Cats Love Gravy: How a Reporter Ended Up at a Pet Food Research Center

Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.I was sitting at my desk doing one of those things business journalists do, streaming an investor conference, when I heard something that made me giggle.“We have seen good structural growth in cat,” said Philipp Navratil, the chief executive of Nestlé.Structural growth in cat? He went on.Many more people were adopting cats than dogs.“We like cats a lot because cats are also picky eaters,” he said, adding that this worked to Nestlé’s advantage because the company had the scientific resources to understand and cater to the taste buds of cats.I had a lot of questions.I was surprised that many more people were choosing cats over dogs.

I love dogs.I recently read cover to cover a book called “Be More Dog: Life Lessons From Our Canine Friends,” a gift from a dog-loving friend.

But Mr.Navratil’s comments, I learned, were true.The number of cat-owning households grew at a rate three times as fast as that of dog-owning households from 2021-25, according to a Euromonitor survey.

The hypothesis is that people are spending more time in the office these days, and cats are lower maintenance.Maybe, but cats are decidedly not lower maintenance when it comes to food.Curious about how, exactly, researchers determine which flavors are most appealing to dogs and cats, I set out to explore the business of pet food at a time when people are spending more on their animals and have more options.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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