What is the future for vegan pet food?
The headlines seem to keep coming: “British Veterinary Association ends opposition to vegan diets for dogs.” “Wild Earth launches vegan wet cat food.” “UK vegan pet food brand launches cultivated-chicken cat food.” And, from earlier in 2024, “BioCraft Pet Nutrition named finalist for vegan pet food innovation.” And that’s just a sampling from this year.
Is vegan pet food having a moment? The announcements make it seem so, though it’s important to note that this is still a tiny category. Yet as more pet owners seek to feed their dogs or cats similarly to how they themselves eat, or search for ways to lessen the environmental impact of their purchasing behaviors, vegan pet diets may continue to grow.
Very small human food category, too
While pet food follows human food — or is closely linked to it — in nearly every category and area, the vegan space might be most directly aligned. After all, dogs and cats tend to love meat; and in fact, cats are obligate carnivores (more on that below). The longstanding perception among many pet owners, which persists and even thrives, is that the more meat in a dog or cat food, the better. That’s supported by the many high-meat formulas on the market and their accompanying marketing campaigns.
So, for a pet owner to actively seek to feed a vegan pet diet likely means they, or someone they know well, follows a vegan lifestyle or diet of their own. Or, they believe so deeply in sustainability and the concept that animal-based diets are a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions that they decide they can do their part in addressing that by purchasing vegan pet food.
In that context, it’s worth mentioning that vegans and vegetarians comprise only 5% of global consumers, according to Mintel. We’re talking consumers of human food, and the data point includes vegetarian consumption, not just vegan. It stands to reason that the percentage of pets eating vegan is even lower.
Yet, increasing interest and investments by companies in both human and pet food, along with an expanding body of research, may signal stronger growth in the years ahead. For example, data from NielsenIQ indicated a 23.4% increase in searches for “vegan” and “vegetarian” pet food from 2022 to 2023. In a survey of pet owners in Canada, France, the U.K. and the U.S. by Yummypets and Pets International magazine, 40% said they were likely to purchase pet food with vegan or plant-based ingredients (though 32% said they were unlikely to).
Research shows benefits but has limitations
What does the research on nutritional aspects of vegan diets for pets indicate? At this point, it’s somewhat of a mixed bag. In North America, researchers at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign are among the teams leading the way; their 2023 study showed vegan dog diets met amino acid requirements for energy and digestibility.
And a 2022 study led by Sarah Dodd, Ph.D., of the University of Guelph, surveyed dog owners feeding plant-based dog foods (vegan diets are a subcategory of those) and found the dogs had fewer health problems and led longer lives. Dodd had conducted a similar survey in 2021 among cat owners feeding plant-based diets and found no health or nutritional problems, despite cats’ obligate carnivore status.
Yet, those findings are based on self-reporting by the owners, not objective research. In a May 2024 article in Pets International magazine, Sarah-Jane Molier, BVM&S, BSC, MRCVS, a U.K.-based veterinarian, summarized other recent research on vegan diets and found some issues. Citing U.K. studies similar to Dodds’, she wrote, “The studies claimed that both dogs and cats fed nutritionally sound vegan diets are healthier overall than those fed conventional meat-based diets,” with the owners surveyed reporting fewer health problems and veterinary visits.
“However, there were multiple limitations to both these studies, including their subjective nature and the potential for owner unconscious bias,” she continued. “Additionally, the diets were not fed exclusively; in the case of the cats, around a third may have been hunting themselves, or also eating elsewhere. Furthermore, very few of the results were statistically significant.”
She provided a similar overview of a 2020 Brazilian study. In general, she concluded, “Vegan pet diets are a relatively new concept, meaning there are no large-scale studies on the effect of plant-based diets on health markers dating pre-2020.”
More funding, research needed
Of course, there are many newer, less “conventional” categories of pet food where research is also lacking; low funding for and availability of published companion animal research has long been a source of concern for the industry. In the case of vegan pet food, it may take higher consumer demand — followed by the deep pockets of larger companies looking to capitalize on that demand — to rectify that situation.
Meanwhile, we can keep watching for the announcements from those brave innovators and pioneers trying to pave the way for the nascent category — and for several others.
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