It was with such a heavy heart and fear for our future that I wrote this article exposing Royal Canin (Mars Petcare), Hills and Nestle Purina. My biggest concern is that NOT ONE of these corporate companies seems to be moving in the direction that we need towards sustainable pet food options and this could be detrimental to our future and a welfare issue that we do not even want to think about when we feed our dogs and cats!
I spoke about these concerns at the London Vet Show where I realised what a complete mess the veterinary world was in as the entire industry focussed on profit to line the pockets of these billionaire investors rather than health and welfare of ALL our animals as shown in this post entitled In Times Of Turbulence We Have The Promise Of Change.
I do have renewed hope however as I joined a live online event on 6th November 2025 run by Royal Canin with the topic of the talk -
Feeding the Future: Alternative Ingredients in Cat and Dog Nutrition by Royal Canin
The slide below was shown to vets in my talk at the London Vet Show - VERY promising for our future!
Please see some important highlights of the talk in the last 3 minutes with question time - the answers given give us all such hope!! (and look out for the comments left by Arielle Griffiths down the right hand-side - I tried my hardest to promote the same biotic protein that we have in MicroBell called Feedkind!!)
"Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat" - Steve Jobs
Three very important novel ingredients were mentioned in the Feeding the Future Webinar by Royal Canin
All 3 of these novel ingredients that Royal Canin mentioned as being very important to the future of how we feed our dogs and cats within the next 5 years; are ALREADY BEING MARKETED AND SOLD AND YOUR DOGS AND CATS LOVE THESE PRODUCTS AS SHOWN BELOW:
MicroBell Groundbreaking Biotic Protein by Biomass Fermentation of one species of Bacteria!
I did try my hardest to leave comments during the talk (see my name down right hand side!) encouraging Royal Canin to use the same biomass produced bacterial fermentation from Calysta (Feedkind) as it has had studies done showing the benefit to the gut microbiome; is already being produced in vast amounts AND it is readily available and licensed for use in dog food in the EU and UK!
Feedkind is a clean, vegan, sustainable and 'umami flavoured' powder produced by biomass fermentation in enormous quantities ready to be used in ALL dog foods NOW to enhance the health of our dogs!
What a perfect solution for them to use this alternative protein source as the number of animals that could be saved, and the health difference it would make if all their veterinary prescription diets used gut enhancing biotic protein, the impact would be truly remarkable!
Royal Canin mentioned the use of microalgae in their webinar
The mention of '5 years' away in the webinar was slightly concerning as the use of microalgae needs to be replacing ALL fish in pet foods as fish and fish oils NOW! Fish should NOT be used to feed dogs and cats that are land mammals and we absolutely should be protecting our precious oceans and sealife.
We have hope that Royal Canin will partner with MiAlgae in Scotland very soon and speed up the addition of microalgae in ALL their foods!
At Just be Kind, we have Microalgae added to all our foods that we stock, and we are the only ones to stock pure Omega 3 Algae oil that benefits the joint, heart and skin health of our pets without the concern of heavy metals and it tastes delicious!
Every 150ml bottle sold of Omega 3 Daily saves 50 fish and thousands of krill as it is the only Algae oil available that contains Astaxanthin - the bright pink Microalgae that krill feed off to give them their pink colour (and extremely high nutrient and anti-oxidant value to benefit your dogs' health)
Royal Canin representatives mentioned the exciting use of postbiotics in the future
We were SO excited to hear of Royal Canin's mention of postbiotics and how valuable they are to the health and feeding pleasure of dogs when added to pet foods!
We have added postbiotics to both of our functional treats - Marshmallow Bites and Shroom Paws to offer your dog even more benefits and taste in their healthy treats!!
Why such a delay in Royal Canin bringing these important foods of our future to market?
The large 3 pet food corporates are protecting their profits as they all compete against one another. As soon as one company chooses a more sustainable option (as mentioned in the Royal Canin Webinar for 5 years away); there is risk involved as the public are not used to these products so greater education is needed, the products are more expensive to buy and their share value drops.
Corporate companies pander to investors who are expecting high returns on helping a company achieve success, and these investors will stop progress and innovation to protect their increased profits. These see it as too risky and only support what the mass market is buying which is meat-based heavily subsidised pet foods!
Mars Petcare (who own Royal Canin) have set aside a BILLION dollar budget to market their current NON-sustainable pet foods which will go towards AI marketing which we all know is shown to lead us into a very frightening future with AI eroding truth and trust, and there is nothing we can do about it!
This growth in the biomass fermentation and innovative protein sources is being mirrored in the human space with this article - 2025 food megatrends point to growth.
This is where individuals and family-run businesses such as Just Be Kind Dog Food and Marsapet in Germany really have the upperhand. Both companies have taken on no investment at all - in fact for Just Be Kind - YOU are the investor everytime you buy from us as every penny is put back into the business to allow it to grow and prosper and produce better and better products for YOUR dogs and cats.
This has allowed us to formulate the world first Omega 3 Daily for dogs and cats, as well as our BEST SELLER Give A Dog A Bean with innovative faba bean protein instead of animal protein, and even our natural treats Marshmallow Bites and Shroom Paws! Each and every product has health benefits that we really want to give to our dogs to ensure a long and happy life.
Marsapet (who make MicroBell) is a wonderful family-run company and I had the pleasure of meeting them in Amsterdam at the Plant-Based Dog Conference. They too have had no investment and are committed to continuing their father's dream of producing the most innovative and sustainable products on the market....and they certainly have with MicroBell wet and dry foods and they say more to come - hurrah for innovation and progress - it cannot come any sooner!!!
WE HAVE AN INNOVATION CELEBRATION SALE OF OUR MOST INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS THAT WE ARE SO PROUD TO STOCK TO KEEP YOUR DOGS AND CATS LIVING LONGER!
“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."
