Top This! Pet Food Toppers and Meal Enhancers a Growing Market

Danielle Ohl

high-quality-pet-food-packaging.jpgIt's no secret that consumers love to spoil their pets. When it comes to pet food, gone are the days of dumping dry kibble into a bowl and bidding your pet bon appetit; today pet meal time has become almost a gourmet experience! From protein-rich, grain-free food to freeze dried snacks, specialty pet products just keep hitting the shelves! Today we're taking a look at another industry trend: Pet food toppers and meal enhancers.

Making it Personal: At Home Customization of Pet Foods

Similar to humans complementing their meals with toppings like gravies and sauces, pet owners are following suit for their furry friends. According to Pet Food Industry magazine, "GfK reports that while the topper category accounted for just US$21 million in 2015 sales at pet specialty stores, that number represents a 332% increase over 2014." While still in its infancy, this market is growing at an exceptional rate.

Millennials may be the driver behind this increase in demand for pet food toppers and enhancers, simply because this age group is more likely to seek out alternatives to 'standard' pet fare. They desire personalized food for their pets, often combining different pet foods to achieve a unique mix. Pet Food Industry magazine reports that "41% of Millennial dog owners feed their pets their own custom mix of dry pet foods, compared with 23% of older-generation dog parents."

Pet Food Toppers Require 'Top Shelf' Packaging

dog_bone_white_2-955550-edited.jpgPet food toppers and meal enhancements come in a variety of forms: Liquids, like gravies, sauces, and purees; and solids, like freeze dried, frozen, and refrigerated pieces of meat like chicken, beef, or lamb. These ingredients often require special packaging considerations to maintain freshness, color, and consistency. Not just any old pet food packaging will do.

Popular in this market (and the specialty pet food industry in general) are stand up preformed pouches with zippers. These particular bag types have many advantages, including:

  • Minimal footprint to maximize shelf space
  • Easily packable and light for efficient shipping and storage
  • Portable for pet parents on the go
  • Resealable closures for multi-use convenience
  • Large bag canvas for product marketing and labeling
  • Product differentiation via unique, custom shapes and sizes

Premade Pouch Machine a Top Packaging Choice

Pet food packaging machinery can come in many different forms. As of late, Viking has seen tremendous growth in premade pouch fillers for pet food. These fill and seal packaging machines have small footprints to maximize limited floor space, making them a great investment not only for production efficiency but in that they will not occupy a large amount of valuable real estate in your plant. Featuring welded steel frames and a two-step sealing process to create strong, infallible seals that will properly preserve your product, the premade pouch machine for pet food is a great fit for specialty pet food enhancers that necessitate both functional and attractive packaging. 

Will premade pouches not work for your particular application? No problem! We offer many models of vertical form fill and seal equipment that also lend very well to pet food packaging. Our M400 is one of the most popular VFFS choices in pet food packaging machinery, with its flexibility to create many different bag styles and speeds of up to 100 cycles per minute.