How can your pet brand win over the love of pet parents and leverage the current trends that are shaping the pet food industry right now? And how can appropriate packaging be used to support your growth? For flexible and <a href=”https://www.amcor.com/products/pet-care/emea”>sustainable pet food packaging</a> please check out Amcor!
Amcor’s EMEA Pet Food Marketing Manager, Manuella Teixeira, discusses with us the latest trends that are driving the current pet food packaging market including important topics such as brand transparency, pet humanisation, and sustainability set against the backdrop of the Covid 19 global pandemic.
Sustainability is a continued top trend in pet food and packaging
More than ever, pet parents tend to treat their pets as loyal companions and part of their family. Nowadays pet lovers not only want their pets to be as healthy as possible but also wish to respect the environment. This means higher expectations from pet care products as well as the packaging it comes in.
While priorities like personal health and safety have always been front-and-centre at Mintel, over the past 2 years our latest research has shown that concerns about preserving the environment continue to be a priority among consumers. People want to see increased progress towards a more sustainable solution to packaging which is why our <a href=”https://www.nearshorernd.com/how-to-build-r-and-d-team/#:~:text=A{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20good{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20R{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}26D{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20team{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20needs{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20structures{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20and{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20processes{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20that{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20will,it{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20be{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20local{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20or{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20global.&text=Successful{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20products{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20developed{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20or{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20improved,launched{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20in{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20future{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20business{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84}20strategies.”>R & D teams</a> are continuing to develop that area of concern.
Research conducted by Amcor with 12,000 consumers from 6 countries worldwide showed that 76{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84} of the participants would like to do more recycling than they are doing at present. Above all other options like reusability of materials, the sustainable packaging attribute that consumers care about the most is recyclability.
Increased scrutinisation by pet owners of the sustainability credentials of the pet food they buy – from ingredients and packaging to methods of production – is causing pet food brands to react to their demand for more sustainable solutions to pet food and packaging.
The fastest growing and most popular claim in the EU is ‘Recyclable Packaging’. Between the period of July 2015 to June 2021, pet food launches that claimed recyclability grew from 5{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84} to 14{59d5fe09af3719deb1dce66a591b325aa20119f67775f5bbaa07f200cd03fe84} amid all other packaging launches. While the most common type of packaging for pet food launches is flexible pouches, they carry the least claims for recyclability.
The flexible pouch format is now the leader in the thermally processed food space. It is an effective alternative to glass jars, aluminium containers, and metal cans because it is easy to open, lighter, and convenient to use without compromising on material quality, shelf-life, or product freshness.
Multi-material pouches may have a reduced carbon footprint compared to heavier food containers, however, pouches made to contain heat-processed food or for retort applications like wet food are one of the most difficult packaging materials to make recyclable. In fact, when we made a pledge to have all our pet food packaging recyclable by the year 2025, we were warned by many experts that a high-heat-resistant, recyclable pouch would not be possible.
This type of pouch would need to combine the performance standard required to withstand high-heat sterilisation and to sustain long shelf life. Whereas heat-resistant packaging uses high-performing materials to deliver excellent, long-term food protection it usually requires combining different types of plastics with other materials like aluminium to provide barrier properties. Outer layers of such packaging have been made for years with high resistance PET. Unfortunately, there is no recycling stream currently available for PET-based pouches or bags (so-called ‘soft’ plastics unlike PET bottles that are recyclable).
Amcor launched its world-first Recycle-Ready, HeatReady™ AmLite Heatflex™, retort pouch in October 2020. This award-winning, high-heat-resistant, high-barrier packaging for wet cat food is now available in supermarkets all over the world. The best feature of this innovative mono-PP food pouch is that it can easily be recycled within an already existing plastic recycling stream.
We carry a complete range of recycle-ready packaging solutions suitable for wet pet food and wet or dry snacks and treats that can help meet the demands from pet parents for more sustainable packaging and that communicate this clearly to consumers.
Health benefits are a top priority for pet lovers. ‘<a href=”https://www.petprofessional.com.au/info-centre/pet-humanisation-impact-on-the-pet-industry/”>Pet humanisation</a>’ is a trend that is fueling the tendency of pet owners to extend their dietary preferences to include their pets. As the nuclear family declines, pet brands will be required to cater to this new ‘pet-owner-as-parent’ breed of consumers
