In this issue we start off with research by ADM on cats and postbiotics. Dr Agata Rybicka showed with the Pet Nutrition Research Center in Beijing China that their new postbiotics do improve gut heath in felines. A most interesting article with detailed information on their research.
Jim Galovski of Guardian Petfoods reviews in detail, as a producer of freeze-dried petfoods, why extrusion should be replaced as a petfood production process at least that is how I review the article. The article points out many aspects of petfood production with extrusion, but it is my opinion you can’t just lump all extruders into one category. Yes, the variation in extruder designs do in fact result in different levels of vitamin destruction for example. Dry extruders or ones that run at lower moisture levels have a much higher vitamin destruction as opposed to extruders with elevated moisture levels when operated. The reason is mainly because dry extruders run hotter thus more destruction of heat liable ingredients. I am all for advancements and freeze dried petfoods is an interesting advancement in petfood production. However, having worked with extrusion for decades and having seen the advancements and all the associated feeding studies that proved these advancements were in the beneficial direction it is hard to imagine extrusion going away any time soon when you consider seven million tonnes produced per year globally. There is a desire for many different styles and types of petfood which is what makes this market so interesting and diverse.
There are as many ways to package petfoods and it is the last most important step in the process, it is what protects the product until consumed. It is also what the customers sees first and as a result carries the story of what is perceived to be purchased. David Ranera of Payper Spain discusses packaging and reviews all the aspects of what is considered for petfood packaging. He mentions convenience as an aspect and when you consider the range of needs and demands of pet owners there is a wide range of packaging possibilities. As mentioned, five to 20kg bags normally, but much smaller single portions are becoming popular. When you consider the volumes produced the smaller the packages the more complex packaging becomes. Eight bags a minute for 10,000kg/hour in 20kg bags or 2000 5kg bags a minute is a big difference in packaging machine design. Managing the air in the bag or adding inert gases for product protection is a great assist in product lifetime which is just a part of the overall process of getting the food in the bag and to the retailers.
Tetra Pak is reviewed and who has not handled one of their package designs? A design that changed the way many products are packed and sold.
Kansas State University will have a petfood workshop day on 18 August 2025, ahead of a short course on extrusion processing. These events are most informative with regards to what is new throughout the process from ingredients through the production process.
This issue when reviewing does point out the diversity of knowledge and variety of fields that needs to come together to make petfoods. Ingredients are huge and constantly advancing new possibilities resulting in many new products in the market. Production, improvements and new processes are constantly developing to efficiently handle the wider and ever-growing number of formulations.
When you think about production it is a series of individual processes that come together to make defined final products. Each process is specific in terms of its function. Conveying, mixing, grinding, sifting, extrusion or another process, drying, cooling, packaging to mention a few. Each one of these experiences changes or improves for the function intended. They build on one another, if you don’t mix well then the grinding is not so good etc. What happens if the grind is not so good in the extruder? Normally you see some sort of indication the kibbles are not even in appearance. Drying and cooling, better be accurate or there will be spoilage in the bags.
The point here is each section or process there have been advancements all based on development and experience of noticing differences in the product when that individual process is changed. There are examples for each section. Conveying for example. It used to be a degree of broken kibbles were acceptable, now it is different. Some conveyors or processes had higher levels of product breakage where modifications have basically eliminated these effects. I would say consistency is the key word. It was not easy to make an even similar shaped kibble years ago. Evenness in formulation mixing, grinding (more uniform particle size), controllable water and steam injection in preconditioner with exact evenness fed to the extruder barrel. The barrel with flow improvements and designs including die design allow for exact product post extrusion. The list goes on and on with the downstream equipment having been modified over the years to achieve evenness between kibbles.
All the above in conjunction with increased capacity of the equipment has yielded a predictable system so much so that computer controls with the needed sensors in key spots in the process allows for extremely accurate high production of petfoods. Yes, the petfood industry is going through some exciting times and will continue to do so as the demand for pets and quality pet products increases.
Published in the April 2025 issue of International Petfood