Pet food packaging gets more 'human': innovative materials, easy opening, reclosability and other packaging features are migrating from human to pet food.

When it comes to pet food, Fido probably doesn't care much about the packaging. But you can bet his owner does.

Americans buy $14 billion worth of pet food a year. At a time when 62% of U.S. households have pets, and Paris Hilton can offer a $5,000 reward for her lost Chihuahua (she got it back), it's clear that Americans love their furred, feathered and finned friends. Packaging can help pet food marketers tap into this wellspring of sentiment.

Pet food packaging, of course, has many of the same imperatives as any consumer packaging. Brand identity is one of the most prominent.

"I think packaging is of utmost importance," says Mike Wilson, group packaging manager for pet food at Masterfoods USA. "One key decision point for the consumer is the brand. Certainly the packaging at the store shelf level is a primary expression of the brand."

Pet food marketers say two avenues of appeal, in particular, are important. One is consumers' desire to be "good owners," just as most parents are always striving to be good mothers and fathers. The other is taste buds: Pet food often is marketed by describing its savor in human terms.

Other considerations include product protection, clear communication on the label, and, especially, convenience.

"I would say the biggest trend that's driving innovation in the pet-food packaging arena is convenience," Wilson says. Multiple portion sizes, reclosability, easy opening and other convenient features are migrating from human to pet food. Pet food marketers are now using a variety of packaging to satisfy these concerns. Pet food packaging, especially for dogs and cats, used to mean cans for wet food and either paper bags or paperboard cartons for dry. These forms still predominate, but many pet food packagers have moved beyond them.

Can alternatives

Pouches and other alternatives to cans have emerged in the last few years. Their advantages include better shelf presence and, for retorted products, a more flexible heating profile. "What we're seeing is a transition from where cans were the only wet pet food packaging, to rigid plastic, such as our Cesar and Sheba containers, and flexible pouch materials that are now available," Wilson says. "I expect to continue to see a proliferation of different material types. Plastic is likely to be one of the dominant materials of the future for both wet and dry pet foods."

Masterfoods brought a major innovation to wet pet food a few years ago: retorted pouches. The company came out with a range of Whiskas cat food and Pedigree Little Champions dog food in portion-controlled pouches. Masterfoods' use of retort pouches predates their use for some prominent human-food applications, such as tuna fish and Uncle Ben's precooked rice (another Masterfoods product).

A major advantage of the pouch design is that it allows a relatively fast sterilization and thus delivers a very gentle cook compared to traditional cans.

"For Pedigree specifically, we launched it under the Pedigree Little Champions brand, so it was designed with small dogs in mind," Wilson says. "Also, the product's aesthetics are fantastic. It's absolutely a great package from an ease of opening and disposal standpoint, plus the product is complete and balanced, and it is very palatable for the pet. We really did focus on maximizing a positive experience for both the owner and the pet with an integrated product and package approach."

Nestle has followed suit with the recent introduction of Friskies Fine Cuts and Seared Filets cat food. The retortable pouches are cut in a distinctive shape that fits the head of the cat on the front panel.

Film stars

Another basic change in pet food packaging is a transition from multiwall paper bags to plastic film for dry food. Film offers superior barrier qualities, stain resistance and graphics capabilities.

The transition to plastic film has been slow in the U.S., mostly because paper still has a built-in price advantage over plastic in the U.S. for dry pet food applications.

"Currently, multiwall paper bags in the U.S. have an economic advantage over plastic," Wilson says. "That's not as true in other parts of the world, where you tend to see much more plastic packaging used for dry food." But some U.S. pet food marketers are making the switch. Nestle is now using woven polypropylene film for its club-store sacks of Purina Dog Chow, one of its flagship brands. Consumers are responding positively to the new package, which Nestle calls the Tough Bag, says Steve Crimmins, vice president for dog food marketing and new products at Nestle USA.

"Research shows consumers overwhelmingly prefer the Tough Bag, rating it higher on quality, ease of use and appearance," Crimmins says. "In addition, our club customers save in damage and handing costs, and our company has a better package on shelf." Compared with paper sacks, the Tough Bag is more tear-resistant, stands up better to forklift impacts and other abrasions, and has better shelf presence, he says.