Exposing the sustainability of Mars Petcare, Nestlé Purina, and Hills pet foods
CORPORATISATION IS STOPPING INNOVATION AND PROGRESS
I caught a train last night all the way to Bristol Vet School to speak to vet students there about these incredibly important facts in this post below, as corporatisation of veterinary practices (now mostly owned by the large pet food corporates) is so sadly their future.
Thank goodness I was able to balance such negativity of how corporatisation is damaging both the veterinary world and our planet, with the goodness of plant-based dog and cat nutrition! It gives us all such hope for our future 💚
This previously written post exposes the fact that ALL the corporate companies such as Hills, Royal Canin, Nestlé Purina that are registered with UK Pet Foods are selling us the urban legend that it is sustainable to use animal byproducts in their pet food, or these would otherwise go to landfill!
The byproducts of a heavily subsidised animal agriculture industry that exploits every single animal that is slaughtered for the pet food market; still produces the cheapest ingredients for these corporates to use so that they can continue to increase their profits.
Robust recent studies by Nicholles et al May 2025 and Brociek et al September 2025 show us that more animals are being slaughtered and fish caught for their valuable organs and oils to be used in pet food, so the use of animal byproducts is absolutely NOT sustainable!!
It is well known that the ingredients in a pet food account for the highest carbon emissions and all eyes are on Hills, Mars Petcare and Nestlé Purina as they are the three largest pet food companies by far. See the promises they are making of reducing their emissions in this article, but we see no options to achieve this with the current use of only animal products in their pet foods.
They are all completely avoiding the issue of non-sustainable meat and animal products in all of their foods and 'greenwashing' their sustainability credentials by only focussing on the packaging as shown by this article from October 2025. The single biggest impact that we can have on our environment has been shown by researchers at Oxford University is to reduce our consumption of meat and dairy...and that means excluding it from the food we feed our pets such as ALL the corporate pet foods and even Mars Petcare treats Dreamies that are full of cheese!
Sustainable plant-based ingredients are NOT subsidised by any governments and are more expensive to add to a quality complete pet food, so offer less of a return on investment for these corporate companies that compete against one another for their share value on the stock market.
Dr Arielle silenced by the corporates!
Dr Arielle has been warned by the large pet food corporates to remove her original post which highlights what ingredients are really in meat-based pet foods and just how powerful the large pet food companies have become as they own a huge stake in the corporate veterinary industry.
I am so sorry if you missed reading the original post but I am just too scared to risk everything that I have built with Just Be Kind to leave the information online. If you are a customer, please email me at info@justbekind.co.uk and I will send you the important information that I had in this Blog post.
I have left the inspiring important bits that I had at the end of the original post, as that truly highlights how far we are with innovative plant-based dog food compared to all the meat and fish-based pet foods being offered by the corporates:
Thank goodness for complete plant-based pet food!
When we read these statistics and hidden truths about the meat and fishing industry from scientific professionals such as Prof Andrew Knight et al May 2025; it highlights the value of feeding your dogs and cats foods that are ethically and sustainably sourced with pure natural plant-based ingredients to protect not only the health of our planet, but also offers an ethical solution to feeding our dogs and cats.
Please read a latest study from Sept 2025 from the University of Nottingham, showing how plant-based dog food can be nutritionally sound for dogs compared to renal veterinary dog food diets and meat-based diets - such a positive for all of you already feeding your dogs a plant-based diet to have science on your side!! (Note too that these studies were NOT sponsored by any pet food companies!!)
Prof Knight highlights bacterial fermentation as the future for pet food!
In his latest published study May 2025, Prof Andrew Knight highlights the need to focus on using alternative protein sources in dog and cat food, especially that derived from highly sustainable biomass bacterial fermentation.
We are thrilled that he mentions this as we absolutely agree. Not only is this new revolutionary biotic protein source the solution for our planetary health; but it is also a highly nutritious form of protein in our dogs that actively feeds their gut microbiome....and dogs love it which is also SO important - a win-win for our planet and our dogs in the UK!
Read more about groundbreaking biotic protein dog food MicroBell here
This is what I told the vet students that I spoke to at Bristol Vet school - a dream of mine would be for ALL the large pet food corporates - Hills (Colgate Palmolive), Royal Canin (Mars Petcare), and Nestle Purina to use this incredibly innovative Feedkind bacterial fermentation protein in their pet foods - dry and wet!
If they ALL used it to replace animal protein with hugely sustainable bacterial fermentation protein as it is already being produced in vast quantities, the impact that it would have on the health of our dogs and of our planet would be immense.
If they ALL added Omega 3 from highly sustainable microalgae with no heavy metals as in fish oils and fish byproducts, our dogs and cats would be SO much healthier and our oceans would have a chance to 'breath' again and recover.
Yes, their shares may drop slightly as it is more expensive to buy than the byproducts of a heavily subsidised animal agriculture and fishing industry...but if they ALL did it as they compete against each other; then everybody would benefit.
I do remain an eternal optimist. It is individuals such as you who are going to drive the change by choosing plant-based for your dog and being the change we want others to see.
Only individuals such as you reading this article can drive that change and that gives us all hope. (I did have to hold back the tears in the video clip below when speaking at the London Vet Show as a highly sensitive individual with deep concerns for our future)
“First, they ignore you. Then, they laugh at you. Then, they fight you. Then, you win”
– Mahatma Ghandi
“Sustainability is a motherlode of innovation.” – Harvard Business Review
"Delivering value with a new product and capturing value in return as with a profit without regard to environmental and sustainable impact is not innovation, it’s exploitation. Innovation is usually driven by necessity, with our backs up against the wall. It also often emerges from the bottom up, because those on the “frontlines” working directly with customers or clients have the best and most immediate insights into their needs and pain points."
