Pawrents unite: Why Gen Z and Millennials are trading cribs for kibble?

How pet care brands can embrace the Gen Z fur-baby boom, by Mike Foster, Founder & Strategic Creative Director, Straight Forward?Design.

Gen Z and Millennials are here for the pets – the floofy ones, the baldy ones, even the ones with no riz – it’s a fact that for many, becoming a pawrent has far more cute-appeal than parenting for real.

While birthrates have suffered multi-decade decline in the US and UK, pet ownership rates have simultaneously boomed for Millennials and Gen Z, with many younger people seeing pets as ideal family members and companions. A recent poll showed seven out of ten GenZ-ers would rather get a pet than have their own children, while more than 30% of Millennials own a dog or cat; higher rates than older generations. ?

Today, 17.2 million households (60%) own one of the UK's 36 million pets. Young people are the main drivers of this rising trend, with more than half of new owners aged 16 to 34, according to UK Pet Food.

Eat like me: when pet food is not a dog’s dinner

And it’s not only a preference for pets over kids: there’s a clear shift in the treatment of pets as a reflection of self. As younger generations become hyper-aware of nutrition and the perils of ultra-processed foods, with more than half tracking their own food intake in some way, they’re also more selective about the food they choose for their fur-babies.

The easy appeal of brands like Butternut Box and Tails is that they arrive doorstep-fresh with claims of human-grade ingredients, no additives, flavourings, or preservatives “just real food.” Their online business models allow for customisation, catering for each animal’s breed, age, activity level, and allergies.

It all plays directly into the pawrental-pride factor. With 24k TikTok followers, Butternut Box regularly posts videos of humans taste-testing its food, and has even thrown events using its meals to create food for people, with the claim “it’s so good, it’s been taste-tested by humans.”

Just as GenZ and Millennials opt to eat less meat than ever, they’re choosing plant-based lifestyles for their pets too. The plant-based pet food market, expected to reach $57.43bn by 2032, is?growing globally with brands such as Wild Earth, which has?received funding?from the billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban attempting to push it into the mainstream. While there’s?some debate?about how healthy it is to feed dogs a purely vegan diet, it’s hardly surprising the trend is taking off.

Work like me: when it’s a dog’s life

With many young people seeing pets more and more as ideal family members, for companionship or as emotional support to combat loneliness and anxiety, it only follows that man’s best friend should accompany them everywhere – especially the stressful grind of the office.

The humanisation of pets now extends into the workplace, where nearly one-third of pet owners surveyed by Nationwide said they’d be more likely to stay at an employer that offered pet benefits. This is even more important among Gen Z (49%) and millennials (45%). When searching for a new role, younger employees with pets are on the lookout for a pet-friendly office (27%), paid time off to care for a sick pet (29%), pet insurance (40%) and pawternity leave to care for a new pet (14%).

Chill like me: when man’s best friend goes walkies

Pawrents love their pets so much, they want to include them in all experiences: almost 80% of American pet owners travel with their pets each year, while in the UK there has been a shift in holidaying habits, with an increased desire among GenZ and Millennials to travel domestically with their four-legged friends.

More than 10% of people have even snuck their pets into a hotel room?inside luggage. Spotting this opportunity, Hilton partnered with TripAdvisor to create Pupadvisor, the world’s first online travel agency for dogs. The platform featured travel tips, recommendations, and reviews from personalities like pup-fluencers Hector, and Peanut & Pablo.

The site showcases Hilton’s UK dog-friendly hotel range: luxury beds, outdoor play areas, pet sitters or walkers, and bottomless treats, as well as fur-baby room service menus of gourmet cuisine – creating an ideal partnership opening for a premium dog-food brand, with bespoke pet-travel insurance to match.

The campaign, also highlighted via Hilton’s TikTok (394.5k followers) drove positive shifts in the hotel brand’s key metrics, with a 26% increase in audience agreement that “Hilton hotels are welcoming to pets”, a 12% uptick in brand preference, and a 3% rise in general brand consideration.?

Live like me: when loyalty pays off

As Gen Z and Millennials embrace their fur babies with open arms, brands should look to play a supporting role throughout the rollercoaster life of a pet parent, even offering grief-counselling services when the time arrives.

With tools like Insta and TikTok allowing brands to connect and resonate in the lives of next-gen pet-owners, it’s a chance for brands to meet them where they are, providing meaningful well-timed advice, along with products and services.

By offering pet-lifetime loyalty schemes, brands can get on board to help GenZ and Millennials with the whole lifecycle of pet provision, from training and nutrition through insurance and vet care, always staying close at heel.

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