Pet & Animal Food Manufacturers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 1,200 pet and animal food manufacturers in the US produce food for pets and other animals, such as livestock and birds. Product categories include animal feed (cattle, swine, poultry), dog food, cat food, specialty feeds (birds, fish, rabbits, laboratory animals), and rendering and meat byproducts. Animal feed manufacturers account for 77% of companies and 58% of industry sales.
Food Safety
Outbreaks of serious diseases and contaminants related to food safety have affected the livestock production and pet product industries, including pet and animal food manufacturers.
Variability In Raw Materials’ Costs
With narrow margins, pet and animal food manufacturers often struggle to deal with volatile raw materials’ costs.
Industry size & Structure
A typical animal feed manufacturer employs 31 workers and generates about $34 million annually. A typical pet food manufacturer employs 79 workers and generates $80 million annually.
- The pet and animal food manufacturing industry consists of about 1,200 companies that employ 66,000 workers and generate about $56 billion annually.
- Animal feed manufacturers account for 77% of companies and 58% of industry sales. The poultry and swine industries are the largest consumers of animal feed.
- Pet food manufacturing is highly concentrated, with the top 20 companies accounting for 86% of sales. Animal feed manufacturing is less concentrated, with the top 20 companies accounting for about 50% of sales.
- Large animal feed companies include Land O'Lakes, Cargill, and Archer Daniels Midland. Most major pet food brands are owned by large consumer products companies, such as Mars (Pedigree, Iams), Nestle (Purina), and Colgate-Palmolive (Hill's Science Diet).
Industry Forecast
Pet & Animal Food Manufacturers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Dec 3, 2022 - Wet Pet Food May Be Far Worse For Climate
- Wet cat and dog food is far more environmentally damaging than dry pet food, according to research published in the journal Scientific Reports. Pet food is usually based on meat, which has by far the heaviest environmental footprint of all foods. Researchers found that a 10kg dog eating about 500 calories a day of dry food would result in 828kg of CO2 emissions a year, but 6,541kg of CO2 a year when fed a wet diet. The scientists suggested pet food could be made greener by using alternative proteins such as insects. The CO2 emissions from insect production can be 10 times lower than for regular meat. The researchers also said cutting the provision of protein and fat would help, as all the diets analysed provided more of both than is recommended for dogs and cats.
- The toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS have been found in some popular pet food packaging. Research has established the potential for PFAS in packaging to contaminate the food within. PFAS are found in the blood of almost every American, and tests have revealed their presence in pets, risking their health as well. Many animals mature and age seven or more times faster than humans, which may cause them to develop health problems from exposure much more rapidly, according to research firm EWG.
- A new processing facility in Connecticut is turning past-expiration food into animal feed. Pallet loads of past-expiration pies, sacks of bad potatoes and trays of spoiled popcorn in individual bags go through multiple filtration systems to strip away packaging and impurities. An airtight processing tank and a 600-degree drying system then converts the separated food products to animal feed. The goal is to divert the material from the trash stream. Organic waste from homes, restaurants, school and office cafeterias, supermarkets, bakeries, breweries, and food manufacturers accounts for an estimated one-third of all garbage.
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will review its policy for approving animal feed ingredients following complaints that long reviews slow the process of creating feed formulations that may reduce methane emissions. Experts say that the FDA policy of treating feed ingredients as animal drugs is a key cause of lengthy reviews. The US has pledged to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030 as part of a promise to cut greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change, and numerous feed ingredients have shown promise in significantly reducing methane from livestock. Bovaer, a product developed by Royal DSM that the company says consistently reduces emissions by 30%, has received approval in the European Union, for example, but is under consideration at FDA as an animal drug. “The impact on emissions has got to be an important consideration,” a company spokesperson said.
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