PSC, HowGood partner to bring ‘unprecedented scale’ of sustainability transparency to pet food industry

BOULDER, COLO. — The Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) announced Sept. 30 that it has partnered with HowGood, a research company that offers the world's largest sustainability database for products and ingredients. The partnership aims to help support the pet food industry’s mission toward sustainability.

Through the partnership, PSC’s members will be able to make more data-driven decisions on ingredient sourcing and pet food formulating, enabling them to reduce their carbon footprint throughout their supply chain. HowGood’s carbon footprinting model has been verified by Carbon Trust and is also compliant with data security standards by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, CDP, GRI, TCFD, ISO and Science Based Targets. 

“We are thrilled to be HowGood’s primary partner within the pet industry,” said Jim Lamancusa, executive director of the PSC. “Data is essential in order to make the best decisions on ingredient sourcing, new product development and product formulation. Partnering with HowGood will allow PSC to help our members understand the environmental impacts of each ingredient they source to make the best decisions for their business.

“I want to thank five of our members, Fera Pets, Petcurean, Natoo, MFiber and Earth Animal, for supporting PSC on this platform so all members can have access,” he added.

HowGood measures the sustainability of products and ingredients, taking into account eight metrics: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, blue water usage, biodiversity, soil health, labor risk, land occupation, animal welfare and processing. This allows for deep insights into decarbonization opportunities for processors and industry benchmarking.

“Data granularity is so important and one of the key drivers behind this partnership,” said Allison Reser, director of sustainability and innovation with PSC. “With HowGood, we don’t just see the generalized impact of an ingredient, we can drill into the specific sourcing location, certifications and more. We are especially excited to see regenerative ingredients in the database and look forward to using this tool to measure the positive impact of responsible sourcing in the pet industry.”

Michael Streitberger, head of partnerships at HowGood, added, “Partnering with the Pet Sustainability Coalition will bring sustainability transparency to the pet food industry at an unprecedented scale. We’re looking forward to supporting PSC’s 200-plus members in bringing sustainability to the forefront of their sourcing, formulation, and marketing efforts through data-driven decision-making.”

Read more about sustainability efforts across the pet food and treat industry.