VAFO introduces new pet food brand centered on sustainability

CHRÁŠŤANY, CZECH REPUBLIC — European super premium pet food producer VAFO Group has introduced a new brand of sustainable dog and cat food formulations: Planet Pet Society. According to the company, the diets feature upcycled ingredients, achieve climate neutrality through production and packaging, and a percentage of sales will benefit seagrass restoration projects in the Baltic Sea.

The diets aim to meet a growing audience of sustainability-minded pet owners. VAFO cited recent surveys, stating that up to 61% of pet owners say they would like to know the environmental impacts of their pet food product purchases.

To meet these demands, Planet Pet Society diets incorporate “second-chance ingredients,” also known as upcycled ingredients from the meat, fruit and vegetable production industries. The brand will add value back into raw animal products from primary production that would otherwise go to waste, including meat trimmings, offal, cartilage and fish skin. VAFO has also formulated its new brand with dehydrated apple peels sourced from a local cidery, as well as vegetable pulps left over from primary production.

According to VAFO, these ingredients are nutritious and deliver essential amino acids while also reducing food waste.

“Upcycling is a new way of looking at the selection of quality, nutritionally rich ingredients with a smaller impact on the planet,” said Karolína Čápová, head of product at VAFO Group. “They’re ideal for covering the natural nutritional needs of dogs and cats with a primary component of animal protein, while at the same time easing the strain on the environment. We’ve developed a food that’s friendly to the environment and reduces food waste. And it’s because we love nature, just like our four-legged buddies do, so we want to do what we can to protect it for them.”

VAFO has also dedicated the brand to use only local raw ingredients, renewable energy sources and fully recyclable packaging to make Planet Pet Society 100% climate neutral.

Additionally, the new brand will support biodiversity by donating 1% of its sales to the John Nurminen Foundation, which will use the funds to facilitate seagrass restoration projects in the Baltic Sea. Planet Pet Society will support the transplanting of eelgrass seedlings to areas in the Baltic Sea where the seagrass has disappeared.

“We decided to support the seagrass restoration project in the Baltic Sea because its waters bathe the shores of almost all the countries in which VAFO has branches,” Čápová added. “Put simply, we’re helping out in the places where we have activities.”

Planet Pet Society is aligned with VAFO Group’s five-pillar sustainability goals, which include: reducing carbon dioxide emissions across the business; applying fully recyclable packaging to 95% of its products; employing renewable energy sources in production; advancing responsible employee conduct; and upping the use of sustainable ingredients in its formulas by 50%.

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