According to the American Pet Products Assn., pet owners spent $18.28 billion on pet food alone in 2010, up almost a billion dollars over the previous year. About 62 percent of U.S. households own a pet, some 71.4 million homes, reports the Lempert Report. Increased awareness of what's in our food and a more stringent label reading population has translated to the pet food market including higher sales of premium, organic, natural and locally sourced brands.