The History Of Kibble

In order to understand most things, it can be helpful to understand where they come from. And dog food is no different. It was only in 1860 that James Spratt, an American electrician living in England, became the first business to make and sell a dog food biscuit. Before then, dogs were scavengers or were fed from the human kitchens and factories of the time. His “meat biscuit for the feeding of dogs” was the first attempt to create a commercial market for dog food and the first advertising of a patented “scientifically blended dog food”. And the market responded enthusiastically to a long-life, ready to serve pet meal. Where there is a market, there is growth and more biscuit products entered the market, but with no robust research proving nutritional adequacy.

Fast forward to 1922 when the first canned dog food was invented. Called Ken-L Ration, it was made from cleverly marketed “lean, red meat”, which was actually, if one examined the can very closely, horse meat – a very cheap and available protein with the end of WWI and the global uptake of cars and tractors. It is from these opaque beginnings that dog food became an industry known for (in some cases, very) profitably using by-products and being less than forthcoming about their ingredients. Despite the “mystery meat”, consumers loved the convenience and by 1941, canned dog food accounted for 90% of the dog food market in the USA. 

During WWII metal was being directed to create munitions and many foodstuffs were redirected for human rations, so pet food manufacturers went looking for alternative packaging and more readily available ingredients. And the industry swung back to dry dog food, finding economic solutions for their packaging and ingredient shortages in the cereal industry. 

It was in 1956 that Purina produced the first dry kibble through extrusion – a process used to make large quantities of shelf-stable foods and one Purina was already using to produce cereal.