Wilbur-Ellis Nutrition & Bond Pet Foods Partner on Ingredient Fermentation

Wilbur-Ellis Nutrition, a provider of innovative animal nutrition solutions, and Bond Pet Foods, a manufacturer on sustainable animal proteins via fermentation, are partnering to develop tailored ingredients for pet food applications.

The collaboration is the first of its kind for Wilbur-Ellis Nutrition, and it is Bond's second strategic partnership with a global pet food industry player.

The demand for animal-derived ingredients, which are the main part of dog and cat food, continues to grow, and meat production to satisfy this demand can have an oversized impact on the environment.

Bond approaches production of these foundational pet food ingredients differently, employing a yeast-based precision fermentation process that has been around for more than half a century to make ingredients such as vitamin B12, flavors like vanilla, and enzymes for cheese manufacturing, but has creatively reassembled the process to more efficiently produce proteins like chicken, turkey, and fish without the animal.

Its "brewing" platform also has the ability to enhance the finished products' nutritional and functional performance, compared with conventional options available today.

"As the pet food industry focuses more on sustainable solutions, precision fermentation is an increasingly attractive tool to produce proteins, flavors, and blends that perform," said Nick Braden, vice president of Wilbur-Ellis Pet Nutrition. "This collaboration with Bond, and their deep fermentation expertise, will allow us to further advance our ingredient portfolio."

Rich Kelleman, CEO and founder of Bond Pet Foods, added that a new class of products through this partnership will provide pet food manufacturers with more sustainable, functional formulary alternatives.