Legally, pet food is classified as ‘feed’. The term doesn’t provoke excitement - in fact, it arguably evokes a practical, almost mechanical process, like feeding a forge with coal to keep it burning.
Yet the pet food sector is getting further and further away from this rather mundane image. Creativity is at the heart of the industry – creativity in processing methods, in functional benefits, and in market positioning. Pet food can be so much more than just ‘feed’ for pets.
Plant-based and cultivated pet food
The regulatory landscape for cultivated meat is famously thorny, with long wait times from key regulators in the EU and US often reported to be dissuading investors.
Enter cultivated pet food. Start-up Meatly achieved Europe’s first cultivated meat approval for pet food quite some time ago. It was able to do so by pet food’s different regulatory frameworks in comparison to human food.
Pet food is on the cutting edge of food innovation in Europe, proving that it is possible for cultivated meat to enter the European market. Because of Meatly, the UK’s pets have access to something that most human consumers have not tried: cultivated meat.
Furthermore, some companies are making plant-based varieties of pet food, although they are not currently as widespread as plant-based human food. Companies like Benevo and V-Dog are already selling vegan pet food.
The ‘humanisation’ trend
As pets in the UK reduce their carbon pawprints by eating cultivated meat, pets globally are embracing other typically human habits.
Owners are increasingly viewing their pets as part of the family, which is known to marketers as the ‘humanisation’ trend. As well as indicating the psyche of pet owners themselves, it is significantly influencing the pet food sector.
Now, pet food is often expected to provide health benefits beyond simple sustenance.
Pet food now taps into a number of human trends - there are high-protein pet products, and pet food targeting mobility, immunity, weight control, and digestive health.
In particular, pet food focused on gut health is on the rise, seen in the explosion of patents in the area – according to analytics platform Innova Market Insights, patents for pet food for gut health rose by 63% between 2024 and 2025.
Creativity in pet food
It is no secret that pet owners are becoming more discerning, their bonds with their pets growing stronger.
This has provided an opportunity which the sector has already grabbed with both hands. It has embraced boundless creativity, using pet food as a conduit for innovation.
But this is nothing compared to what it could do.
These innovations go beyond feed, beyond simply shovelling fuel into a pet to power it as if it were a machine. Instead, they show care for the pet’s wellbeing. Above all, they are pushing the boundaries of what pet food can be.
What’s on the map for pet food?
With pet nutrition undergoing such a remarkable transformation towards personalisation, functionality and even indulgence, our upcoming Positive Nutrition Global Broadcast will dive into the fast‑growing Performance Pet Food category.
Join us to learn more about technologies and breakthroughs influencing tomorrow’s pet diets – from cultivated meat’s role in the category to the growing crossover between human and animal nutrition in areas like probiotics.
Register for this session here today.
