Ingredients and Trends in the Pet Food Sector in 2025 (Part 1)

This reflects the growth in the companion animal population and the humanization of pets. As a result, consumers are concerned about and researching the ingredients used in their pets' food and are more demanding about product quality. Consequently, the dog and cat food sector is constantly readjusting, driven by global trends and changes in habits that influence consumers' behavior. 

The pet food market tends to evolve based on the results of seeking new products within the market through technological improvement, constant search for innovation, and stepwise transformations in consumer behavior. By 2025, expectations focus on sustainability in terms of food and biodegradable and renewable packaging. In this way, the formulation of food with insect protein and the use of eco-packaging increase. However, is using insects in pet food just an emerging trend or a long-lasting one?

According to the United Nations (UN), the world population growth is expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050. Along with this, strategies are being implemented to reduce the competence of protein sources for humans and meet the global demand for proteins for pets; one of these alternatives is insect proteins that aim to reduce competition. Thus, with the good acceptability by dogs and cats of food formulated with this ingredient, it is believed that their search tends to increase, making the projection in insect farming a long and lasting path, even because it is a sustainable source due to its farming model and low use of water resources.

Focusing on sustainability, using insect-based proteins represents a step towards eco-friendly formulations. Still, this effort loses its impact if food is not packaged with materials that minimize the environmental impact. That is why many companies choose packaging made of sustainable materials and production processes with fewer pollutants. This packaging, produced from organic materials such as recycled paper or bioplastics, naturally decomposes in the environment, reducing plastic waste and showing its commitment to sustainability and ecosystem preservation.

Recycling, the use of nutrients, and the struggle to meet the protein needs of the population are important issues that make poultry viscera meal a widely used nutrient in the formulation of dog and cat food as the main source of protein. It is an ingredient rich in amino acids, minerals, essential fatty acids, and a sustainable one due to the use of inedible parts by humans that are thrown away in the environment. 

As a result, manufacturers of poultry viscera meals are always working to enhance their product quality and meet the nutritional requirements of the pet food industries. A widely adopted alternative for the best utilization of these ingredients is enzymatic hydrolysis, which breaks big proteins into tripeptides, dipeptides, and free amino acids, facilitating absorption and the use of these molecules by the animal organism.

Therefore, by 2025, it is expected that the amount of food made of poultry viscera meal enzymatic hydrolyzed increases, aiming at the different benefits these meal peptides provide to animal health; because of their low molecular weight, they can be easily absorbed and used by the organism. Bioactive peptides strengthen the immune system and offer additional functions, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the most recognizable characteristic is its hypoallergenic property.

As the poultry viscera meal enzymatic hydrolyzed has peptides with bioactive activities, it is the main ingredient used in the formulation of food adjuncts used in diets to treat gastrointestinal disorders, hypersensitivity, and food intolerance, therefore, its use tends to increase even more.

These characteristics make hydrolyzed proteins and insect meals the most promising alternative in the pet food market by 2025. 

References
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By Josiane Volpato, Ingrid Caroline da Silva, Isabela Bogo y Fernando González
Source: All Pet Food Magazine

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