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1. INTRODUCTION
Production of meat from animals generates a large amount of lower value co-products, this amount
varies according to animal species. In the poultry industry, assuming a 70% yield during
processing, the aggregate of co-products from processing chickens for meat globally is 45.9 million
tons (Seidavi et al. 2019). In the beef industry, the volume of co-products (included organs, fat,
skin, feet, abdominal, and intestinal content, bone and blood) of cattle represent 51% of the live
weight (Aguirre et al. 2014). Animal co-products are simply the parts of animals that are not
typically consumed in developed countries, which would include organ meats. United States
population rarely consumes a wide variety of organ meats (liver, hearts, kidneys, tripe, etc.) that
other cultures consider delicacies (Thompson 2008). Increasing values of these co-products, is
common, and foods for animals are a great use of these nutritious but lower value co-products. to
develop animal foods, including pet foods.
Currently, the pet food industry has grown steadily, thanks to increased consumption of
commercially prepared foods (Zicker 2008). North America has more than 163 million dogs and
cats that consume, as an important part of their diet, animal products (Okin 2017). In the second
quarter of 2018, Americans spent nearly 800 million USD on pet products on the retail website
Amazon alone, representing growth of more than 30% compared to a similar period in 2017
according to the American Association for Pet Products (APPA). Trend on the rise, according to
analysts, as pets occupy an increasingly preferred place in 68% of households.
In Latin America, in 2017 more than 5.9 million tons of balanced pet food were consumed,
generating an approximate market value of 6,719.1 million dollars. Growth forecast for this region
is 30% for the next 10 years. Countries with greatest importance in this market are Brazil and
Mexico, where they have a similar penetration rate. Other countries in Latin America are constantly
growing and with opportunities to opt for this new market. Argentina is the third country with the
highest consumption on the continent, followed by Colombia, Chile, and Uruguay. One of the
biggest problems in Latin America is the high number of imported products, which prevents growth
of local industries. Innovation is a key factor in growth of this type of industries. Rise in
consumption of pet food makes this market interesting for new entrepreneurs, in Latin America,
the penetration rate is less for European countries and the United States, this is due to the culture
of this region, in which excessive spending on pet products is not common. (Franco 2018).Most
common source of these products is poultry and beef, due to the low value of the co-products from
processing for human consumption from the meat and poultry industry and high levels of protein
they provide.
Poultry protein meals are a very popular protein source for use in pet foods (Meeker 2006). Their
low costs generate a high production of pet food using poultry co-products meals and fats. Beef
co-products are also widely used, especially organ meats. To produce pet food, organs such as liver
