Pet humanization is a trend wherein owners treat their pets as family, oftentimes as their own children. In doing so, they become inclined to choose pet products like the ones they use for themselves.

1. Pet Food
Humanization
Pushing quality and integrating human grade standards

2. "COVID-19 accelerated
pet adoption and
a trend towards more
health-conscious purchases."
(The Human Pet Trends Driving Pet Food Purchases 2021)
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3. What is Pet
Humanization?
• Pet humanization is a
trend wherein owners
treat their pets as family,
oftentimes as their own
children. In doing so,
they become inclined to
choose pet products like
the ones they use for
themselves.
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4. Results of a recent study show that
the dietary routine of pet parents
was among the top three reasons for
why consumers chose certain types of
dog food, particularly grain-free.
(Phillips-Donaldson 2021)
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5. The pet humanization
trend also affects meat
production globally
• The U.S. has the largest pet
population in the world, its
163 million cats and dogs
consume about 33% of the
animal-derived energy that
humans do.
• If America’s pets were their
own country, their meat
consumption would rank fifth
in the world behind only
China, the United States, Brazil
and Russia.
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6. What is
Humanized
Pet Food?
• A pet food that seeks
for the same nutrition
and freshness as what
humans get from their
own items in the
shopping cart
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7. Pet food purchasing habits follow human
diet routines
• Pet parents are more likely to look for pet food within their
dietary routine.
• Choice of diet also varies on the type of relationship of
owner with their pets.
• Social status of owner can also affect pet's diet.
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8. Differences between
Regular Pet Food and
Humanized Pet Food
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9. Regular Pet
Foods
• Formulated or scientifically
generated food
• Deliver the pets’ dietary
needs
• Ready to eat foods for pets
which are easy to prepare
and consume
• Ingredient decks list the
protein percentages and
are compliant with AAFCO
guidelines
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10. Humanized
Pet Foods
• Human-grade food made with
high quality ingredients are
marketed to help build strong
immunity and increased vitality
• Real ingredients; fresh,
unaltered, lean meats
• Better and healthier digestion
• Exclusion of additives or fillers
• Ingredients deck is in tune with
pet parents’ expectations
• These products also follow
AAFCO guidelines
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11. Plant- based
alternative
• Is a pet food that seeks for
the same nutrition and
freshness from plant-based
meats and dairy alternatives
• They include complete
protein and superfood
ingredients
• There are high-quality
vegetable proteins which
deliver the 10 essential amino
acids that pets require
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12. Meat and Meat By-Products
Meat
• The skeletal muscle and its
associated tissues derived
from mammalian, avian,
reptilian, amphibian and
aquatic species commonly
harvested for human
consumption. Edible offal
consisting of organs and non-
skeletal muscle tissues also
are considered meat.
Meat By-Products
• The inedible portion of the
non-carcass component of
an animal can be referred to
as by-products. By-products
include offal items that are
not inspected and therefore
are not sold as food for
human consumption (e.g.,
hides, toenails, lungs, etc.).
Meat By-Product Meal
• The same as meat by-
products, except it is the dry,
ground and rendered clean
parts of the carcasses of
slaughtered meat.
American Meat Science Association (AMSA)
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13. It has been proven that all-meat diets
are not healthy.
An all-meat meal is not nutritionally balanced and cause severe deficiencies if fed exclusively.
Anton C. Beynen | "All-meat diets for dogs" - Creature Companion 2015
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14. What do conscious
pet parents want?
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15. Top quality
ingredients.
Pet parents are now interested in the quality
of the ingredients, and their nutritional
benefits. They are becoming more inclined
towards superfoods and choosing pet
foods that are considered nutritious for
humans.
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16. NO to GMOs.
Pet parents are jumping from "organic" to
GMO-free ingredients and products.
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17. Nature over
science.
Pet parents now prefer kitchen-made pet
foods over laboratory-mixed ones.
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18. Honest labels.
Pet parents now demand transparency on
the origin and manufacturing of their pet's
foods.
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19. Healthier choices.
As much as pet parents would like to
indulge their furry friends with treats,
providing them a healthier diet is what
takes priority.
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20. New and exciting
choices.
Pet parents hold
a certain
fascination
towards non-
traditional food
forms and
practices.
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21. How far are pet
parents willing to
push the
Anthropomorphism
Trend?
*an·thro·po·mor·phism
Sounds like
an·thruh·puh·mor·fi·zm
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22. “Human-like” Pet Products
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23. Vet-certified Meal Kits
www.dogstandards.ca
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24. Pet Nutritional Supplements
www.petfinn.com
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25. Why Go This Far?
• Changes in culture
• Pets as part of the family
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26. In conclusion, pet
humanization continues
to push pet food quality
and integrate human-
grade standards along
with traceability on
ingredients going into
pet foods.
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27. Sources
• https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/04/humanization-of-pet-food-report-
mar-2016-1.pdf
• https://www.alcimed.com/en/alcim-articles/humanization-of-pet-food/
• https://www.petfoodindustry.com/blogs/7-adventures-in-pet-food/post/10349-humanization-of-
dogs-diets-from-two-research-perspectives
• https://www.thefarmersdog.com/digest/6-benefits-of-feeding-human-grade-dog-
food/#:~:text=Commercial%20dog%20food%20contains%20fillers,and%20improved%20long%20
term%20health
• https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/analysis/2021/the-human-pet-trends-driving-pet-food-
purchases/
• https://www.reportlinker.com/p06030462/Pet-Food-Market-Growth-Trends-COVID-19-Impact-and-
Forecasts.html
• https://academic.oup.com/af/article/7/4/8/4775089
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28. Sources
• https://www.ift.org/~/media/food%20technology/pdf/2014/08/0814_col_foodmedicinehealth.pdf
• https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/best-dog-food-choosing-whats-right-for-your-dog/
• https://www.ibpet.net/single-post/2013/05/01/whats-really-in-pet-food
• https://protecttheharvest.com/what-you-need-to-know/anthropomorphism-is-the-greatest-threat-
to-animal-welfare/
• https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/popular-dog-supplements/
• https://www.petmd.com/blogs/nutritionnuggets/cat/dr-coates/2014/june/what-kind-meat-
products-are-your-cats-food-31805
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312529607_All-meat_diets_for_dogs
• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181301
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