With more pets than people in Australia, the country’s multi-billion-dollar pet food market presents an attractive opportunity, with rural businesses leading the charge.
Key points:
- Australians spent an estimated $33 billion on their pets in 2022
- Small business owner Melissa Slabskyj makes dog food sprinkle near Loxton, in rural SA
- Veterinary Nutrition Group says the global pet food supplement market is expect to reach $5 billion this decade
While the market is dominated by multinational companies, smaller players with a focus on sustainability have been launching products like dog treats made from insects, and meat from culled feral camels.
Melissa Slabskyj’s dream to feed the demand for pet supplements became a reality after moving to Paruna, a town with less than 50 people and one general store, in South Australia.
At her home, more than 30 kilometres from the nearest major population centre of Loxton, she has developed Puppy Tucker, a sprinkle made of dehydrated meat that her dogs cannot get enough of.
“Living rurally does limit your ideas of going to the supermarket and just dropping in to grab some meat,” Ms Slabskyj said.
“We have four dogs ourselves and love to camp, so we designed something convenient to take travelling that didn’t need to stay cold”.
The concept, four years in the making, has received marketing and research support through a business incubator, with an eye to eventually getting the product onto supermarket shelves.
To create her product, Ms Slabskyj purchases raw human-grade chicken, kangaroo, lamb and beef meat, which she dehydrates into flakes.
She then adds prebiotics, which she says help promote a healthy coat and maintain intestinal gut health.
“It’s really important to us to feed our dogs top quality meat to keep them in good condition,” she said.
While Ms Slabskyj has stepped back from the business for a while, she said she had been pleased with initial interest through online sales and through her town’s general store.
By-product for man’s best friend
Bordertown hemp farmer and owner of Good Country Hemp, Mick Andersen, started making pet food products to ensure every part of his plants got used.
“Around 70 per cent of the hemp seed that goes through our processing plant ends up as by-product,” Mr Anderson said.
“They are very nutritious by-products, and we figured the best way to get value out of them was to make supplements for pets, rather than selling it to cattle producers and pig producers as a filler.”
Beginning with hemp oil for dogs, Mr Andersen then branched out to make products for chickens and horses, including husks, treats and rolled hemp seed.
He said the products were intended as a health supplement for pets, which could help with arthritic pain, skin conditions, improve joint function and aid with muscle recovery.
Mr Andersen said people who bought his product seemed willing to pay more for hemp oil for their dogs, than they would pay for themselves.
“When we take the exact same oil [as for human consumption] and put it in the same size bottle for the pet market, the market commands more in terms of price,” he said.
“We can sell the same thing for almost double, ridiculous as it seems … we do not do that because we have a conscience.
“The pet market is enormous, and it’s a different beast to the one that we’ve been used to with our human-grade products.”
Booming business
A report by Animal Medicines Australia last year estimated around 69 per cent of Australians had a pet in their household, up from 61 per cent before the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s estimated Australians spent about $33 billion on their pets in 2022, with each dog owner surveyed forking out an average of $3,218 on their canine best friends.
Matt Kopke, the chief executive of Veterinary Nutrition Group which makes personalised homemade diets for dogs and cats, said the global market for pet food supplements was expected to reach $5 billion before the end of the decade.
“What’s probably contributing to the growth in the global pet supplement market size is the shift in mindset towards a preventative, rather than reactive approach to the health of our furry friends,” he said.
However, Dr Kopke said better regulation was needed to provide quality assurance, and value for money for the growing population of pet parents.
