Natural ingredients with nutritional benefits make the difference
More and more pet owners want the same quality for their pets’ food as their own. This often means pet food including natural ingredients.
What the trend is about
According to a recent study, most pet owners were more likely to purchase a pet food labelled ‘made with natural ingredients’. Natural is defined as an ingredient derived solely from plants, free from any artificial or synthetic ingredients and processed without any chemical process.
The focus of this natural pet food trend is on the nutritional benefits of ingredients. Pet food with ingredients including fibre, minerals and vitamins gives pets the overall nutrition that they need to function. In addition, vitamins also contribute to the body’s ability to resist disease. Pet owners also prefer pet food with ingredients that support digestive health.
Vegetable and chicory ingredients
Vegetables and chicory are natural ingredients which add health benefits in pet food.
Vegetable ingredients are a good source of fibre, minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Research shows that vitamins are very important for a good health, vision and skin, and protect cells against oxidation.
Chicory ingredients include inulin. Inulin is a soluble fibre and has a prebiotic effect in the colon. It arrives almost intact in the colon and serves as a nutrient for bacteria that positively influence the digestive flora.
100% natural
Duynie Ingredients produces vegetable, chicory and other 100% natural ingredients in its new factory in the Netherlands. The wet incoming products are dried, making them easy to handle and manage so they can be ground or cut to the right consistency for use in pet food or muesli. Examples include carrot granulate, pumpkin flakes and spinach powder. The company’s R&D department is constantly doing research and advancing its product expertise, so that it can offer customers the best tailor-made advice and products.
Reducing environmental impact
Sustainable pet food is just as important as natural pet food. Pet owners want to feed their pets in a sustainable way that respects the environment. By using co-products from the food industry, the company enables maximal resource use and therefore helps prevent food loss. All products are dried using residual heat and green electricity, instead of fossil energy. Using Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), it is proven that the environmental impact of these ingredients is lower because they have a lower impact on land use and a lower carbon footprint than alternatives on the market.
Recognised
The Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) has rated Duynie Ingredients for the second year as one of the top 20 most sustainable companies of the pet industry. This is an independent confirmation that the company is a leader in providing sustainable pet food ingredients and contributes to sustainable pet food consumption.