Annual Report 2025

Sustainable Pet Food Foundation Annual Report. (2025).

Note: hyperlinks are disabled within the flipbook below. However hyperlinks work within the downloadable PDF.

Executive Summary
The sustainable pet food sector comprises vegan and cultivated meat-based products. The sector expanded rapidly during 2025, as documented in a July 2025 study conducted by scientists from biotechnology company ClonBio and Iowa State University. Analysing 4,563 European dog food products, the authors identified particularly strong recent growth in plant-based offerings, noting that “the plant-based product segment experienced the most significant growth, particularly post2020, with launches surging from nine in 2020 to 57 in 2024.”

While animal-based product launches remained numerically higher, they declined over roughly the same period. Products combining both plant- and animal-based ingredients (‘hybrid’ formulations) exhibited the fastest overall growth. The authors concluded, “This trend reflects growing consumer interest in vegan, ethical, and environmentally sustainable pet food options”, and, “The slowdown in the growth of animal-based products may indicate a shift in consumer priorities, with factors such as sustainability and ethics increasingly influencing purchasing decisions.”

These findings were reinforced by a second July 2025 study documenting marked recent increases in scientific publications, product launches and patents relating to vegan and cultivated meat-based pet foods. The authors identified 89 new plant-based pet food products launched between 2014 and 2024 and observed that these alternatives are well positioned to meet growing demand for sustainable and health-conscious pet food options. They concluded that the integration of alternative proteins has the potential to fundamentally reshape the pet food industry, predicting that such proteins are likely to become a core component of future pet food markets as consumer perceptions continue to evolve.

At the same time, the authors emphasised that consumer acceptance—shaped by perceptions of novelty, palatability and safety—must be actively fostered through transparent communication and education. Building trust, they argued, requires targeted educational efforts highlighting both the benefits and safety of alternative protein sources.

This is precisely the role fulfilled by our sustainable pet food outreach programme. Our team is the most prolific globally conducting research and public engagement on sustainable pet diets. In 2025 alone, we published (or had accepted) eight key scientific studies and articles, etc., and delivered 22 presentations on sustainable pet nutrition, primarily to universities and professional conferences, including large veterinary audiences. These publications collectively generated several thousand media stories worldwide, supported by the press offices of the three universities affiliated with our Founder, Prof. Andrew Knight. In parallel, our social media channels generated several hundred thousand impressions. These outputs are detailed in the sections that follow.

This extensive activity has contributed to the rapid global expansion of the sector. Estimated global valuations of the vegan pet food market rose dramatically from approximately USD 10 billion in 2020 to around USD 27 billion in 2024, with forecasts suggesting further growth to approximately USD 57 billion by 2034. This represents a compound annual growth rate of around 7.8%, substantially outpacing growth in the conventional pet food market.

The delivery of these outputs was made possible through collaboration with a range of key organisations and individuals. Key collaborators are listed in the following section. We are deeply grateful to all contributors and collaborating organisations, and especially to our funders whose financial support enabled this work.

Outreach and Advocacy
Our sustainable pet food campaign began at the very start of the year with the launch of ‘Veganuary for Pets’. The accompanying press release generated substantial media interest, including prominent coverage in The Times.

This early momentum was followed, on 6 February, by what proved to be one of the most significant milestones in the history of sustainable pet food. The world’s first cultivated meat-based pet food—cultivated chicken dog treats—was launched in London by biotechnology company Meatly, in partnership with vegan pet food company The PACK. The launch attracted extensive international media coverage. Andrew was interviewed widely, including appearances on BBC prime-time news programmes, with a longer feature broadcast on BBC Breakfast.

Later in February, another major industry advance occurred with the launch of the first nutritionally complete dog food formulated using fermented microbial protein by German company Marsapet. The ‘FeedKind’ protein was produced in China by US biotechnology company Calysta. By late 2025, Calysta’s largescale production facility was manufacturing commercial volumes, with microbial protein appearing in additional UK pet food formulations. These developments created further high-profile opportunities for media engagement and public education.

The remainder of the year saw an intensive period of research publication and knowledge dissemination. Working with a skilled international team of collaborators (see Key Collaborators), we published—or secured acceptance for—eight peer-reviewed articles or technical letters in veterinary journals focused on sustainable pet diets.

These publications were strategically designed to maximise positive outcomes for animals. Central among them were large-scale studies on consumer acceptance of sustainable dog and cat diets, demonstrating that just under half of dog guardians and just over half of cat guardians currently feeding conventional or raw meat-based diets would realistically consider sustainable alternatives, provided key concerns were addressed. The most prominent concerns related to pet health outcomes and nutritional adequacy. These and other key areas of concern have recently been, or are being, directly addressed by our wider research programme. These findings offer valuable guidance to the rapidly expanding sustainable pet food sector on how best to address key consumer priorities.

Additional studies published or completed in 2025 confirmed both the good digestibility of vegan pet diets, and their environmental advantages. Many of these studies were supported by press releases, collectively generating several thousand media stories worldwide (see Media Coverage). The greatest volume of press attention followed publication of the studies of consumer acceptance of sustainable dog and cat diets.

Alongside publications, an unprecedented 22 presentations were delivered during the year, primarily to universities and professional conferences (see Presentations). On two occasions, very large veterinary audiences were reached. Audience responses were consistently positive, and several presentations achieved extended reach through recorded versions, which—together with several hundred thousand social media impressions—reached a substantial global audience.

Andrew also contributed to ten podcast interviews and appeared extensively in the world’s first known full-length documentary dedicated to vegan pet diets, produced by Finnish filmmaker Jon Erik West, with the support of the Sustainable Pet Food Foundation. Further outreach in 2025 included briefings for four companies seeking to enter the sustainable pet food sector, one investor, and three animal advocacy organisations.

Publications

Several influential articles on sustainable pet food were published in 2025. Most prominent were two major studies examining consumer acceptance of sustainable pet diets, building on our large-scale international survey conducted in 2020.

The first study analysed responses from 2,639 dog guardians. While 84% were feeding conventional or raw meat-based diets, a substantial proportion—43%—of this group indicated willingness to consider at least one more sustainable alternative, including vegan, vegetarian or cultivated meat-based diets. Cultivated meat-based dog food was the most acceptable option (24%), followed by vegetarian (17%) and vegan (13%) diets.

The companion study examined responses from 1,380 cat guardians. Of these, 89% were feeding conventional or raw meat-based diets. Nevertheless, just over half (51%) of this group were open to at least one more sustainable alternative. Cultivated meat-based diets were again the most popular option (33%), followed by vegan diets (18%).

It was particularly encouraging that so many guardians currently feeding meat-based diets expressed openness to alternatives. Consistent with earlier research, cultivated meat-based pet food was the most popular sustainable option. However, by 2025 such products remained scarcely available, in contrast to the next most acceptable alternatives—plant-based pet diets. This availability gap continues to underpin the strategic focus of sustainable pet food advocacy on nutritionally sound plant-based options.

Both studies identified clear demographic patterns. Guardians who themselves reduced or avoided meat were significantly more open to alternative diets for their pets, as were those with higher educational attainment. Differences related to age and region were also observed, with older respondents and those based in the UK generally less open than respondents from other parts of Europe, North America or Oceania, although these trends were not always statistically significant.

A key article in Faunalytics summarized the benefits of vegan pet diets. A large scale switch to vegan dog food would…reduce greenhouse gases by the equivalent of the emissions of South Africa or the U.K…save freshwater volumes greater than all the renewable freshwater in Denmark…free up land larger than Saudi Arabia or Mexico

Importantly, the studies provided detailed insights into the concerns pet guardians most need satisfied, before adopting alternative pet diets. Nutritional adequacy and health outcomes were the dominant concerns, alongside several secondary factors. The research also examined trusted information sources, with product labels and packaging cited most frequently. These findings offer valuable guidance for the sustainable pet food sector on how best to engage and communicate with these pet guardians. To maximise accessibility and impact, both studies were published fully open access and supported by extensive outreach, collectively generating hundreds of global media stories.

A further key open-access study, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, quantified the substantial environmental impacts of meat-based pet food, including land use, greenhouse gas emissions and contributions to climate breakdown, while demonstrating the significant reductions achievable through vegan pet diets. This research received extensive international media coverage.

Another (forthcoming) study reviewed 31 primary studies and demonstrated good digestibility of vegan diets for both dogs and cats, directly addressing a common—though unsupported—criticism that vegan diets are not adequately digested by dogs and cats.

In addition, two accessible summary articles were published by Faunalytics and Plant-Based News, helping to inform the animal advocacy and plant-based movements about recent scientific developments. Three letters were also published in Veterinary Times, the UK’s leading veterinary news journal, which is distributed to nearly all veterinary practices nationwide. These letters formed part of a debate between Andrew Knight and a rawmeat advocate and were written to educate veterinary audiences, using evidence-based argument and humour to maximise engagement, and were published within one of the journal’s most widely read sections.

“That letter to the Vet Times was really very funny. I hope this argument does not end any time soon because I am enjoying it immensely.”

— Jamie McClement, Referral Surgeon/Musculoskeletal clinician & Clinical Director at Abington Park Referrals, Chair of Referrals Clinical Board IVC, UK

Publications (8)

Presentations
Across 2025, Andrew and his collaborators delivered 22 presentations focused on sustainable pet food. These were predominantly invited talks and frequently plenary sessions, sometimes delivered to large audiences, including over 450 veterinarians and veterinary students.

Core audiences included veterinary schools, professional conferences and universities worldwide. Among the year’s highlights were plenary presentations on vegan pet diets at the first known in-person international conference dedicated specifically to vegan pet food, held in the Netherlands in October, and at a leading veterinary school in Mexico City—the Universidad del Valle de México—in September. The Mexico City lecture attracted more than 200 veterinary students and faculty, filling the university’s premier lecture theatre to capacity, with additional attendees packed around the walls.

Another major highlight was a presentation on vegan dog health delivered at the annual meeting of a European veterinary specialty college, hosted by the University of Helsinki in September. This session reached approximately 200 veterinary specialists in animal welfare and behaviour and was recognised with a conference award, further amplifying attention for this vegan pet diet research. Additional presentations in Taipei, Finland, Austria and Portugal introduced evidence-based information on vegan pet nutrition to key audiences in these regions for the first time.

Audience engagement was consistently strong. Participants frequently appeared very motivated after learning about recent research findings and developments in vegan pet food. Notably, around 95% of previously sceptical veterinary audiences afterwards appeared supportive of plant-based pet diets, provided these are nutritionally sound. These strong and consistent responses were among the most rewarding outcomes of 2025.

Many presentations achieved extended reach through recordings and subsequent sharing. Following Andrew’s presentations in Taipei, for example, Taiwanese animal advocacy organisations requested permission to “continually download videos from your YouTube channel, add Mandarin subtitles, and share them on our social media platforms.” Such requests are always warmly welcomed and actively supported.

Collectively, these presentations reached audiences in the UK, Europe (including Austria, Finland and the Netherlands), the United States, Mexico, Taiwan and Australia. In Taiwan, President Lai Ching-te joined more than 600 attendees at the Animals for Asia conference in Taipei, possibly marking the first occasion on which a sitting national leader has attended an animal advocacy conference.

To reduce carbon emissions, costs and travel time, presentations were delivered virtually wherever possible. These virtual presentations sometimes also enabled participation from additional countries beyond the host nation.

Presentations (22)

UK

  • 2nd Annual Cambridge Food Systems Symposium, St John’s College, University of Cambridge
  • Livestock, Environment, and People Conference 2025, Oxford
  • PHAIR conference, University of Edinburgh
  • University of Winchester
  • Vegan and Animal Rights Conference 2025, Manchester (2): oral and poster presentations
  • Bournemouth Natural Science Society
  • Hampshire Skeptics Society, Winchester
  • Vegan Runners UK Big Weekend, Southampton

US

  • Society for Veterinary Medical Ethics, US
  • Los Angeles, US (2): AVA Summit and

additional public presentation

  • Mercy for Animals, US

Europe

  • Helsinki (2): 7th annual meeting of the

European Veterinary Congress of

Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare,

Helsinki University, and additional public

presentation

  • International Masters on Human and Animal

Interaction, University of Veterinary Medicine

Vienna

  • The Plant-Based Dog — Science and Practice

[conference], Netl, Kraggenburg,

The Netherlands

  • Elevate Braga [conference], Braga, Portugal

Asia & Australia

  • Sentient – the Veterinary Institute for Animal

Ethics, Australia

  • Taipei: public presentation

Mexico

  • Mexico City (2): Universidad del Valle de

Mexico [veterinary school], and Vegan

Business Summit 2025, World Trade Centre

Media Coverage
Andrew Knight engaged with the media on an almost weekly basis throughout the year, with our research and commentary featured in hundreds of news stories worldwide. The leading story covered our two large-scale studies on the consumer acceptance of sustainable dog and cat diets. Press releases were syndicated across 1,844 downstream news websites, with a combined potential 1 audience of approximately 105 million people . This extensive coverage was driven by coordinated press releases and supported by the press offices of Andrew’s three affiliated universities.

Altmetric scores represent weighted measures of attention across news outlets, social media and other public platforms. By the end of 2025, Altmetric scores reached 231 for the dog diet study and 241 for the cat diet study, placing both in the top 1% of all scientific articles of comparable age worldwide.

Throughout 2025 our work, and interviews with Andrew, featured in a wide range of leading international and national media outlets, spanning television, radio and print. Coverage included major UK broadcasters, Dutch national television and radio, and prominent science and news publications in Europe and North America, alongside specialist veterinary and pet industry media. These included: BBC TV (Breakfast and Today programmes), Dutch national TV (human.nl), BBC radio UK and Scottish national stations, NPO Radio 1 (a major Dutch radio station), New Scientist, The Washington Post, The Times, The Guardian, The Spectator, Veterinary Times (UK) and PETS International.

A particular highlight occurred in April, when a popular Dutch public television programme HUMAN (human.nl, on channel NPO 2) aired a full-length episode on sustainable pet diets, as part of a wider series on sustainable living. The episode followed an in-depth interview conducted the previous month in an Amsterdam dog park, which culminated in an on-camera feeding trial. A group of dogs were offered three bowls containing cultivated meatbased, plant-based and microbial proteinbased vegan diets. The result was an enthusiastic feeding frenzy, with all bowls rapidly emptied.

1 Potential reach is an estimation of the number of worldwide unique visitors on desktop and mobile devices provided by Similarweb.

This episode—available online via the Dutch public broadcasting platform npo.nl—is believed to be the first time vegan pet food has been explored in a full-length, mainstream television programme anywhere in the world. Episodes in this series typically attract between 300,000 and 500,000 viewers through combined live broadcast and online viewing. The television coverage was followed by a dedicated Dutch radio episode in May, further extending the reach and impact of this work.

Andrew also contributed to ten podcast interviews during the year, several of which were released as multi-part series across consecutive weeks. These interviews, together with short-form summary videos highlighting key research findings and animal welfare issues, are available via Andrew’s YouTube channel and social media platforms. Collectively, this content attracted many thousands of views during 2025, including:

Instagram: 475,000+ views

Linked-In: 330,000+ impressions

Facebook: 215,000+ views

YouTube: 3,500+ views

“You have achieved amazing results on US radio. You must have been syndicated. I have attached screen shots of the first 4 pages. I got bored after that.”

— University of Winchester Press Office

Vastly over one million people were reached across US and UK radio stations, following widespread BBC TV coverage of the world’s first cultivated meat-based dog food in London.

Documentary Film
In August, the first known documentary film to focus specifically on vegan pet diets was released by Finnish filmmaker Jon Erik West. My Dog is a Vegan examines the global dog food industry and presents vegan nutrition as an emerging alternative. The film follows Jon’s personal experience of transitioning his own dogs to vegan diets over several months and features interviews with leading veterinarians, animal nutritionists and researchers, including Andrew Knight.

The two-part documentary was released on YouTube in August: Part 1, Part 2, and was also broadcast via Unchained TV. Discussions are ongoing to secure a national television broadcast, which would further extend its public impact and audience reach.

“This film invites viewers to join on a journey that challenges assumptions and opens minds. The film aims to spark an open and informed discussion about what we feed our pets — in this case, dogs — and whether a 100% plant-based diet could be a viable alternative.”

— Jon Erik West, Director, My Dog is a Vegan

Awards
In 2025, Andrew was deeply honoured to be awarded the Juliana von Wendt Foundation abstract award for his presentation, “Vegan versus meat-based dog food: health outcomes in 2,536 dogs,” delivered at the European Veterinary Congress of Behavioural Medicine and Animal Welfare, hosted by the University of Helsinki in September.

This distinction was one of only two awards presented at the conference and drew additional positive attention to the research from an international audience of approximately 200 specialist veterinarians, further strengthening engagement with this emerging area of animal welfare science.

“This award was a profound honour, and would not have been possible without my wonderful study co-authors, Drs Hazel Brown and Alexander Bauer.”

— Prof. Andrew Knight

Endorsements
“Your pioneering work is paving the way for brands like THE PACK and Meatly to be able to provide these innovative plant-based and cell-based products.”

— Damien Clarkson, CEO & Co-Founder, THE PACK, UK

“I am a very passionate vegan vet running my own pet food business in the UK and helping thousands of people transition their dogs to a complete plant-based diet. … I have been able to regularly use the numerous studies carried out by Prof Knight to back up all the science and show people that it is possible. … It’s amazing how far we’ve all come with our vegan pet food companies in the last 3 years thanks to your studies!”

— Dr Arielle Griffiths BVSc MRCVS, Founder, Just Be Kind Dog Food, UK

“As someone who spent 10 years working in the companion animal nutrition industry, I can’t stress enough how appreciated and important your work is! The lack of education (and misinformation) pertaining to vegan diets for companion animals in the nutrition world is frustrating to say the least. … Your content is full of fantastic information that I’ll be using myself, along with sharing. This is an incredibly helpful resource not only for our personal companion animals, but for people who contact us with related inquiries. Thank you again for the amazing work you’re doing!”

— Anonymous US animal advocacy staffer

“I just transitioned my two doggos onto vegan kibble (after reading Andrew Knight’s studies – they are doing brilliantly, looking amazing and very much enjoying the food :)”

— Lindsay Marshall. PhD, SFHEA, FRSB, Director of Science, The Humane Society of the United States

“I’m the Founder of vegan dog food startup company, Kulay Dogs, in Brisbane. Thank you very much for all your work — researching and ultimately highlighting the many benefits of a (nutritionally appropriate) plant-based diet for dogs. Your work has been a major reason why my wife and I started Kulay twelve months ago. We’ve just made our first batch of complete food for dogs! So, thank you very much. Keep up the truly amazing and trail-blazing work.”

— Brad Dalrymple, Founder, Kulay Dogs, Brisbane

“I recently watched your talk on YouTube …. It really helped me clarify some doubts … After listening to your talk and considering the environmental impacts, as well as the availability of nutritionally balanced vegan dog food, I’ve decided to transition my dog to a plant-based diet. Thank you for the amazing work you do.”

— Alessandra, Spain