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Company's New Line of Family-Style Meals Feeds a Need to Humanize Our Pets

Posted on: Thursday, 30 March 2006, 12:00 CST

By Meena Thiruvengadam, San Antonio Express-News

Mar. 30--Quick and easy meals of beef stew, simmered chicken and roasted turkey garnished with carrots, rice and peas aren't just for humans anymore.

For owners looking to feed their pets something other than the traditional canned and dry products, Beneful has launched a line of family-style prepared meals for dogs.

The meals hit store shelves in selected cities including San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and New York earlier this month.

"One of the biggest trends we were seeing among pet owners was the desire for them to feed their dogs like they feed themselves," said Nina Leigh Krueger, Beneful's director of marketing and the "proud parent" of a 3-year-old Labrador retriever mix.

Beneful Prepared Meals come in eight varieties and carry a price tag of $1.59 for a 10-ounce single-serving package. Nutritionally, they have the same value as their dry and wet counterparts, Krueger said.

The new product, which took three years to develop, is an effort to capitalize on what's called a "humanization" of American pets -- or treating them in much the same way as humans would be treated.

"Most of the pets I see, people treat them as members of their family," San Antonio veterinarian Stephen Lovelace said. "Nowadays, you see pets being seen more and more as child substitutes." An estimated 83 percent of dog owners refer to themselves as their pet's mom or dad, according to Beneful's market research. Ninety percent of people say they would not date someone who isn't fond of their pet, 59 percent of celebrate their pet's birthday, and 40 percent carry a photo of their pet with them at all times.

Americans' spending on their pets has more than doubled since 1994 to nearly $36 billion in 2005, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. At $14.5 billion, food expenditures account for the largest portion of funds spent on pets.

"There's a greater variety of pet food products now than there has ever previously been offered," said Stephen Payne, vice president of communication for the Pet Food Institute, an industry group representing 98 percent of American dog and cat food producers.

In 2005 alone, 125 new types of pet food made it onto store shelves, according to Chicago-based market research firm Mintel International.

Tammi White, a general manager at the Rob Cary Pet Resort and the owner of seven show dogs, has noticed the changes on store shelves, but for more than 20 years she's opted to make home-cooked meals for her pooches.

Each week, she whips up a special stew with such ingredients as pasta, oatmeal, vegetables, beef, venison, chicken, turkey, lamb and nutritional supplements.

White started the practice because she couldn't find a food appropriate for an allergy-prone pet. She's continued to do it to keep her pets healthy and feeling special.

"I would do whatever I can to keep my dogs healthy and bouncing," she said. "They're my friends. They're my babies." White isn't yet sure whether she will try Beneful's new meals.

"It would depend on the ingredients," she said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, San Antonio Express-News

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Source: San Antonio Express-News

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