Vanguard Awards: Rawhide Alternatives

There are several reasons why Earth Animal and Scott Pet stand out in the rawhide alternatives category. Earth Animal continually pushes the boundaries of the category and brings excitement to rawhide alternatives with unique flavor profiles. Scott  Pet stands out for its leadership team, which has turned challenges into opportunities to simplify product claims and improve how it communicates features and benefits to both retailers and pet parents.  

“As the category leader in rawhide alternatives, we’re constantly innovating—and our communication ensures retailers never miss an opportunity to capitalize on our next breakthrough innovation, whether it’s as game-changing as our No Hide Strawberries and Cream or our next surprise flavor adventure,” said an Earth Animal spokesperson.

Earth Animal is dedicated to keeping a mature category relevant and enticing.

“As category pioneers who introduced the first true rawhide alternative 10 years ago, Earth Animal is constantly innovating to bring fresh ideas to the category and the partnership to back it up,” the spokesperson said. 

“One of the biggest challenges this past year has been navigating increased scrutiny and evolving definitions around rawhide and rawhide alternatives,” replied Director of Marketing, Reid Mansell. “As a leader in the category, we took this as an opportunity to clarify this claim for our Pork Chomps and NutriChomps brands. We’re refining how we communicate our key features and benefits and ensuring both retailers and pet parents clearly understand what sets our products apart. We believe this work will strengthen trust in our brands and differentiate us as the category continues to evolve.”

As pet parents themselves, the Scott Pet team is committed to providing products they trust and feel confident offering to their own pets. 

“Our focus on quality is what truly sets us apart,” Mansell said. “We operate with a lean, highly engaged team, which allows us to stay close to our products and our customers. We’re pet parents ourselves, so every decision is grounded in what we would feel good giving our own dogs. That mindset translates into high-quality, long-lasting chews that deliver on both performance and trust. It also allows us to move quickly and thoughtfully, balancing innovation with consistency in a way that benefits both retailers and consumers.”

Scott Pet predicts the company will play a key role in shaping the future of the category by providing high-quality, pork skin-based alternatives backed by strong partnerships at retail. 

“The category is poised for continued growth as pet parents become more ingredient-conscious and focused on both safety and functionality,” Mansell replied. “Over the next five to 10 years, we expect to see increased demand for chews that combine simple, recognizable ingredients with clear performance benefits, especially longer-lasting engagement. There will also be greater emphasis on transparency, sourcing, and digestibility, along with more innovation in formats and textures to meet different dogs’ needs. At Scott Pet, we see ourselves playing a key role in shaping that future—continuing to lead with high-quality, pork skin-based alternatives while pushing the category forward through thoughtful innovation and strong retailer partnerships.”

Combining durability with simplicity has been a key factor in Scott Pet’s success in building a loyal following of pet parents. 

“Pet parents appreciate that our chews strike the right balance between simplicity and performance,” Mansell stated. “Our products are naturally delicious, made with simple ingredients, and designed to last—something that’s not always easy to find in the category. Our layered chews generate a lot of excitement. They’re designed to deliver extended chew time, even for aggressive chewers, which creates a better experience for both the dog and the pet parent. That combination of long-lasting enjoyment and ingredient simplicity is a key reason consumers continue to come back to our brands.”

To better support retailers, Scott Pet tells a compelling product story across multiple channels. “We take a highly collaborative approach with our retail partners,” Mansell noted. “We support them with both national and geo-targeted media designed to drive awareness and traffic, while also investing in strong in-store execution to convert that demand at shelf.”