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From fur babies to feathered friends, more families than ever now include a pet, and these animals have been pampered like never before.
According to research from JWT Intelligence, a key trend driving the pet care boom was millennials choosing to have pets before – or instead of – babies. Around 70% of millennials own a pet, whereas nearly 90% of single pet owners and 91% of pet owners in relationships view their pets as their children. The pandemic-era pet-buying boom, where people forced into social isolation turned to animals for companionship, only accelerated this trend.
For pet food brands, this means the line between their products and those intended for human consumption is becoming blurred. Modern consumers expect their pet care product purchases to be as premium as something they would buy for themselves or a child. Naturally, packaging plays a critical role in this trend.
The pet humanisation trend
This trend has kickstarted a sort of feedback loop in the market. Millennials – and their substantial buying power – demand premium products. Brands oblige, which begins to attract non-millennial pet owners wishing to treat their fur babies. This, in turn, creates further demand for premium pet care products, and so on.
Consumers want quality and choice for their pets just as they want quality and choice for themselves. Identikit, bland sacks of kibble simply do not appeal to the modern consumer. While they will always have their place as a low-cost value option, they are too difficult to store and open for many time-poor pet owners, and they don’t have the premium appearance of a product that they’d give to a friend or family member – so they won’t serve it up to their pets, either.
Today’s consumers want pet food packaging that is easy to open, compact enough to store conveniently, and clearly differentiated from other variants in the same line. Crucially, it must also be replete with information about its nutritional content. That means printing has to be crisp and clear, as pet parents are fond of reading the small print to ensure every detail meets their expectations.
Up until very recently, these premium products came with a premium price – but it was one that all the data shows most consumers were happy to pay. While pets were pampered during lockdown, just five years later, the picture is more complex. The high cost of living means millions of families are having to cut back on luxuries that were previously taken for granted. This applies to high-end pet care products, too. The RSPCA reports that 78% of pet owners in the UK think the cost of living will affect their animals.
All of this means that pet care packaging for the fur baby age is more important than it has ever been. Today’s consumers’ expectations demand a specialist approach that balances a premium appearance with an affordable cost. This is why the expertise of an innovative packaging partner is no longer just a nice-to-have – in the modern market, it is simply a must-have.
Market-leading technical capabilities and best-in-class digital printing
At Eco Flexibles, our leading technical expertise can help pet food brands pull off this tricky balancing act. We’re pushing the boundaries of digital printing every day, using cutting-edge water-based inkjet innovations to provide high-quality, low-waste print runs at a comparable throughput to flexo printing.
Technology like the Fujifilm Jet Press FP790 – the first of its kind to be installed outside of Japan – means we can offer several unique benefits that help pet food brands meet the demands of today’s market. As a digital printer, it provides all the benefits you might expect in terms of agility and flexibility. This unlocks new possibilities to create limited-run seasonal treats to boost sales. As the line between human and pet products becomes blurred, many pet parents will be on the lookout for Christmas-themed treats during the festive season, for example.
However, the power of the Jet Press FP790 is that it combines this short-run flexibility with the ability to produce high-quality results at larger volumes, providing a crisp print finish, vivid colours, and superb consistency across longer print runs.
With a width of 790mm and printing at a minimum of 50m/min, twinned with a 1200×1200 dpi resolution and two digital white channels that can achieve an opacity of 55-58%, it has the capability to provide crystal-clear imagery that will grab even the most discerning consumer’s attention on-shelf. Also, almost any brand colour can be printed without costly spot colours or special inks, making it easy to match colours to your specific brand identity. The water-based CMYK inks we print with deliver consistent and vibrant results – and with a reduced environmental footprint when compared to solvent-based inks, delivering on another important consideration for today’s consumers.
Choose from a range of formats for each purchasing channel
We take a holistic approach to sustainability that considers the full life cycle of the product. We can create packaging on both monopolymer and paper-based packaging, giving pet food brands the freedom to choose the material best-suited for their application.
The evolution of the humanisation trend means there are now more options than ever for consumers looking to feed hungry pets. Raw, fresh, and frozen options are now commonplace alongside subscription services and customisable meal plans, with each application requiring different levels of packaging protection. Fully recyclable paper solutions may be appropriate for one application, but for others, a greater level of barrier protection may be required.
Our material expertise and well-established supply chains means we can supply the right material for each application, ensuring your packaging protects your products and reduces waste while also minimising material consumption wherever possible. Meanwhile, our in-house pouching capabilities give us complete control over the process from start to finish, ensuring everything falls within the tightest production tolerances.
Today’s consumers expect the best for their pets – so you should expect the best for your packaging, too. At Eco Flexibles, we’re redefining what you thought was possible using digital print to deliver flexible pet food packaging excellence in every run.
If you want your pet food brand to be the leader of the pack, get in touch with us today.
