Bone appetit! Ocado to offer ‘fine dining’ ready meals for cats and dogs
Ocado is to offer frozen ready meals for cats and dogs as owners seek “fine-dining” options for their pets.
The online grocery retailer is to start selling seven types of microwavable frozen meals suitable for puppies, kittens, and adult cats and dogs from this week, offering convenience for health-conscious pet owners.
The ready meals, from startup brand Ted’s Bowl, include lamb with garden mint and venison with blackberries for dogs, while the options for cats include beef and salmon with chicken.
All dishes include human-grade meat, fish or poultry and have added vitamins and minerals.
The meals for dogs also include seasonal British fruit and vegetables, the brand says, while they are also free from bones and grains.
Sara Pearson, the co-founder of Ted’s Bowl, told The Grocer magazine that Britain’s recent explosion in pet ownership had “given rise to a new demographic of younger, urban pet owners”, who are more mindful about what foods they give their cats and dogs.
“They are knowledgeable about nutrition and understand that good and wholesome food helps minimise health issues,” she said.
“They are also familiar with the concept of freshly cooked, premium ready meals. Ted’s Bowl is both fine dining and responsible dining for dogs and cats.”
She added: “Scratch-cooking pet food is not an option for most consumers as it takes time, skill, and knowledge to produce properly balanced meals.”
Ocado pet food buyer, Meri La Bella, said the supermarket believes frozen food will be the “next big thing” in the pet industry.
“With the launch of the Ted’s Bowl range, our all-important family pets can enjoy even more choice and diversity in what they eat too.
“The convenience of quality frozen ready meals that can be cooked in the microwave straight from the freezer is very appealing, and we think they will be the next big thing in pet food.
“Pets are now often seen as just another member of the family and for some owners, that means seeking out new ways to boost the taste, diversity and nutrition of what they offer at meal times.”
The meals cost between £4.49-£4.59 for 300g, and each is packed in a fully recyclable container.
Frozen ready meals are the latest in a series of luxury cat and dog foods rivalling the likes of Lily’s Kitchen and Felix, amid a post-pandemic shift in attitude towards pets.
Vegan pet food, and owners putting their dogs on plant-based diets, have become popular in recent years, with brands such as Lily’s and Butternut Box tapping into demand.
However, the vegan dog food market has received criticism for being inappropriate for canines, which are descendants of wolves and arguably require meat in their diet.
‘Humanisation’ of pets
Data from market research company Mintel last year also suggested owners are gradually turning towards homemade pet food over store-bought varieties.
In the company’s annual pet food report, a survey of more than 1,000 pet owners found the number of people making their pet food, either from scratch or leftovers, rose by six per cent - from 18 per cent in 2020 to 24 per cent by 2022.
Across the same period, the number buying pet food, either online or in shops, fell from 94 per cent to 89 per cent.
Mintel attributed the rise to the “humanisation” of pets, particularly in families, where owners want to feed them the same food that they eat.
This change in attitudes towards pets’ diets may also be attributed to soaring vet bills, with research showing the cost of insuring a pet has surpassed the cost of covering an entire home.
Annual home and contents insurance premiums soared by 14pc over the last year to an average of £214.
But in the same period, typical insurance premiums for a cat increased by over 3pc to £214.20 a year, while cover for a dog hit £294 – both exceeding the cost of insuring an entire house, figures from comparison website MoneySuperMarket show.
