Wet food or kibble: what is more sustainable?

If we want to contribute to a better world, we should keep our pets as sustainably as possible as well. Did you know that their food affects the ecological footprint of pets? What is a better option: wet food or kibble?

Pet sustainability

We are increasingly focused on the environment and what we can do to protect it, including waste separation or buying more sustainable products. But why would you limit yourself to products you buy for yourself if you can also improve the choices you make for your pets? Keeping their sustainability in mind allows you to reduce the ecological footprint of your pet. We will tell you all about it in the blog ‘How sustainable is my pet and how can I contribute?’

Type of food

You can feed your pet wet food or kibble. These two types of food differ in how they impact the environment. The public information organisation ‘Milieu Centraal’ recommends kibble for two reasons: kibble production is less damaging to the environment and it usually has a longer shelf life which means you will end up throwing less of it away and generate less waste as a result. When opting for wet food, keep the portions small to avoid waste and store open cans and packets in the refrigerator. Cover it properly to make sure the food doesn’t go bad as quickly.

Tip: wet food contains more moisture than kibble. Make sure your dog or cat drinks enough when you opt for kibble and give it extra water if necessary. It is recommended to use wet food for animals that don’t tend to drink enough.

What else

There are other things to keep in mind in addition to wet food or kibble when it comes to choosing your pet food, for example:

Quality labels – Just like food for humans, pet food can qualify for quality labels. Yarrah only uses organic products, meat with the Better Life label and fish with the MSC label for its pet food products. Paying attention to the quality labels of pet food allows you to make a more conscious choice. Yarrah’s pet food is also free of animal testing.

Type of meat – both residual meat and muscle meat are suitable for pet food. Muscle meat is consumed by humans while residual meat products are left over and less suitable for human consumption. Yarrah uses this meat for its pet food in order to avoid unnecessary slaughtering of animals by ensuring all available meat is used optimally. Plus, residual meat contains a lot of valuable nutrients.

Tip: Some pet owners want to put their pet on a vegetarian diet. This may be based on moral considerations or their dog may be allergic to animal proteins. Yarrah offers vegetarian food for dogs but not for cats because cats need meat. However, Yarrah is researching the possibilities of vegetarian cat food. Want to learn more? Read all about it in the article ‘‘Why cats need meat’.