MUENSTER, TEXAS — Muenster Milling Company announced the launch of its new pet food product, Kibble Plus, on August 20. According to the manufacturer, the new product format enables leading brands and retailers to meet consumer demand for nutritious pet food at an affordable price.
The Kibble Plus product combines three manufacturing capabilities – extruded dry food, freeze-dried proteins and blending. According to Muenster, the freeze-dried and kibble-plus category of the pet food industry is growing rapidly. Retail sales for this segment totaled $1.2 billion for the 52 weeks ending July 2024, up 17% from the same period last year.
Source: Muenster Milling Company“Given our unique capabilities to manufacture and blend both extruded products and freeze-dried inclusions, Kibble Plus was a natural platform for us to meet the needs of pet owners in this fast-growing segment,” said Jim Holdrieth, CEO of Muenster. “As a leader in co-manufacturing and private label development in the freeze-dried category, our capabilities provide leading brands with the ability to blend and match dry food and freeze-dried in a logistically cost-effective manner.”
Freeze-dried meals are a challenge for millions of pet owners, with the retail price per pound averaging $36, according to the company, compared to $2.50 for traditional dry food. Kibble Plus products offer pet owners a more affordable way to enjoy the nutritional benefits of freeze-dried food.
“We are excited to be a one-stop partner for our customers to produce and blend dry food with freeze-dried ingredients,” said Dave DeLorenzo, vice president of sales, marketing and commercialization at Munster. “Our new freeze-drying facility features an advanced blending system that can combine multiple freeze-dried ingredients with various innovative dry food shapes to ensure a well-distributed, gently blended diet. Combined with our high-speed packaging solutions from 1-ounce samples to large pouches, our customers can offer a freeze-dried feeding experience at an affordable price, providing significant value to pet owners.”
Read more about product development, ingredients and formulation.
