Get All Access for $5/mo

Biotech Startups Pounce on Cultured Pet Food Methods of production vary, but they all provide sustenance without any environmental damage or animal suffering.

By Brian Kateman

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

chendongshan | Getty Images

Pet owners spend $32.7 billion every year feeding their animals, but exactly what are they feeding them, and at what true cost? Environmental damage, unsafe ingredients and horrific production practices are standard in the pet-food industry, which has many owners looking for different ways to feed their critters. Over the last several years, a handful of innovating entrepreneurs may have found just the ticket: cultured pet food.

Some might question the necessity of overhauling our pets's diets, let alone investing in new technology to do so. But the arguments in favor for doing exactly that are more compelling than you might think. The fact that standard pet food relies on meat from factory farms, which inflict unspeakable brutality on other animals, is only the tip of the iceberg.

Assessing the Dangers

In 2018, several pet food companies issued recalls after their products were found to contain sodium pentobarbital, the drug animal shelters use to euthanize animals; that wasn't the first time traditional pet food was pulled from the shelves for containing potentially lethal ingredients, and it wasn't the last. If it seems like your dog prefers table scraps to their own food, there may be a good reason for that.

Related: Pet-Food Industry Experiences a Gradual Development

But disturbing and unsafe ingredients aren't the only downsides to traditional pet food. As it's currently structured, the pet food industry is catastrophically damaging to the environment. A 2017 study by UCLA professor Gregory Okin found that the production of meat for dogs and cats emits 64 million tons of carbon dioxide every year, which is equivalent to the yearly emissions of 13.6 million cars. In total, traditional pet food is responsible for 25-30 percent of the entire global environmental impact of the meat industry, Okin's study found. That's a startling number, given that the meat industry itself emits more greenhouse gases than air, plane, car and ship travel combined.

Finding Solutions

Given these concerns, the recent emergence of cultured, meatless alternatives to traditional pet food should come as no surprise. As brands like Memphis Meats, BlueNalu, and JUST are developing cultured food alternatives for humans, several new companies are doing the same for pets. And as they're discovering, there are more than a few ways to do it.

Take Bond Pet Foods, which is in the process of creating a cultured, sustainable dog food. The Colorado-based company has found that, by feeding the DNA sequence of a chicken to a microbe and fermenting it with various vitamins and sugars, it's possible to create the exact same animal proteins found in chicken meat, but with no chicken slaughter required. The process requires just a fraction of the resources needed to make traditional food, but nevertheless produces a meal with all of the nutrients dogs need.

Related: Things You Must Know About the Natural Pet Food Segment

Meanwhile, in Berkeley, California, Wild Earth Foods makes cultured dog food by feeding beet sugar to koji, a fungus traditionally used to make soy sauce and miso. This produces a protein that, in the words of CEO and co-founder Ryan Bethencourt, "tastes like a Cheez-It." Wild Earth Foods has attracted some serious attention. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel was among the company's earliest investors, and Mark Cuban gave the company half a million after its founders pitched the technology on Cuban's show Shark Tank. In total, Wild Earth Foods has raised $16 million in funding as of May 2019.

Cultured pet food isn't only for dogs. The Philadelphia-based startup Because Animals, which currently sells vegan pet food supplements, announced in March that it had pioneered a new process for culturing mouse meat, which can then be used to make cat food. One notable thing about Because Animals's proprietary technology is that it requires no animal products whatsoever to create. The company plans to begin selling cat treats in 2020 before moving on to full-fledged cat food.

Denying the Deniers

The argument against cultured pet food is what you might think: That it's not what dogs or cats are "naturally" intended to eat. But of course, the ghoulish and often dangerous ingredients in traditional pet food are already worlds away from what any animal naturally would, or should, consume. As Shannon Falconer, the CEO of Because Animals, explained to Popular Science, what pets need are "specific nutrients, not specific ingredients."

The methods of cultured pet food production vary, but they all have one thing in common: The ability to give pets all of the nutrients and sustenance they need without any of the environmental damage, animal suffering or stomach-churning ingredients of traditional pet food.

Brian Kateman

Co-Founder and President of the Reducetarian Foundation

Brian Kateman is a co-founder of the Reducetarian Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the consumption of animal products. He is the author of Meat Me Halfway — inspired by a documentary of the same name — and the editor of The Reducetarian Cookbook and The Reducetarian Solution.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

I Tried Buying a Car on Amazon. Here Are the Pros and Cons.

Amazon Autos just launched, and users can buy a new car online. Here's how it works and what needs to improve.

Business News

Alexis Ohanian Says This Is His Best Investment So Far: $10,000 Turned Into More Than $17 Million

Ohanian has backed 40 unicorns, but one investment stands out the most.

Starting a Business

Nearly 50% of America's Workforce Has a Secondary Source of Income or Side Hustle. Here Are 7 Steps You Should Take to Create Lasting Value for Yours.

Today's entrepreneurs have the opportunity to generate long-lasting supplementary income if they take these steps.

Business News

Barbara Corcoran Says the Best Entrepreneurs Are Good at This One Thing

Real estate entrepreneur and investor Barbara Corcoran says a few key traits prove effective when starting a business. Here's her top pick.