Pet owners need for nutritional know-how. And how to appeal to it.

There’s an increasing hunger for nutritional know-how among pet owners, as we shared in our ‘Five emerging pet owner behaviours’ research. We identified two key drivers behind this, but what does it mean for brands today – and how will it shape the pet nutrition market of tomorrow? Here’s our take on it – and a look at what brands can do to build on it.

• There’s been a 55% year-on-year increase in discussion around emerging pet foods.
• A rising number of pet owners are taking action to understand nutrition as a way of demonstrating their commitment to their pet.
• Some Nutrition Neophytes are exchanging spending money on pet food for spending time on research to find affordable alternatives due to the heightened cost of living.
• Other Nutrition Neophytes are interrogating nutrition because of the pet humanisation trend.

What we’re seeing is newer product developments in this area becoming distinctly lifestyle-oriented. Take a look at Bocce’s treats with high-quality ingredients and kin + kind clean-ingredient supplements. Not only the packaging and easy subscription-service fulfilment but the format of these products are mirroring human ‘equivalents’. While we can understand a great deal of expertise went into developing these, it seems these brands are choosing not to hero science in the packaging design, so they can grab the eyeballs of those pet owners who crave human nutrition and wellness counterparts for their pets.

Don’t lose your difference to science speak

This doesn’t mean you have to (or should) let pet owners lose sight of the important R&D that went into your product. For brands who want to appeal to this growing audience, this is more about rethinking the language, messaging and visual assets traditionally associated with science-led products.

To pique Nutrition Neophytes’ interest in your products, expand on the benefits of listed ingredients, avoid close-ended claims about being the best type of diet, and don’t blind consumers with science. They don’t want to just be presented with ingredients; they want to understand them and use information to inform their decisions.

“Being able to marry the dichotomy between lifestyle and labs is possible. It’s about taking away the complexity and communicating in a way that pet owners can feel warmth towards.”
Eliot Sykes, Head of Consultancy – Strategy

We had to consider the ‘lab coats or lifestyle?’ question when launching the UK’s first freeze-dried only-raw pet food brand, COYA. We determined that audience empathy and education were key – empathising with common issues around feeding raw food and educating pet owners on COYA’s unique solution that overcomes these. This drove the tone of voice and visual identity we created, and came through across every touchpoint – not least on the packaging itself. We’ll soon be adding COYA to our Work page to show how we helped bring the brand to market, and to share more about this journey.

Pet owners applying their own moral or ethical code to their pet is another thread of humanisation. Environmental concerns about food production are part of this, to the extent that in 2022, 38% of Britons said they were influenced by environmental concerns when choosing their pet (Source: Canvas 8 2022).

As we’ve seen awareness about this growing in human food production, it’s also likely to grow in animal food production – putting brands under real pressure to prove their commitment to doing better for our planet. ‘Greenwashing’ won’t wash in this category.

Sustainability and responsibility are part of the Nutrition Neophytes profile and they will be investigating different aspects of this, from plant-based ingredients (think THE PACK’s vegan dog food) to reduced water usage in the product (such as COYA’s freeze-dried diet) and insect-based products (such as LoveBug^TM) – and not forgetting the importance of recyclable packaging.

We predict a growing demand for serving products, information and advice tailored to a specific pet. As brands such as Tails.com and Butternut Box are tailoring nutrition to factors such as a pet’s breed, age and activity levels, delivering it in personalised packaging (and with personalised portion control mechanisms), pet owners will come to expect this elsewhere.

Whether it’s coming to your app or website to find nutrition or health advice, they’ll want the information provided in a way that’s relevant to their pet and that directly addresses their needs. Serving information based on whether the pet owner has a cat or dog will come to be perceived as too generic in the not-too-distant future.

This will also create a need to adapt how your customer care team has conversations. When pet owners with a Nutritional Neophyte mindset get in touch, they’ll want to know the specifics of your product offering, have their pet’s name referred to throughout the conversation and come away with a feeling that the experience was unique to them and has provided valuable support to inform their decision-making. This may mean needing to reframe or refocus your customer care training to identify and serve this audience.