The market for plant-based pet food is booming. As more information on the negative environmental and health effects of meat-based dog food becomes available (such as that provided by THE PACK earlier this month), more individuals are opting for vegan and vegetarian alternatives.
Take, for example, OMNI, whose vegan pet food has had a 600% increase in sales in the previous six months.
According to a press statement from OMNI, the UK-based start-up, which was formed in 2020, has sold approximately 90,000 vegan meals for dogs since September 2021.
Given the significance of meat production in the climate catastrophe, the environmental consequences of these sales are significant. So far, OMNI claims to have avoided 112,000 kg of CO2, the equivalent of 590 round-trip flights from London to New York.
Consumers are drawn in by a variety of factors, including environmental advantages. The Vegan Society presented research that looked at the rapidly growing vegan animal care business.
According to one poll contained in the paper, nearly half of dog owners (45 percent) want to give their companion animals vegan food, with nutrition and ethics being the main concerns.
Furthermore, one-quarter (24%) of poll participants who own dogs had purchased vegan pet food in the past.
Vegan Pet Food
Investors have taken notice of this shift in consumer attitudes. A growing number of businesses are putting their toes in the vegan pet food arena, with an estimated market worth of US$15 million by 2028.
Last year, OMNI, for example, received $1.5 million (£1.1 million) in its first round of investment.
Shio Capital, one of the company’s investors, has increased its support for the company. “It is clear the alternative protein space is not just limited to human consumption… As the vegan pet food space continues to gain traction among pet owners and pets, we view OMNI as being well positioned to lead this change,” Shio Capital stated.
In the cruelty-free pet food movement, OMNI isn’t alone. THE PACK, a London-based food-tech company, finished its own pre-seed financing round last year, garnering funding from a number of high-profile personalities.
Vegan celebrity chefs Henry Firth and Ian Theasby of BOSH!, as well as English footballer Chris Smalling and former Liverpool and Hull footballer Kevin Stewart, all contributed to THE PACK’s objective of challenging the meat-based pet food business.
Damien Clarkson, co-founder of THE PACK, commented on this goal in a statement.
“We’re on a mission to encourage pet parents to start thinking of the climate crisis when making purchasing decisions for their dogs and it starts with what we plate up ourselves and our pups,” Clarkson said.
“We are all living through an ecological crisis and a seismic shift in the pet-food industry can make a positive contribution to tackling the climate crisis.”
Source: “Vegan Dog Food Sales Surge By 600% In Just 6 Months At UK Start-Up” by Plant Based News
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