Dogs On Plant-based Diet - New Trend That Is Here To Stay

Vegetarian and vegan dog food has been on the market for a while now and, due to concerns over animal welfare and the increasing climate change crisis, it's a trend that's here to stay. 

New plant-based pet food company THE PACK predicts that within the next ten years, half of dog owners will choose more planet-friendly meal for their pets.

Citing the climate crisis and a shift in consumer attitudes as the driving force behind the rise of what THE PACK calls ‘flexi-dogians’.

The pet food brand describes a ‘flexi-dogian’ diet as the one when a dog eats mainly vegetarian and vegan food with the occasional meat treat. 

Co-founders of THE PACK, Damien Clarkson and Judy Nadel team strongly believe that the same disruption in the human world is needed in the meat-heavy pet food industry, which currently produces 64 million tons of carbon dioxide each year and is estimated to account for a quarter of the environmental impacts of meat production in terms of use of land, water, fossil fuels and pesticides.

Judy Nadel, Co-founder of THE PACK commented: “Pet parents are looking for more sustainable and healthy ways to feed their loved animal companions and human quality plant-based ingredients are coming to the forefront in pet-food. As pet-parents, we want the best for our pup and this means ingredients that do no harm to animals and the planet, whilst tasting delicious - and we think the nation will follow. We expect to see a big rise of flexi-dogians in the next few years, and believe 50% of all dogs in the UK will be flexi-dogian by 2030.

With more and more of the planet adopting plant-based or flexitarian lifestyles, products like THE PACK allow anyone who is looking for a sustainable, healthier alternatives to seamlessly make the transition away from traditional dog food. Over four in ten families in the UK currently follow a flexitarian diet or meat-free diet, so why can’t dogs?”

THE PACK wants to prove that plant-based food is not just the future for humans, but also for our furry friends. The pet-food startup produces plant-based wet dog food flavours which simulate meat; with three alternative options to fish, chicken, and beef. Their highly-nutritious and sustainable wet dog food range requires less resources  than traditional, meat-based pet food and has lower carbon footprint.

Damian Clarkson, Co-founder at THE PACK, added: “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. We worked with data scientists to run a Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) study of our food. We compared it against a market leading meat brand and found that the beef pet food created 5.52 times more CO2e than our No-Moo Ragu plant-based pet food. 

We encourage pet parents to start thinking of the climate crisis when making purchasing decisions for their dogs, as little changes like turning your dog flexi-dogian can make a big difference and it’s important we start to transform the pet food industry by making conscious purchasing decisions.”

Expert pet nutritionist and formulator of THE PACK, Emma Passman, explains why a plant-based diet can help to support dogs’ health: “A plant-based diet can help dogs with intolerances to multiple common pet food ingredients. We’ve focused on sourcing a diverse range of ingredients, from lupin beans to papaya, that not only help promote a healthy dog gut microbiome but also promote agro biodiversity that helps in the fight against the climate crisis. Plant powered food can be used to add nutritional and textural variety to a dog’s diet and it’s a good choice for anyone concerned with animal welfare. Finally, plant-based dog food is just as high in protein as meat based counterparts. That is not in question - the key is getting the right blend of amino acids which we’ve achieved with THE PACK meals.”

THE PACK plant-based dog food is avilable to buy online at The Vegan Kind - UK's biggest vegan online store. The range include three flavours: No Cluck Casserole, No Moo Ragu and No Fishy Dishy.