'Nutritional high ground': Petco, others respond to demand for natural dog, cat foods
As interest in natural human foods increases, demand for healthier pet foods also is growing.
Petco officials announced Tuesday the company will no longer sell cat and dog foods and treats that have artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.
The company will begin removing the products from across its 1,500 stores and online in January.
"We are making sure we are always ," Petco CEO Ron Coughlin told The Associated Press.
While natural foods are trending upward, the move is seen as somewhat risky, as the products the company is removing account for about , Bloomberg reported.
“Humanization is one of the biggest trends in the pet industry today,” Coughlin told Bloomberg.
The company sees about $4 billion in sales annually.
The move will set Petco apart from rival chain PetSmart, officials of which earlier this year announced it would sell Rachel Ray's natural branded pet food, Nutrish, in all of its stores.
Natural pet products still account for a small portion of the U.S. market share, but growth has more than doubled to 6.5 percent between 2013 and 2017, according to Nielsen, a data company. Nielsen officials said sales of pet food free of genetically modified ingredients jumped 29 percent last year. Sales of pet food without artificial preservatives and colors grew 4 percent.
Americans spent , up 4 percent from the year before, according to American Pet Products Association data.
Forbes said Petco's plan is similar to that of CVS, which in 2014.
Pet food has long mimicked human food, says John Owen, a senior food analyst for market researcher Mintel. In 1959, for example, Gravy Train dog food was introduced so dogs could enjoy gravy too.
As human tastes have grown more sophisticated, so have their demands for their pets, Owen said.
For dogs, there are bags of organic, vegetarian and grain-free food. Some brands claim to mimic ancestral diets, with kibbles made from venison or wild boar. Cans of cat food feature tilapia, rabbit and pumpkin.
Sensing the growing trend, two big food companies — J.M. Smucker Co. and General Mills — spent billions to acquire natural pet food brands Nutrish and Blue Buffalo, respectively, earlier this year.
Owen said young people are driving the trend in natural pet food. He expects it will keep growing and lead to even more "natural" innovations, like freeze-dried raw food.
Coughlin said the majority of pet food Petco sells now doesn't contain artificial ingredients. Still, the change is significant.
Some suppliers are reformulating their food; others simply won't sell through Petco anymore, he said. Food with artificial ingredients that isn't sold by May will be donated to animal shelters.
Eventually, the store plans to expand its ban on artificial ingredients to foods it sells for other animals, he said.
Dr. Whitney Miller, Petco's top veterinarian, said there is limited research into the impact of artificial ingredients on dogs and cats. Dr. Hollie Rebo, a veterinarian based in Dearborn, Michigan, said consumers shouldn't be overly concerned since pet food makers already limit those ingredients because they add costs.
When they do add things like artificial colors, it's because it makes the food more palatable to humans.
"I love the idea of getting rid of a lot of useless junk, but it's really there to sell more product," Rebo said.