-term situation. In the long term, they say, no company can ignore pursuing more sustainable operations and products.
Which is probably why we continue to see announcement after announcement from companies about their sustainability and similar efforts, such as ones related to animal welfare.
From new reports and tools to unique energy initiatives
Recent examples of sustainability and environmental announcements include:
- Mars just issued a report, “Sustainable in a Generation,” showing that the overall business lowered greenhouse gas emissions 8% across its full value chain (scopes 1, 2 and 3) in 2023—driven at least partially by the petcare division scaling “climate smart” agriculture through partnerships empowering farmers in the grain supply chain to “embrace regenerative agriculture practices.” The reduction also came about from reformulating pet food recipes with lower-carbon-intense ingredients.
- For a more specific example, Mars’ Sheba brand announced a video series demonstrating its commitment to coral reef restoration.
- Speaking of lower-carbon ingredients, the Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) released a “Blueprint for Sustainable Animal Protein Sourcing,” working with experts from companies like Earth Animal and building on the four-factor framework for animal protein PSC developed in 2021.
- In a rather unique initiative, Purina (Nestle Petcare) launched a program to capture kinetic energy from pet and human footsteps and convert that into renewable electricity.
- Open Farm achieved B-corp. certification, verifying the company has met high standards for social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
As part of the supply chain, pet food industry suppliers are a key contributor to sustainability efforts, so not surprisingly, many have also revealed new ways they’re improving. For instance, Mondi unveiled the next generation of its recyclable packaging, while DSM-Firmenich and Bestmix Software partnered to undertake a lifecycle assessment (LCA) of animal food and feed. That follows on Kemin Industries’ announcement in May to do its own LCA. These are just a few examples.
When will purchasing habits catch up?
The companies are pursuing these initiatives for business reasons, of course, including that more and more consumers are demanding more sustainable companies and products. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re willing to pay more — at least not yet — for more sustainable products; a Euromonitor survey of pet owners globally showed that 65% are concerned about climate change but only 12% to 16% are willing to pay more for pet foods with claims like environmentally friendly, sustainably raised or produced, locally sourced or manufactured, or fair trade.
But perhaps if the economy continues to stabilize and people feel more confident about their spending, their purchasing behavior will eventually start to catch up with their purchasing aspirations. Meanwhile, most companies are not waiting for that to happen and instead are forging ahead with their sustainability initiatives.
