DURHAM, NC. — Wild Earth announced the launch of the company’s first vegan cat food called Unicorn Paté. According to the company, the wet product exceeds Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) standards for complete-and-balanced nutrition despite not containing any animal-based proteins.
“Cats are obligate carnivores, but we’ve developed a cat food that has all of the nutrition they require but without the animal ingredients,” the company said.
The plant-based cat food is supplemented with taurine, an essential amino acid usually provided by animal-based proteins, according to the company. Since cats can’t produce taurine on their own, they must get it from the food they eat. Taurine is important for vision, heart function, digestion and fetal development.
“Our team is incredibly proud to launch a new category leader that we hope will catalyze change in the entire pet food industry,” said Ryan Bethencourt, chief executive officer of Wild Earth. “Nutritionally complete vegan cat food has been a long time coming and we’re very thankful to be able to launch a whole new category of products, which we think will transform both cat nutrition and help make space for a kinder world for all animals.”
The product, which is now available exclusively online via Wild Earth’s website, is sold in 5.5-oz cans. It contains no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors, no added antibiotics or hormones, and no animal byproducts, corn, soy or wheat. Ingredients include lentils, potato protein, peas, sweet potato, carrots and cranberries, as well as necessary vitamins and minerals.
“We know and expect aggressive resistance from the meat industry on the launch of this industry-pioneering vegan cat food, but we know there are a lot of cat parents looking for healthier plant-based and more sustainable options and we want to be the leader in providing them with that choice,” Bethencourt said.
Read more about new pet food and treat products.
