Pet food manufacturing: how producers can improve sustainability and efficiency

Consumers are not just becoming more demanding about the quality and nutritional value of their own food – they are also becoming ever more selective about what their pets eat. 

Long gone are the days when most pet owners would collect the scraps from the table and put them in a bowl for their cat or dog for supper, maybe mixing it with the cheapest off-the-shelf kibble from the store. 

There is now a wider understanding that a healthy diet leads to a happier and healthier life for their beloved animal – with hopefully fewer vet bills down the line. 

This is why more and more owners are looking for products with high fresh-meat inclusion that are manufactured to human-grade hygiene standards featuring ingredients with clear traceability.  

Competitive markets and premium products 

For manufacturers looking to thrive in a competitive marketplace, that puts the same pressures on them as it does for food producers in other sectors: to make premium products while saving on resources and operating efficiently.  

Added to this, compliance is becoming ever stricter in many parts of the world – both in terms of quality, reducing eco impacts and hygiene standards – so operating at the highest levels of efficiency and sustainability are not just desirable, they are necessities. 

The good news for manufacturers is that Alfa Laval is on hand as an expert partner with decades of experience in the pet food industry to pioneer a positive impact and ensure that their clients get more for less while meeting demands for the highest quality standards. 

Alfa Laval offers the pet food sector the same high-tech solutions that deliver outstanding results in other industries and drive up sustainability performance and operational efficiency for productions of all sizes. 

Working closely with customers 

On top of this, Alfa Laval has a deserved reputation for working closely with its pet food manufacturing customers to get under the skin of their operations and understand how they can meet their efficiency and sustainability targets. 

So, when a manufacturer is looking to boost yield and maximize resource use, they can turn to Alfa Laval’s world-leading high-speed separators, decanters and heat exchangers with confidence.  

They are designed robustly to process fresh meat and protein-rich ingredients with efficiency and reliability. When it comes to separation, for example, the Alfa Laval OilPlus decanter can process meat slurry, extracting the oil for possible further purification, while the slurry heads downstream to receive heat treatment. 

This is where the AlfaFlash plate flash evaporator can come to the fore, concentrating the meat and protein ahead of extrusion with an evaporation process that can reduce water content from around 90% down to 50%, and hence significantly enhance process efficiency. 

Minimizing waste 

In terms of sustainability, Alfa Laval’s systems seek to minimize waste and embed circularity in pet food manufacture. So, the water removed by evaporation can be reused elsewhere in the process and the extracted oil could be further treated by a high-speed separator to reach human-grade standards that could then, for example, be used to coat the final product, boosting its nutritional value and palatability. 

Overall, the high efficiency of Alfa Laval’s systems will optimize protein content but also minimize energy use and costs, while the fully CIP-compatible designs will ensure that the strictest hygiene standards can be met with the most efficient possible use of water and cleaning agents. 

Furthermore, their reliability means that there will be minimal downtime, requiring less maintenance and therefore further reducing energy use spent on non-processing activities. 

Targeted solutions 

Meeting exacting consumer demands with precise pre-extrusion preparation, efficient and stable moisture and fat control, and repeatable and consistent extrusion performance is at the heart of successful pet food manufacture.  

Alfa Laval helps manufacturers meet these demands and will always work closely with its customers to ensure that its expertise and technology is being channelled in a targeted manner to meet the big challenges they are facing. 

From preparation of the raw material to the refinement of the final product, Alfa Laval has the proven systems to deliver consistent quality, lower operational costs and meet strict hygiene standards. Its equipment is specifically designed to extend uptimes, offer cleanability and deliver the best in sustainable and efficient performance.