Rising trends in veganism have extended beyond human diets, sparking a debate about plant-based diets for dogs. UK pet owners are increasingly focused on their pets’ health and the environmental impact of pet food. This has driven demand for high-quality, plant-based options. Are vegan diets genuinely healthier for dogs and other popular domesticated animals, or is the issue rooted in the poor quality of traditional meat-based pet foods that have been the only option for consumers for so long?
Market Insights
Rising consumer interest in sustainability, animal welfare, and eco-friendly alternatives appears to be driving demand for plant-based pet and livestock feed. “The global Plant-Based Pet Food market is expected to reach a valuation of USD 26.9 billion by the year 2024, accelerating at a CAGR of 7.8% from 2024 to 2034.”
The Future Market Insights report on the growing demand for plant-based pet foods indicates that one of the key factors in this growing market is down to the increasing number of pet owners adopting a vegan lifestyle. It is thought that the human vegan population is set to continue to increase. The Vegan Society reports that in 2021, research by Appinio found that 63.5% of Brits had bought vegan food items in the past year and 50.8% were willing to replace meat intake with plant-based alternatives. As Vegan and vegetarian pet owners are seeking diets that align with their lifestyle choices, plant-based pet food manufacturers could possibly expect continued growth in the animal feed sector.
Environment versus pet health
Consumers who are keen to support sustainability trends with interests in more environmentally friendly options for their own diets and the diets of their pets are also said to be a driving force in the new wave of plant based alternative options for your animals. Research reported by The University of Bath suggests that “plant-based products caused lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions than the animal products they were replacing”.
Manufacturers must factor packaging into their product formulations and budgets. if targeting a vegan conscientious customer base, the packaging needs to reflect that, which may increase design and production costs. Traditional meat-based products benefit from economies of scale, making them more cost-competitive, which is another serious consideration in a relatively new emerging market. However, potential savings from reduced reliance on livestock-based ingredients may help offset some costs.
For consumers, switching from traditional animal feeds to plant-based, requires considering animal health and nutrient requirements according to breed, age and type of animal. While plant-based diets use up to 92% less land, 61% less water and create 85% less greenhouse gases than meat-based dog foods – is your dog getting all they need to stay healthy? This is the topic of discussion in The Veterinary Nurse article, where the long term research regarding animal health and welfare is shown to not be substantial enough “although early studies have found significant nutrient deficiencies in both cat and dog vegan diets” and according to pet owner advice on The Blue Cross’s website, “some pets won’t tolerate a vegan or vegetarian diet”.
The commercial dog food industry in the US alone has grown significantly over the past century. Fifty years ago, feeding dogs “table scraps” was the norm; however, as dogs went from “pets” to “family members,” the dog food industry convinced dog owners that feeding table scraps was inappropriate. Commercial diets grew in popularity because nutritional science made dog food seem complicated; veterinarians recommended them; effective marketing convinced people they were ideal; and socio-economic conditions made purchasing processed dog foods highly acceptable. Today most dogs eat commercial diets, which consist largely of by-products from the human food industry. There is a growing obesity epidemic among humans, and this is mirrored by our fat cats and dumpy dogs. Ukpetfood.org states that according to the vets they included in their study “50% of dogs, 43% of cats and 31% of small mammals and 9% of birds are currently overweight or obese.”.
This obesity issue is undoubtedly caused by many factors including the poor-quality meat “slurry” based diets we have been giving our pets which is why it is encouraging that more focus and research is being concentrated on the demand for appropriate food labelling and transparency along with accountable sourcing – whilst vegan and plant based animal feed is currently unregulated in this country, if it’s prompting discussion that can only be beneficial in the long run?
Diets for Dogs: A Healthy Alternative?
The controversy continues, can vegan diets be recommended for dogs and cats? According to the U.S. National Research Council’s (NRC) recommendations on nutrient requirements for dogs and cats shows potentially problematic elements in plant-based diets caused by insufficient protein, unbalanced fats and general nutrient insufficiencies. For example, it has been shown that exercising dogs that consume unbalanced plant protein diets can develop anaemia and a marked decrease in red blood cell haemoglobin levels but will return to health if the diet with vegetable protein is balanced properly.
Manufacturers must consider that sourcing high-quality, non-GMO, and organic plant-based ingredients could be more complex than sourcing traditional animal by-products, ensuring a complete and balanced diet is more challenging and costly in these plant-based formulations especially for new smaller start-ups, particularly as traditional animal feed products have established distribution networks in pet stores, agricultural suppliers, and online retailers.
Market growth would suggest that this is becoming an ever more popular trend, not only supporting the owner’s own dietary goals but supporting environmental factors too – but the question should be directed at your vet.
Summary for Manufacturers
The cost of manufacturing plant-based animal feed differs significantly from traditional meat-based feed due to several factors. Meat-based feeds often benefit from lower costs as they use by-products from the meat industry, which are readily available and processed at scale. In contrast, plant-based feeds rely on high-quality protein sources like pea protein, lentils, and soy, which can be more expensive to source and process. Additionally, ensuring a nutritionally complete plant-based formula often requires supplementation with essential amino acids (such as taurine for cats) and fortified vitamins, further increasing costs. While plant-based feed production may have lower environmental and ethical costs, the higher price of raw materials, specialised processing, and stricter regulatory requirements can make it more expensive for manufacturers to produce at competitive prices. However, as demand grows and supply chains adapt, economies of scale may help reduce costs over time.
If you’re launching or considering a plant-based product line, contact our team at +44 (0)1733 371221 or email us at sales@josephflach.co.uk. While we don’t provide advice on which botanicals to use, we can help source the ingredients you need.
The post The Rise of Vegan Pet Diets: Healthier Choice or Marketing Hype? appeared first on Joseph Flach & Sons.