Why Pet Food Costs More

There is a lot to consider when comparing prices of pet food, probably more than you ever considered. A deeper look behind the prices of pet food.

Pet foods – all labeled as complete and balanced, can vary in price dramatically; from $0.40 a pound to more than $10.00 a pound. Many pet owners believe expensive pet foods are price gouging – lining their pockets with money rather than providing an affordable quality pet food. However, when you understand the costs of producing a high quality pet food, you might change your attitude as to who is really doing the price gouging.

Quality of Ingredients

The obvious consideration for varying prices of pet foods is quality of ingredients. Pet foods that source USDA inspected and passed meats are obviously paying a significantly higher price than condemned and non-slaughtered meats that other pet foods source (allowed by FDA even though it is a violation of federal law). As well, pet food ‘meal’ ingredients are far less expensive per pound than meats. Using chicken as the example…

Chicken Meal is a dry powdered ingredient made by grinding, cooking, and then removing the moisture and fat from whole chickens, chicken parts or even chicken skeletal frames (little to no meat). The wholesale price of Chicken Meal can cost as little as $0.13 per pound.

The wholesale price of Chicken (USDA inspected and passed) is $0.71 per pound.

For a pet food that goes to the extra effort of sourcing USDA inspected and passed free-range chicken, wholesale prices can rise to $3.35 per pound.

If three different pet foods used each exampled category of meat above, with each manufacturer including 2 pounds of meat or meat meal in a ten pound package – here is what each manufacturer has invested in each pet food with just meat ingredients:

One ten pound package of pet food contains ONLY $0.26 worth of meat (2 pounds of chicken meal) in it while another ten pound package of pet food contains $6.70 worth of meat (2 pounds of free-range edible chicken).

Pet food manufacturers that insist on quality food grade/human grade meat (instead of inferior feed grade) are facing a minimum of 346% to 2,376% increased costs to provide pets whole food nutrition.

And…the same price variations apply to every single food ingredient in a pet food, human grade ingredients cost dramatically more than feed grade ingredients. And human grade supplements have a significantly higher price tag than feed grade supplements too.

Storage of Ingredients

The AAFCO website gives us a hint into a different expense of pet food manufacturing; “Because it’s difficult to store and handle raw ingredients properly in a pet food manufacturing facility, many pet food plants use rendered byproducts in a meal form.”

No, it’s not “difficult” for pet food manufacturers to store and handle raw ingredients…it’s expensive. Most pet food manufacturing facilities have no freezers or refrigeration systems to store perishable foods such as fresh/frozen meats or vegetables. Most pet food manufacturers use 100% dry ingredients that are not required to be stored frozen or refrigerated which significantly decreases the cost to manufacture a pet food. As example:

Below are the ingredients of a kibble dog food (excluding supplements):

“Chicken, Chicken Meal, Dried Peas, Soybean Meal, Whole Ground Corn, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Pea Starch, Corn Gluten Meal, Brown Rice,…“

Of these 10 ingredients, only one ingredient would be required to be refrigerated – Chicken. Every other ingredient – including the Chicken Fat ingredient and supplements – are not stored under refrigeration.

Dried pet food ingredients are stored in large bins at manufacturing facilities. Dried ingredient storage bins can be purchased for as little as $1,000.00 each, with a 15 ton storage capacity.

But refrigeration or freezer units are dramatically more expensive. A small (10 foot by 14 foot) walk in freezer unit can run from $10,000.00 to $15,000.00 each.

A pet food manufacturer choosing to use fresh ingredients instead of processed dry ingredients is facing a minimum of 800% increased costs just to store ingredients (not including electricity).

Transportation of Ingredients

Shipping costs for non-perishable dry feed ingredients (no refrigeration) can run $0.05 per pound.

Shipping costs for perishable food ingredients (requiring refrigeration or freezer) runs $0.22 per pound.

A pet food manufacturer choosing to use fresh ingredients instead of processed dry ingredients is facing 340% increased costs to transport those fresh or frozen ingredients to their plant.

And…

These same higher shipping costs apply to the transportation expenses of the finished fresh ingredient pet foods to distributors and to retailers. And don’t forget that distributors and retailers have the same expense of freezer units to store fresh ingredient pet foods. As example, pet food retailer freezers can range from $750.00 to $6,000.00 each.

Dry or canned pet foods are stored in large non-air conditioned warehouses, and stored on shelves in retail outlets. Frozen fresh ingredient pet foods must be stored and transported – from manufacturing thru to retail – in freezers.

Who’s really price gouging?

Just considering the meat ingredient, not considering all other ingredients and supplements…

The price to manufacture and ship to retail a feed grade dried ingredient pet food is at least 2,600% less than the price to manufacture and ship to retail a human grade pet food.

The price to manufacture and ship to retail a feed grade dried ingredient pet food is at least 4,600% less than the price to manufacture and ship to retail a human grade pet food with meats sourced from free-range/humanely raised animals.

What appears to be high prices for human grade pet food actually provides only a small profit margin for the manufacturer. The traditional manufacturers that have minimal manufacturing expenses are the ones with high profit margins – and in turn charging pet owners far too much for their inexpensively manufactured pet feeds.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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