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Food Agriculture Protein Supply

Abstract

Pets are an important part of European culture but their care comes with an environmental cost. Despite awareness of the impact of human diets, the impacts of our companion animals is a lesser known issue. Pet diets tend to be highly processed, are predominantly meat-based and have the same potential for reduced environmental impact in terms of emissions and habitat loss as human diets.

With the predicted continued growth of the pet food industry, new products and manufacturing techniques are emerging that can reduce emissions and land use, as well as awareness programs so individuals can take an informed approach to pet ownership. Solutions developed by manufacturers in Europe include the use of low-impact, novel proteins such as MSC-certified sustainable seafood and insects, as well as optimizing their value chains with sustainable practices.

European manufacturers working to make the industry more sustainable include Helsinki-based Alvar Pet that is working towards zero-emissions throughout their chain of operations. Their use of alternative proteins, renewable energy, recyclable packaging and CO2 compensation　introduces a carbon-neutral product to the pet food market. Other examples include Yora and Ynsect which are making use of novel proteins in the form of insects to manufacture low- impact animal feed.

Main Highlights

• The pet food industry in Europe grew by 2.8% in 2020 to meet rising numbers of pet- owning households across the continent, leading to increased pressure on resources.
• Increased awareness of the environmental impacts of pet ownership result in a growing consumer appetite for sustainable pet food products.
• Pet food manufacturers across Europe are working towards producing zero or low- emission pet food products through various means, such as the use of novel proteins, carbon offsetting, and low impact industrial practices.
• With investor backing, startups and established companies such as Alvar Pet, Yora and Ynsect are able to research sustainable alternatives to current production methods to bring a lower-impact alternative to the consumer market.
• By using short value chains to minimize the environmental and financial costs of production, manufacturers can develop a sustainable product that is profitable and acceptable to conscious consumers.
• Alternative, low-impact proteins can be used to produce a nutritionally complete pet food that is much less resource intensive than standard pet foods.
• Solving the pet food problem has applications to the human food market and human health, bringing alternative foods and low-impact production methods to the economy.

Case Overview

With 70.5 million dogs and 80.8 million cats living in EU homes, the pet food industry had a market value of £21.8 billion in 2020. According to the University of Edinburgh, an area twice the size of the UK is needed to feed the global pet population and annual greenhouse gas emissions from the industry totaled the equivalent of 106 million tonnes CO2.

There are several additional negative environmental outcomes associated with the industry such as deforestation and intensive water use. The main issue with pet food stems from the fact that the two most common pet species – cats and dogs – require a meat-based, nutritionally balanced diet that relies heavily on animal agriculture.

Animal agriculture is a known challenge in terms of climate change mitigation and many Europeans are adopting a diet that relies less on meat and more on plant-based ingredients to reduce their dietary impact. Plant-based diets aren’t recommended for obligate carnivores such as cats, and the shorter digestive tracts of domestic dogs are not optimized for exclusive consumption of starchy, plant-based foods.

Pet food sustainability and value chain issues and solutions

There are many companies working across their value chains to make pet food a more sustainable industry without sacrificing the nutritional value of their products. The process involves reevaluating the life cycle of their products to find low-impact solutions for ingredients, packaging, manufacturing, distribution, and end-of-life disposal. These life cycles are complex and pose many opportunities to improve environmental impacts and sustainability.

One company making strides in sustainable pet food is European DTC manufacturer Alvar Pet who attracted €1 million in VC funding from Finnish and Swedish investors to create a zero- emissions pet food product. Launched in April 2021, the product uses sustainable, nutritionally appropriate ingredients. Ilari Haataja, co-founder and CEO of Alvar Pet, accuses “incumbent” manufacturers of not reacting to sustainability challenges associated with the industry.

Haataja states “we felt that these [sustainability] topics should be addressed and we founded Alvar with the mission to minimize the carbon pawprint. We started addressing the pawprint impact of food consumption that accounts for over 50% of the emissions”. The company’s business model takes a full-system approach by using short value chains, localized manufacture and distribution, lower-impact ingredients and carbon offsetting.

Another company leading the way in sustainable pet food is Yora. They have developed an insect-based pet food for cats and dogs that is nutritionally balanced and has a much lower environmental impact than conventional proteins. Using Hermetia illucens grubs as an alternative protein leads to significant reductions in resource use. For example, according to Yora it takes 2,100m2 of land and 1,120,000 liters of water to produce 10kg of beef protein, whereas the Hermetia grubs use only 45m2 of land and 54,000 liters of water to produce the same yield.

Resource use to produce 10kg of beef, chicken, and Hermetia illucens protein

Ynsect, a French company, has produced a low-impact animal feed that is designed for pets, livestock and fish. Their product requires 100 times less agricultural land for 0.9kg of protein than 0.9kg of animal protein, uses 25% less water than traditional animal agriculture, and does not use antibiotics. Comparisons between insect-based pet foods and traditional foods have found that emissions can be reduced by 96%, making a strong case for the use of alternative proteins.

80% of the world’s antibiotic use is within the animal agriculture sector, contributing to antibiotic resistance that has strong negative implications for human health. Raising insects for consumption eliminates the need for antibiotics and reduces the pet food industry’s contribution to this public health crisis. This effect can be magnified by introducing such alternative proteins to the human food market, thus reducing reliance on intensively farmed mammals and fish.

Companies in the sustainable pet food sector plan to expand by attracting further investment. Alvar Pet, for example, will not ship over long distances, so their plans include developing manufacturing plants across Europe, and Yora have expressed an intention to expand their product range and market. With increased pressure from consumers, the alternative and sustainable pet food market is expected to grow exponentially, reaching $117.8 billion USD by 2032.

Impact Statement

As societal awareness of the environmental costs of pet ownership grows consumers are increasingly looking for alternatives to standard commercial pet foods. There is an appetite for pet foods that have a lower environmental impact and are nutritionally balanced. For cats and dogs – the most widely kept pets in Europe – this means looking for alternative ingredients and full-systems approaches that consider the needs of pets, the sustainability of their ingredients, and the impact of their entire supply and distribution chain.

In Alvar Pet’s case, a business model designed to be carbon neutral has allowed them to produce low impact products and account for any remaining carbon emissions through carbon offsetting using sequestration and compensation. In comparison, some companies have decided to go the plant-based route with their pet food products with 1.6% of dogs and 0.7% of cats globally following a strict plant-based diet. Plant-based diets for pets are controversial with veterinary professionals arguing for and against their use, and many believing that plant-based pet foods are nutritionally inadequate.

Ingredients commonly used in plant-based pet foods include peanuts, legumes and edible seeds as a source of protein. Plant-based ingredients may have a smaller carbon footprint, but questions surrounding the suitability of a plant-based pet diet mean that, for now, plant-based pet foods are not considered a viable alternative for many.

Systems Perspective

Solving the pet food problem involves a systems-wide approach to supply, production and logistics and there is a consumer demand for sustainable alternatives. Yet, as pointed out by Ilari Haataja, many long-standing companies are lagging behind this culture change around the way pets are fed in Europe and other wealthy parts of the world, and are failing to innovate low-impact solutions for the consumer pet food market. Rather than waiting for attitudes to change among manufacturers in general, some European manufacturers are paving the way for sustainable pet food production that has wider application to the human food industry and human health.

In doing so, they have been able to work towards carbon neutrality and innovate insect farming techniques that have a much smaller environmental impact to traditional pet food proteins. As pet ownership increases the need for sustainable alternatives can be effectively addressed using sustainable business models such as Alvar Pet’s, and alternative proteins like those used in Yora’s and Ynsect’s products.

Alternative proteins such as insect proteins have been consumed by various cultures historically as a naturally low-impact resource. In Europe, attitudes around consuming insects are generally unfavorable, and many pet owners are put off by the idea of feeding insects to their pets. If these attitudes can be overcome, insect proteins may provide a novel solution to challenges faced by the pet food industry as well as human food supply, and can help reduce the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains.

Links

Ilaria Haataja, co-founder and CEO of Alvar Pet:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilari-haataja/

Alvar Pet website:
https://alvarpet.com/en/frontpage/

Yora website:
https://www.yorapetfoods.com/

Ynsect website:
http://www.ynsect.com/en/

Consumer concerns around plant-based pet foods:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/za/blog/animals-and-us/202002/what-should-vegetarians-and-vegans-feed-their-pets

Edible Insects Most Likely Coming To European Supermarkets Soon:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2020/04/04/edible-insects-most-likely-coming-to-european-supermarkets-soon/?sh=25b2f0232f0e

Consumer concerns around plant-based pet foods:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/za/blog/animals-and-us/202002/what-should-vegetarians-and-vegans-feed-their-pets