As the pet food market continues to grow, so does consumer appetite for added value and convenience when making pet food purchases. Figuring out which pet food packaging features matter to your customers is the key to success in this competitive market.

Pet Food Packaging Closures

Consumers of premium pet food are shying away from the traditional multi-walled paper bag for a number of reasons, one being that there is no native way to reseal this product to ensure freshness. Buyers of premium pet food are more concerned with the quality of a bag’s contents and realize that the packaging itself plays an essential role in preserving the quality of their pet’s food.

• Slide closures are familiar to most purchasers of premium pet food and provide a reassuringly tactile way to reseal pet food packaging. Slide closures also signal enhanced food safety.
• Velcro® closures (or other hook-to-hook closures), increasingly used in “people food” products, are another highly tactile method of resealing premium pet food packaging. Choosing a quality hook-to-hook closure is of great importance in order to maintain a good seal and satisfy safety-conscious pet owners.

Nutritional Info on Pet Food Packaging

While nutritional information on pet food packaging is regulated in both Canada and the USA (although not to the same degree as “people food”), an increased focus on the quality of ingredients in premium pet food presents the opportunity to sell harder with your package’s graphics. Standing in a pet food aisle, the consumer’s goal is to pick out nutritionally superior food without necessarily scouring every label. Using graphic elements to illustrate wholesome pet food ingredients (as well as what’s not in the food) is just as much a convenience feature as a slide closure to the busy shopper.

Pet Food Packaging in Convenient Sizes

Single-serve (and other convenience-sized) pet food packaging appeals to buyers of premium pet food for a number of reasons. Although a larger format bag is more economical and likely to be their main purchase, using single-serve packages to complement their larger format buy is convenient for pet owners on the go—afternoon trips to the park or weekend stays with a pet sitter are made easier without needing to haul around a full-sized bag of pet food.

Single-serve pet food packaging is also a convenient option for portable treats that are most often given outside the home.

Sustainable Pet Food Packaging

The “people food” market has already seen dramatic growth with regard to sustainable packaging options, and the sustainable packaging market is expected to grow to $244 billion by 2018[1]. Purchasers of premium products are especially likely to seek out environmentally conscious options when shopping for themselves or their pets.

Recyclable or biodegradable pet food packaging, like the PetPack-BDG®, allows pet food manufacturers to offer greener choices while maintaining high levels of food safety and without reducing closure options.

Learn More About Pet Food Packaging Trends

If you’re redesigning your pet food packaging with added convenience or sustainability in mind, download our FREE eBook Premium Opportunities in Pet Food: Revenue-Boosting Pet Food Packaging Trends in 2016 and Beyond. In it, you’ll learn about four big trends in pet food packaging, plus more to watch in 2017 and beyond.