Above Meals Substances has expanded its pet meals elements enterprise with the acquisition of The Redwood Group (TRG), which is an employee-owned provide chain and ingredient firm that sources, processes and packages commodities for home and worldwide prospects. Primarily based in Montana, the corporate’s merchandise embody grains, cereals, oilseeds, pulses and different different sources of protein for human and pet meals corporations.
This strategic acquisition considerably enhances Above Meals’s presence within the quickly rising plant-based pet meals market, positioning it to capitalize on rising traits and meet rising client demand for high-quality, plant-based pet vitamin, stated Lionel Kambeitz, founder, president, CEO and government chairman of Above Meals.
“This acquisition considerably enhances our place within the quickly rising plant-based pet meals market, increasing our complete pet meals enterprise to roughly US$110M, or 25% of our mixed revenues on a proforma foundation,” stated Kambeitz. “Moreover, our seed-to-fork platform uniquely positions us to serve the evolving wants of the plant-based pet meals business, beforehand demonstrated by delivering a 13% natural CAGR in our legacy pet meals enterprise since 2022.
By controlling each step from seed choice and farming to ingredient processing and formulation, Above Meals can provide traceability, high quality management and customization capabilities, stated Kambeitz.
“This vertical integration permits us to develop progressive, nutritious plant-based elements particularly tailor-made for pet meals functions, assembly the rising demand for high-quality, sustainable pet vitamin options,” he famous. “As pet dad and mom more and more search clear, plant-based choices for his or her pet companions, Above Meals’s complete method allows us to be a useful companion to main world pet meals producers. We will quickly reply to market traits, guarantee constant provide of premium elements, and help our companions in growing differentiated merchandise.”
Pet meals market significance
In line with Above Meals, the pet meals business represents a considerable and rising alternative for the corporate, pushed by a number of key elements:
- Giant and rising market: The US$26 billion world plant-based pet meals market is projected to develop at a CAGR of 9% by 2032, in response to Future Market Insights. This development is outpacing the general pet meals market, indicating a robust shift in direction of shoppers adopting plant-based protein formulations for his or her pets.
- Increasing pet possession: 66% of U.S. households personal a pet, in response to the American Pet Merchandise Affiliation. The U.S. pet inhabitants has been persistently rising at 1% to 2% yearly from 2013-2022, as reported by Euromonitor. This development is anticipated to proceed, making a steadily increasing buyer base for pet meals merchandise.
- Pet humanization development: In line with Packaged Information, 92% to 96% of U.S. pet homeowners view their pets as relations. This humanization of pets has been a robust long-term development for over a decade, remodeling pet homeowners into “pet dad and mom” who prioritize their pets’ well-being and are prepared to put money into premium vitamin choices.
- Well being and vitamin focus: Mirroring traits in human vitamin, pet dad and mom are more and more in search of more healthy, higher-quality meals choices for his or her pets. There is a rising demand for recent, pure, and natural plant-based meals merchandise with transparently sourced elements. This development has been additional accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 48% of pet dad and mom reporting feeling nearer to their pets as a result of pandemic, in response to an American Pet Merchandise Affiliation’s Pulse Research.
- Plant-based innovation: The plant-based meals motion is driving innovation in pet meals, with elements like chickpeas and flaxseed changing into more and more widespread options to conventional soy, corn, and wheat proteins. This shift opens up new alternatives for differentiated ingredient suppliers like Above Meals, now stated to be North America’s largest chickpea producer following the acquisition of TRG, to turn out to be innovation companions with producers in growing novel, nutritious plant-based pet meals formulations.
- Market resilience: The pet class has traditionally proven resilience throughout financial downturns, as shoppers proceed to prioritize spending on their pets even when tightening budgets in different areas. This resilience was demonstrated throughout each the monetary disaster in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic when the pet business skilled optimistic development regardless of a lowered urge for food for client spending.
Tailored from a press launch.
