Did you know November is Adopt a Senior Pet Month? To celebrate, shelters and adoption centers around the United States are waiving fees for those who choose to give a forever home to older cats and dogs.

As a result, more pet owners are searching for the right kind of pet food to fit the unique needs of their aging fur friends. The pet food packaging industry will see a growth of 8.29 percent over the next few years, with the market projected to reach $9,604 by 2022. This surge has been prompted by pet brands’ commitment to delivering more personalized experiences with their pet food and using dog food packaging as a tool to educate consumers about their animals’ health and wellbeing.

A number of pet food startups are paving the way in this industry with innovative new products that make animal nutrition easier for pet owners to understand. Large brands, too, are retooling their products and procedures based on customer feedback and trend forecasting. Purina’s Just Right brand of dog food is a perfect example of growth and advancement in the pet market – the personalized dog food varieties uniquely blend technology, social media, one-on-one customer attention, and creative dog food packaging to deliver an interactive and highly memorable experience for pet owners.

Purina Dog Food Packaging

Pet owners can customize their Just Right dog food stand up pouches to include a photo of their own dog, along with food containing the ingredients and nutrients specific to their pet’s needs. When they log on to Purina’s Just Right website, they can also fill out a profile that lets them create their very own variety of dog food.

The custom-tailored packaging and product will then arrive on their doorstep, and they will never run out if they choose the innovative replenishment option, which delivers a new bag before their current supply runs out.

The rise in clients seeking out high-quality, customized packaging is already affecting sales in the market. Allowing customers to personalize their products to suit the specific needs of their animals lets companies to put their brand in the hands of customers, which strengthens relationships and brand loyalty.

Purina recently chose to undergo a packaging refresh for this advanced new form of supplying pet food to their customers, replacing small photos of each dog on the labels with larger images that put each owner’s pet front and center of their big bags for packaging dog food. When the customer opens that box, the first thing they see is their precious pup’s picture on their custom-printed dog food bags, creating a great first impression that evokes an emotional response and connects the consumer with the product and brand on a much deeper level.

The company built the Just Right brand based on pet owners’ input and feedback, and allowing each person to upload a photo of their dog via social media or the brand’s website fosters a user experience and method of connection that has become instinctual to today’s modern consumer. Putting control in your customer’s hands allows brands to observe the kinds of packaging designs and ingredients people most desire, which can inspire the company when they get to work creating the designs that will appear on their new forms of packaging dog food.

Making customers – and their pets – the stars of the show and helps businesses better design their product packaging so it is bold, personalized, modern, and makes a lasting impression on their loyal audiences.

(Image Sources: Purina, MomStart)