According to the Freedonia Group's latest U.S. pet food package Packaging report, packaging for refrigerated pet food package and snacks will be the fastest growing of all other pet food package forms. Consumer interest in fresh and frozen nutritional products that are suitable for their pets continues to drive this demand.
According to CoBank, dollar sales of fresh dog food increased 86.5 percent from 2021 to 2023, and dollar sales of fresh cat food increased 53.8 percent.
In addition, in 2023, the fresh/frozen pet food package segment is one of the few to witness both dollar growth and unit growth. According to NielsenIQ, the category grew 21.4 percent in dollars and 14.3 percent in units.
In addition, the American Pet Products Association (APPA) found in its "Dogs and Cats Report 2024: Strategic Insights from a National Pet Owner Survey" that fresh pet food package forms are gaining favor with pet parents. The percentage of consumers who primarily feed their dogs fresh food increased from 4% in 2018 to 8% in 2024. In contrast, the percentage of consumers fed dry dog food declined from 74% in 2018 to 67% in 2024.
With that in mind, according to Freedonia, fresh/frozen category packaging is expected to grow more than 20 percent annually to reach $152 million by 2028, with unit numbers rising to 784 million.
According to Freedonia, currently refrigerated pet food package is primarily marketed to dogs, with dog food accounting for 96% of refrigerated pet food package packaging sales in 2023. However, that hasn't stopped fresh pet food package companies like Freshpet from catering to felines.