Just wanted to share some facts about the history of commercial pet foods. Makes me wonder what people fed their animals before commercial pet foods were available. I know the answer, do you?
The History of commercial pet foods, according to the Pet Food Institute:
- James Spratt, an electrical engineer in England, developed a dog biscuit around 1860
- Production of the dog biscuit began in the U.S. about 1890
- Canned horse meat was introduced in the U.S. after World War I
- Canned cat food and dry meat-meal for dogs was introduced in the 1930’s
- The extrusion process was developed for cereals in 1950, and this was the beginning of kibble
- The Pet Food Institute was founded in 1958 by the top pet food manufacturers at that time
- Expansion in the variety of canned, moist and semi-moist foods grew in the 1960’s
- The 2013 top 5 U.S. manufacturers hold approximately 70-80% of pet food sales and have so for many years (each markets various brands and types of pet foods):
- Mars Petcare Inc.
- Nestle Purina PetCare
- Del Monte Foods Co.
- Hill’s Pet Nutrition
- Proctor & Gamble
- The top 5 U.S. pet food manufacturers above also hold significant market share in human food manufacturing and distribution. Hmmm, smart business decision to reduce their scrap rates and create a secondary market for their waste.