Pet food machinery companies prepare for a technological revolution

Skyrocketing demand for pet food in the past 2 years, combined with a shift in consumer preferences toward human-grade products, is raising new challenges for technology providers. They need to find ways to help manufacturers produce more in less time while upholding the same quality standards.

“We are dealing with simultaneous expansions in the pet sector worldwide at a scale we’ve not seen before. All involved are facing supply chain issues and shortages with sizeable backlogs,” comments Tom Hoffmann, Sales Director of Mepaco, a food processing equipment company based in Wisconsin, US.

Production challenges
According to various projections, the global pet food market is expected to increase by more than 5% annually, which could make the situation even more complex. One survey among more than 300 industry leaders, published in CRB Consulting’s recent ‘Pet Food Horizons’ report, lists the main production challenges currently faced by pet food companies as supply chain (38%), labor availability (36%), aging technology (32%), inefficiencies due to process equipment (28%), and lack of production capacity (27%).

Efficient and easy-to-maintain machines
Pet food manufacturers are widening their product portfolios and adding production lines to cope with consumer demands, and this is directly impacting machinery companies.

“We are seeing a surge of new customers with new human-grade products and investment money building new factories and buying new equipment,” says Kathi Gilleland, Director of Marketing at Marlen International, an industrial food processing and manufacturing equipment company with a dedicated pet business unit.

Cox & Plant, a UK-based manufacturer of conveying equipment, believes that the pet food processing industry is now looking for easy-to-operate and efficient machinery that requires minimal maintenance and a 12-month return on investment (ROI).

Similarly, according to Tom Hoffmann, manufacturers are looking for ways to automate in order to reduce human interaction while simplifying their processes. Speed, automation, sanitary design, safety and performance are all key components of Mepaco’s development strategy because “nothing can be compromised in those areas”. Indeed, more than 20% of respondents in the CRB survey ranked sanitation among their top production challenges, underlining pet food manufacturers’ interest in machines that are easy to clean to prevent contamination.

The rise of robotization
According to Kathi Gilleland, customers are “certainly looking for more ways to automate certain processes, and for other processes they are happy to find solutions that are more efficient”. “Robots are everywhere – especially now that they are becoming smaller, cheaper and more versatile,” she states.

However, it is likely that humans will continue to be required, such as for the servicing and maintenance of the machinery. “Lines are requiring intelligent people to run them, but the worst of the manual handling jobs are now fully able to be machine-led by companies,” adds Andrew Cox, managing director at Cox & Plant.

Angelo Wiesinger, Pet Food Sector Manager at Handtmann Group, believes that – just as in other sectors – robotization will increase further in pet food production, but points out that the lack of technicians specialized in robots also creates some obstacles on the path toward the complete automatization of pet food processing machinery.

High-pressure processing technology
High-pressure processing (HPP) technology, in which pressure is used instead of heat or additives to preserve packaged food, is also generating interest within the pet food segment. According to the CRB survey, nearly 20% of respondents are currently using this processing method and another 28% are considering implementing it in their production lines in the future.

However, the extremely high cost is a barrier for many companies. Just 5% of small manufacturers plan to expand their adoption of HPP, compared with 14% of the largest corporations.

According to industry insiders, HPP technology is particularly suitable for pet food and treat manufacturers that have invested money in developing niche products with complex textures, since this production method has a positive impact on the flavor and texture of the final product.