Recalls in our industry are nothing new, of course, and with new food safety regulations bringing new reporting requirements, petfood recalls seem to have increased within the past two years -- even though industry professionals know that's not the case. Rather, manufacturers have become more proactive and complied with the new regulations by reporting any incidence of Salmonella or another pathogen found in a facility, even if no products were contaminated (which is usually the case). ..Read more

May 6-12 is National Pet Week, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, which says the week is celebrated in the US and other parts of the world to "promote responsible pet ownership, celebrate the human-animal bond and promote public awareness of veterinary medicine." Perhaps your company is planning a special promotion or at least timing promotional activity with local celebrations at pet retail outlets. ..Read more

Recent reports from the US Department of Agriculture offer good news for petfood manufacturers that use corn- or wheat-based ingredients in their formulations: Planting of corn and wheat in the US is ahead of schedule so far this year thanks to favorable weather. As of April 15, about 37% of the spring wheat crop had been seeded and 17% of the corn crop had been planted, according to reports. ..Read more

For Interzoo 2012, the organizer of the event -- arguably the largest pet trade show in the world -- invited me to give a presentation during the show's international press conference. While honored and flattered by the invitation, I was also rather nervous, initially, because of the requested topic: innovation in petfood and treats. ..Read more

Evidence that owning a pet provides human health benefits continues to mount: A recent study by Rebecca Johnson, an associate professor at the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing, College of Veterinary Medicine and director of the school's Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction, shows that having a pet can lower cortisol, the stress hormone, in aging adults, while increasing oxytocin, prolactin and norepinephrine (hormones related to joy, nurturing and relaxation). ..Read more

... literally! The fur was flying at Petfood Forum 2012, especially on Tuesday, April 3, when two rescue groups, members of the Petfinder.com network, visited with more than a dozen dogs and puppies, plus a couple cats. That was in addition to several booths in the exhibit hall hosting dogs (and one amazingly calm cat). ..Read more

A new report shows retailer Walmart and Nestle, parent company of Nestle Purina, ranking among the top corporate sustainability leaders worldwide, according to GreenBiz.com. Based on a survey of "industry experts and professionals" by GlobeScan Inc. and SustainAbility Ltd., the report names 13 such leaders, with Unilever at the very top. ..Read more

It's not uncommon for media and others to see certain marketing terms and trends with petfood -- such as humanization -- and interpret them literally. Yet recently, BloombergBusinessweek took the concept to a whole new level. ..Read more

Everything you've ever wanted to know about new product development but were afraid (or didn't know whom) to ask ... That's what you'll find at Petfood Workshop: New Product Development, April 4-5 at the Renaissance Schaumburg near Chicago, Illinois, USA. ..Read more

Two sources -- the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) -- are predicting a record corn harvest for the US this year, according to WattAgnet.com. FAPRI, a think tank based at the University of Missouri, puts the crop number at 13.916 billion bushels, reports a Reuters article, a 6% increase over the previous record set in 2009 (and based on the second largest plantings since World War II). ..Read more

Last week was the largest Global Pet Expo ever -- at least according to the organizer, the American Pet Products Association. A few people I talked with on the show floor seemed skeptical of that claim; nevertheless, APPA president Bob Vetere said this year's show had the most booths, exhibitors, retailers and media. ..Read more

Considering that the worldwide economy is still shaky -- with unemployment remaining high and consumer confidence low in many regions, and industries like petfood still coping with issues like volatility in ingredient availability and pricing -- it would not be a surprise for members of our industry to worry about the near future. But I believe most people who attended Petfood Forum Asia 2012 last week in Bangkok, Thailand, walked away with a "glass half full" view of our industry. ..Read more

In January we released a Petfood Industry App for Android smartphones, joining the Apps available for a year now for iPhones and iPads. Considering our readership is global (nearly 50% of our audience is outside North America), we want readers to be able to access current and back issues of the magazine as well as our website -- all the Apps include links to the latest news and products -- in as many digital formats as possible. That holds true for all readers, no matter where they're located, because in today's busy world, mobile is becoming a key way to reach people. ..Read more

If you are new to the petfood industry -- or work in another function besides dry petfood production and need to learn much more on that subject -- one of the best ways by attending the annual Feeds and Petfood Extrusion Short Course at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, USA. The course, just concluding its 22nd edition, offers a nearly week-long immersion into grinding, mixing, extruding, drying, cooling and coating dry petfoods and feeds, combining classroom sessions by industry experts with live demonstrations on machines designed to do all those petfood production steps. ..Read more

Earlier this year, comScore, an online and digital tracking firm, released a report showing nearly everyone in the US who is online -- a whopping 98% -- uses social media. That usage equates to US females spending an average 7.9 hours a month on social media and US males spending six hours. ..Read more

Cause marketing -- promoting a brand, product or company through donations or other giving to charitable causes -- is growing worldwide. In the US alone, spending on causes reached US$1.68 billion in 2011, according to IEG, a branding and sponsorship support firm (and reported by Matt Carmichael on AdAge.com). ..Read more

January 4 -- a year after the Food Safety Modernization Act was signed into legislation -- was the date several of its key provisions were to take effect. According to FDAImports.com, the Food and Drug Administration has failed to finalize these provisions by the deadline. ..Read more

A panel of experts convened in December 2011 predicted the price of corn and other commodity ingredients would moderate this year after record-setting price hikes last year. Though these experts are part of the poultry industry, their predictions might hold insights (and good news) for petfood manufacturers, too. ..Read more

To help US food, feed and petfood producers be prepared to meet new regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act and prevent foodborne illnesses, the US Food and Drug Administration has announced a new Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance. Forged from a partnership with the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute for Food Safety and Health, the alliance's mission is to develop training courses and materials aimed at preventing contamination of human and animal food during production, FDA says. ..Read more

Petfood sales continue to grow at a modest pace, accompanied by anemic volume growth. Data available as of the beginning of December show global petfood sales have increased 4% this year, according to the folks at Euromonitor International, who generously provided year-to-date figures along with comparisons to 2010. ..Read more

While humanization has definitely been a good thing for the petfood industry, it has its downsides, too. One negative for pets, arguably, is that as the human population goes, at least in developed markets, so goes the pet overpopulation. Specifically for food, that means the percentage of overweight or obese pets is increasing at a pace similar to the rise of obesity in humans. ..Read more

As further proof that pet ownership continues to increase and fuel the growth of petfood markets globally, a new website for dog lovers in India has launched. DogZone.in bills itself as India's first online community of dog lovers. ..Read more

A new report from Cascadia Capital, an independent investment bank that includes petfood and other pet product companies among its investments and transactions, shows the pet industry is "gaining momentum" coming out of the recession, not only in sales but also in merger & acquisition transactions and new companies emerging. ..Read more

In its most literal sense, the term "humanization" means to take a non-human creature or object and try to make it human. "To portray or endow with human characteristics or attributes" is the first definition on TheFreeDictionary.com. ..Read more

Nestlé, parent company of Nestlé Purina PetCare, ranks among the top 11 companies worldwide for corporate sustainability practices. So says Two Tomorrows, which bills itself as an international corporate sustainability agency, in its recently released Tomorrow's Value Rating. ..Read more

A recent study by Kevin Haninger and James Hammitt of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis shows US consumers would be willing to spend US$4,500-6,000 to prevent each case of short-term illness caused by contaminated food. Reported in the October edition of FSMeDigest from Food Safety Magazine, the study started with the seemingly simple goal of examining the "monetary value that consumers place on a safer food supply," the authors wrote. ..Read more

The US Food and Drug Administration is working hard -- and partnering with both the human food and petfood industries -- to meet deadlines and develop regulations and policies in adherence to the Food Safety Modernization Act, signed into law in January 2011. The new regulations and rules will include ones encompassing petfood, some for the first time, and the law's deadlines mean many will go into effect within the next year or so. ..Read more

"Die erste TV spot fur Sie und Ihren Hund." That's German for "The first TV spot for you and your dog" and the opening for a new German language only TV commercial for Beneful from Nestle Purina. According to the ..Read more

While the American Pet Products Association and other organizations in the US pet industry are working to prove how pet ownership helps human health and well-being, the European Pet Food Industry Federation, or FEDIAF, is releasing data to show pets' contributions to the economy and society. ..Read more

Observing the buzz at SuperZoo last week and hearing about its growth over last year's show, I kept thinking (and even remarked to a few people), "Thank goodness for pet humanization!" This engine that has been driving the continued growth of our industry is still humming along. ..Read more

I just returned from Las Vegas to attend SuperZoo, one of the annual US pet trade shows. While not quite as large as other US shows such as Global Pet Expo, SuperZoo had a lot of buzz, activity and show floor traffic even on the very last afternoon. ..Read more

The most recent "Market Report" column from Packaged Facts discusses how petfood and treat marketers continue to focus on health and wellness in their new product development, a strategy that keeps paying off because the message seems to resonate with today's involved consumers who treat their pets as family members. ..Read more

From a natural products standpoint, the animal nutrition market was a mixed bag in 2010, though still showing overall growth. So says the August issue of Nutrition Business Journal, which shows US sales of natural and organic petfood grew "only" 4%, the "the lowest category growth ever recorded," according to a summary of the issue's reports. ..Read more