British plant-based pet food brand THE PACK has partnered with German biotech startup MicroHarvest to launch Gut Bites, the UK’s first plant-based dog treat with microbial protein. This collaboration is one of the first opportunities for British pet owners to purchase a ready-made product containing a groundbreaking ingredient produced using sustainable fermentation technology.
Gut Bites offers an alternative to traditional meat-based snacks, aimed at picky eaters and dogs with sensitive stomachs. The raspberries, prebiotics and yucca in the recipe supports a dog’s gut health. In a recent consumer survey with Wageningen University, 77.2% of German and UK dog owners states that they would purchase treats containing microbial protein, and 78.4% indicated they would think about using it in place of whole dog food. In addition, a palatability study by MicroHarvest found that dogs were 10% more likely to accept microbial protein treats than those made with poultry.
MicroHarvest uses agricultural side-streams, requires no additional farmland or fertilisers, and has a footprint over 90% lower than beef. Recent research has shown that vegan pet food is the most effective measure to tackle the climate footprint of dogs and cats, even when accounting for the fact that most conventional pet food uses animal byproducts. By using fewer land resources for crop and animal farming, cutting deforestation and biodiversity loss, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, microbial ‘meat’ could help to reverse climate change. In sustainability measures, MicroHarvest’s microbial ingredient footprint of 1.4kg CO2 equivalent per kg of product makes it equal to insect proteins and significantly better than plant-derived proteins the company says.
Katelijne Bekers, chief executive of MicroHarvest, concluded: ‘this collaboration is about more than scaling; it is about validation. By working with The Pack, we’re showing that microbial protein isn’t just a sustainable solution, but one that dogs truly enjoy. Gut Bites is a perfect example of that’.