A world brand in additives

Benefits of dry complete food

In the early 1990s, it was clear that major market forces were at work in the European pet food industry. The industry then had a wet section dominated by worldwide brands and a dry section that would probably expand as extruded complete foods.

The UK dry food market was split between farm-feed manufacturers making muesli mixes and mixer biscuits that were usually fed with moist foods. The benefit of extruded dry complete food was not lost on consumers who were increasingly visiting ‘one-stop’ supermarkets for feeding their families and pets.

Dry extruded food was sterile and hence microbiologically safe with excellent keeping properties and was convenient to transport, store and put on shelf by weighing a fifth of conventional wet food and with a lower risk of moulding or insect infestations compared to the muesli mixes.

Expertise in pet food formulation

The key triggers of the dry pet food expansion in Europe came with BSE legislation banning meat meals from farm-feeds plus the immediate ban on the export from the UK of ruminant-derived animal by-products. The investment in extruders on separate sites by farm-feed companies and the cheaper sources of animal co-products led to many of today’s well recognized brands and manufacturers therefore becoming de facto pet food companies.

Premier Nutrition’s expertise in pet

food formulation and supplementation was crucial in this period because the vitamin cartel of the 1990s meant that it had to out-perform in areas beyond simple price. The recognized specialization in pet food was well placed to help companies with the big food issues of the late 1990s and 2000s, which were, as now safety, quality, and traceability.

The unique manufacturing process using state-of-the-art pharmaceutical mixers meant that the company reduced the risk of cross-contamination in the pet-only factory to beyond that expected in conventional premixes. Today Premier Nutrition still ticks all these boxes and is recognized as being the best in the field.

Sustainable nature

The market further reacted to the safety, quality and traceability issues by creating specific phrases and brands for example organic, hypoallergenic, holistic in an attempt to capture the natural and sustainable nature of many pet foods. Premier Nutrition was able to help companies differentiate their products from competitors and increase their portfolio with life stages and products for obesity and veterinary uses.

• To help with this differentiation of brands the company was a maiden-user of many additives now seen as mainstream:
• tocopherol extracts of natural origin instead of synthetic antioxidants
• glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM and turmeric in senior and larger animals where joint health is important
• umami-rich digests and palatants for external and internal applications
• natural phyto-nutrients as sources of oligosaccharides, bioflavonoids and saponins to help maintain health

This expertise, derived from the adversity of BSE and vitamin cartels, allowed the company to expand after 2000 into other parts of Europe and worldwide and this continues today.

The future of pet food

Premier Nutrition is well placed for the future of pet food with a new premix factory in the UK and now one in China with a core of expertise. It believes that sustainable development will be maintained by sound sourcing of ingredients and formulating sensitively to the needs of customers and neighbours. Neighbours will become increasingly important during the next thirty years as the world population increases and the supply of co-products, especially high protein animal ones, will become much shorter as less is wasted and more enters the human food chain. The dilemma then will be who should get the best cuts our pets or our fellows.