Pet food and treats expect to account for roughly $67.7 billion in sales in 2025, according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA). The pet food market is incredibly competitive and profitable, which makes it a big draw to manufacturers.
Nevertheless, pet food processors face challenges as the industry continues to evolve. Even major companies, such as Mars, Inc. have their battles.
Challenges pet food manufacturers face in 2025
Mars has historically been known as a chocolate producer, but in 1935, it acquired its first pet food company, Chapel Brothers, Ltd., the group that made Chappie canned dog food. Mars expanded its pet care business in the 1980s and 90s, and around the year 2000, the company’s pet food sector surpassed its chocolate revenue, according to Joydip Dutta, a Senior Engineering Project Manager who works for Mars’ pet food division.
“Pet food makes more money than chocolate now, which is really remarkable,” Dutta says.
By acquiring more companies and building expertise, Mars has been able to grow the sector. In August 2014, Mars acquired Proctor & Gamble’s pet food division, which further strengthened its portfolio. However, despite the growth, integrating company culture with acquisitions remains a notable challenge.
“The main challenge is when you acquire another company,” says Dutta. “The culture is different, right? So, you have your own culture, one way to make product, one way to deal with employees. But when buying another company and bringing them into your portfolio, there’s a cultural shift that happens [that causes you to need to integrate well].”
On the processing side, a prominent company like Mars seems to have its ducks in a row, but as for many companies, continuous improvement remains important.
“It’s not like you have to reinvent the wheel… it’s just making sure you can make [processes] efficient. Bringing new technology [is important], especially with the way the world is moving,” states Dutta.
Joydip Dutta, a Senior Engineering Project Manager who works for Mars, Inc’s pet food division, provides insights into the industry in an exclusive interview.Image courtesy of Joydip Dutta
An overview of pet food processing, with a closer look at the wet process
Dutta breaks down two main aspects of the pet food manufacturing process, dry and wet. The two processes are similar, but Dutta puts more emphasis on the wet process, since it requires a more specific sterilization step. Dutta describes the wet process as one that follows a horizontal line, from steps “A” to B.” Essentially, machines receive raw ingredients and are processed via a line to form a finish product.
The wet process starts with a chunk of raw meat that gets grinded into a “slurry”. Then, the meat travels through a hygienic piping and pumping system before entering an emulsifying step. Afterwards, the meat travels to a mixing center where other ingredients are added. At this point, the mixture is nearly finished. However, it must go through retort processing, which is a step where packaged products (packaged mostly in either tubs or cans) are loaded into pressure containers that sterilize the mixture.
Tubs get sterilized via vertical retorts, where they are vertically loaded into a cylindrical vessel and receive a specific temperature and pressure for sterilization. Cans get sterilized via hydrostatic retorts, which follows a similar process, but uses columns of hot water to apply pressure.
The purpose of these sterilization processes is to help products achieve a desired shelf life, so they do not expire quickly.
