Pet Food

Bond Pet Foods has received $250,000 from a Colorado grant program supporting the state’s advanced industries - one of 37 startups approved for funding by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. At Bond they are reinventing pet nutrition, making dog and cat foods sourced from real animal protein, without the animal. Using some of the same processes that are employed in craft brewing, they grow high-quality animal proteins through fermentation, harvest them to better meet the nutrition requirements of companion animals, and use the ingredients as the foundation of their complete recipes.

Nestlé said in a statement on Thursday that it has developed a new line of pet food — Purina Beyond Nature’s Protein — that uses insect protein, millet and fava beans. One of the new recipes mixes black soldier fly larva, chicken, and fava beans; a second includes chicken, pig’s liver, and plant protein from millet. Nestlé said that using insect and plant protein would help protect the planet. The products are slated to go on sale next month in Switzerland. According to Nestlé, its Purina brand is sold in 70 countries.

Farm-raised animals and staple crops have long been the go-to sources of protein for pet food formulators. Chicken, beef, lamb, salmon and even turkey, as well as legumes, pulses and soybeans are familiar ingredients and tolerated by most pets. However, some cats and dogs have allergies and sensitivities, requiring special diets and often alternative sources of quality protein. There are other reasons pet owners may seek out foods that include alternative proteins, including environmental platforms and personal preferences.

Along with the recent bridge funding, Bond Pet Foods is claiming to have created the world’s first animal-free, cultured chicken meat protein for pet food applications. Using what it says is proprietary technology, the startup takes a harmless, one-time blood sample — in this case, from a heritage hen named Inga who is alive and well at a farm in Lindsborg, Kansas — to determine the genetic code for the best types of chicken proteins to nourish dogs and cats.

Would you feel better tucking into a juicy steak knowing that the cow it comes from is still happily living out its life in a field somewhere? Biotechnology could make that possible. Manuela Saragosa hears from Shannon Falconer at pet food maker Because Animals, who grows real meat in a lab. Jon McIntyre at Motif FoodWorks explains how new technology has made his plant-based products tastier. We also hear from Tony Seba at the think tank, Rethink X. He believes we’ll be designing food like software in the future.