Pet Food Processing - January 2025 - 12

Snacks with
BENEFITS
Functional treats
provide pet parents
with a way to
reward their pets
while considering
health concerns
at the same time.
©sofiko14-stock.adobe.com
Functional treats provide an opportunity to boost pet health.
Pet parents love the experience of treating their
By Allison Gibeson | petfoodprocessing@sosland.com
T
The pet food aisle today contains numerous options for
complete-and-balanced meals that provide essential nutrition
for cats and dogs. Even so, today's pet parents are
also looking for a wide variety of snacking options that
work together with these meals to improve the health of
their furry family members.
" Better overall nutrition through pet food has improved
drastically over the past few years, " said Marjorie
Murray, senior brand manager for W.F. Young, based in
East Longmeadow, Mass. " It is easier now for consumers
to feed their pets high-quality food for overall health
support. However, when pet parents want to support
specific health concerns, adding functional treats or
snacks into their daily routine is a fun and simple way to
meet those needs. "
With the market for pet supplements at around $2.7
billion, Eric Emmenegger, head of retail and product
marketing at Nulo, Austin, Texas, said it is obvious pet
parents want to offer their furry family members additional
sources of nutrition, and this extends into the
treat category as well.
" [Pet parents] are out seeking any kind of addition to
their pet's diet to help with skin and coat, heart health
and joints, and it's not always something that needs
to be addressed in a pure supplement, " he said. " They
want to give it in additional forms and try to make incremental
improvements. "
12 PET FOOD PROCESSING | Jan-Feb 2025 | www.petfoodprocessing.net
pets and how it improves bonding, Emmenegger said.
Murray echoed this idea and said since pet parents are
going to offer their pets treats, choosing options that
improve mobility, boost the immune system, enhance
skin and coat health, and support needs in senior life
stages are an ideal way to treat pets without feeling
guilty.
Evaluating the market
Nulo offers jerky treats in skin and coat, heart health,
mobility, gut health and puppy health varieties for canines
as well as in skin and coat, heart health and kitten
health varieties for felines.
Emmenegger said the company developed this line
because they noticed consumers naturally gravitating
toward products that offer a secondary benefit. The
company had already introduced a line of jerky treats, so
the combination of a functional benefit with their jerky
products was a natural extension. Including Bacillus coagulans
probiotics was another important ingredient in
the products to help support the digestive tract.
Additionally, Nulo also offers a line of yak chews for
dental benefits, and the company's functional granola
bars are often used by retail stores to draw consumers
into the supplement aisle and make that section of products
more approachable.
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