Many owners of pets no longer want to be called "pet owners"—they now prefer "pet parents." And, of course, their "children" deserve the best food available on the market. Manufacturers of natural, organic, and holistic pet foods are rising to meet this desire with premium ingredients, healthier formulations, and packaging that appeals directly to the parents at a sophisticated gourmet-food level.

Although it would be silly to suggest that traditional pet food packaging tried to appeal to pets, many pet specialty store brands fell into either the fancy food camp or the clinical formulation camp. Pet food manufacturers—especially natural, organic, or holistic products—have broken out of these traditional packaging models to appeal more directly to the sensibilities and aspirations of their human parents. Pet food packages now overflow with healthy food messages and mimic gourmet packages found in natural food stores.

Of course, pet parents are realizing that some of today's premium pet food is healthier than what humans sometimes get in restaurants. The nationwide pet food recall earlier this year is also fueling consumer interest in truly premium products, and consumers are scrutinizing their pet food packaging as never before. Sales of natural and organic pet food sourced domestically experienced a dramatic jump in April and May due to the distrust of ingredients from China. Even before the recall, the Organic Trade Association reported that organic pet food sales were growing at almost three times the rate of human organic food sales.

Many pet food brands—organic, natural, or otherwise—design logos and "seals" that look like official certification marks. At first glance, the packages look like they've been "approved" for the category their in or for the claims they are making. Upon closer inspection, these seals are often only mild benefit statements that reinforce the brand message of healthy food for pets. True organic compliance seals and true claims of all-natural for pet food have only become standardized in the last few years.

Homestyle Fresh Bites is the latest packaging form for the Freshpet company, coming in a tub with two separate serving-size bags.

Premium fits and starts

Purina Pro Plan debuted in 1987 as the first super premium pet food manufactured to be sold exclusively in the pet specialty channel of trade. Pro Plan distinguished itself as the first and only full line life-stage specialty pet food to use real chicken as the #1 ingredient. Later, they were the first to use real beef as the #1 ingredient.

Pro Plan packages also set the stage for premium pet food packaging with the white brand mark over a field of black. This instantly recognizable design strategy still serves them well by "owning" sections of pet specialty stores. Pro Plan was also the first pet food to make certain health claims on their packaging, having gained FDA approval to do so.

The Solid Gold brand was one of the first dog foods with all-natural ingredients, and premium packaging has always been a priority. Steven J. Wirick, COO for Solid Gold Health Products for Pets, explains that the loud, bright designs of Solid Gold are an extension of the owner, Sissy McGill.

Solid Gold sells their main product line in 4-, 15-, and 33-lb. bags. "The bag itself is ultra-premium," explains Wirick. "It's basically a huge coffee bag." The bags are four-layer construction, with one aluminum foil or metallized holographic polyester layer for oxygen and moisture barrier protection. A one-way valve pulls gasses out during packaging, and the bag is heat-sealed, not glued.

In your grocer's refrigerator

Most pet parents will first encounter Freshpet products by accident and with surprise in their local supermarkets. In the dog food aisle or on an end cap, there will be a refrigerator with nothing but Freshpet products. The 100% all-natural Deli Fresh and Homestyle Select ingredients are never preprocessed or heat-treated before they are blended together. Since at least 75% of the meats and vegetables are indeed truly fresh and have only been gently cooked with minimal heat, the products must be refrigerated until ready to serve.

Scott Morris, v.p. of marketing for Freshpet, explains the challenge of creating marketing and packaging for such a unique supermarket product. "There's a cost consideration, and there's a quality expectation," Morris explains. "We try to use every cue we can from human food."

Freshpet products are "Food for dogs, not dog food," and the company goes the extra mile to instill consumer confidence in its products. Morris explains the packaging must be informative as many pet parents will encounter the product for the first time alone in a supermarket. "There's a lot of learning that goes on," says Morris. For instance, the food processing equipment and packaging materials are on par—or exceed—what one might expect from fresh human food.

The packaging conveys the comfort of a warm, home-cooked meal and features warm meaty and hearty earth tones. The packaging features a number of benefit statements and vivid photography of cooked meats and fresh vegetables. "It has to create appetite appeal for the people, too," Morris emphasizes.

Derek Lau, principal and creative director for Sphere Design in Atlanta, GA, has designed all of the current Freshpet packaging. Lau built the brand identity from scratch with a holistic design approach where all the elements point back to a nutritious human-level meal. The fireplace hearth in the Homestyle Select logo, for instance, "conveys the message of a home-cooked meal that you might prepare for your pet," explains Lau.

This line of dog treats for "unruly dogs" is "herbalist formulated," and the box is produced to human standards with precise embossing for the brand name, the dog outline, and the details of the red and silver seal.

The newest line for Freshpet is the Homestyle Select Fresh Bites line, packaged in a tub that contains two sealed 14-oz. meal-sized bags. The oval plate behind the brand name is suggestive of a premium dog tag. Lau enlisted help for the dog photography from MacWright Studio in Chester, NJ, and the fresh food photography from Colin Cook in New York City. Lau believes the fresh ingredients photography is an undeniable trend in premium, all-natural, or organic pet food packaging. "You can't just sell a pretty dog image on the package anymore," Lau says.

Holistic approaches

Linda Logue, v.p. of marketing and sales for HealthyPetNet, based in Palm City, FL, explains how "holistic" claims fit into the pet food packaging picture. There are no legal requirements, but the idea is "treating the entire body instead of just one symptom."

The Life's Abundance products from HealthyPetNet are all-natural formulation by well-respected holistic formulator Dr. Jane Bicks. The Life's Abundance packages recently got a makeover to be lighter and friendlier with a youthful logo and cuddly dog pictures. "It gives the consumers a warm and fuzzy feeling," Logue says. Life's Abundance has never used corn, wheat, or gluten in its kibble, and often supplements the nutrients with probiotics and antioxidants. "We've always been ahead of the curve in that respect," says Logue, "and I suspect that is where the industry is going."

The Castor & Pollux Pet Works company in Portland, OR, claims to be the first to have both organic dog and cat food on the market. Its Organix line hit store shelves in early 2003, and Natural Ultramix followed shortly after. Shelley Gunton, the company's co-founder and CEO, says Castor & Pollux packaging has a reputation of being distinctive, untraditional, and retro.

Castor & Pollux, with the help of Koopman Ostbo, gave their Organix and Natural Ultramix dog food lines many gourmet cues and plenty of information for discerning label readers.

Castor & Pollux Started distributing the gourmet Organix pet food in natural food chains, and it is now in natural food chains and Petcos across the country. The acceptance of organic pet food was not what Gunton expected at the outset, so they developed the less-organic Natural Ultramix to bridge the gap. The two brands were meant to be separate in different retail environments, but they ended up next to each other on the shelves at Petco with very similar packaging.

So Castor & Pollux called in the Koopman Ostbo marketing firm in Portland to rethink the product lines and give them proper separation, yet keep both gourmet-focused for the discriminating pet parent. The Organix line now projects clinical sophistication with bold blocks of color, and the Natural Ultramix line conveys its premium position with elegant design, many benefit bullets, and pictures of real roasted chicken and fresh vegetables.

Organic and natural packaging

Gunton has never been worried about having too much information on the Organix package front or back panels. "Organic food shoppers tend to be real label-readers." One thing that impresses label readers is natural/organic claims and certification seals.

The Avoderm brand presents a down-home pastoral scene reminiscent of human gourmet specialty food brands.

Pet food regulation is an alphabet soup of organizations from the FDA, USDA, NOP, AAFCO, etc. "It's highly regulated as far as what you can and can't say—and where," says Gunton. AAFCO is the American Association of Feed Control Officials, who tries to provide a mechanism for developing and implementing uniform and equitable laws, regulations, standards, and enforcement policies for regulating animal feeds.

USDA's National Organic Program (NOP) Final Rule was implemented in 2002 as the culmination of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) in 1990. The OFPA required that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) develop national standards for organically produced agricultural products. The regulations require that agricultural products labeled as organic originate from farms and handling operations certified by a state or private entity that has been accredited by the USDA.

The FDA is the final layer of packaging regulation because it dictates what are allowable non-organic claims based on the pet food ingredients and how it is prepared. Among all of this confusion, pet food package designers face a challenge to be informative, meet all regulations, and finally, be useful packaging for the pet parent. Clearly, one of the roles of the package today is to educate pet parents about what it means to be all-natural or organic, and what makes these claims authentic.

Purina has experimented with several human packaging forms and fun graphic designs for their Whisker Lickin's cat treats line, and both of these options are currently on the market.

As the standards have developed over the last four years to cover both human and pet foods, the requirements of different organizations sometimes seemed to be in conflict, and AAFCO leaves registration and enforcement up to individual state offices. "As a manufacturer and marketer, it's a real challenge to put together a package that satisfies both NOP and AAFCO," says Gunton. "Different agencies seem to march to different drummers."