Petfood Forum conferences offer industry professionals the latest pet nutrition, ingredient, processing and packaging technologies, product development processes and practical knowledge from the industry’s leading petfood consultants, manufacturers, academicians and suppliers. Petfood Forum China is the newest addition to the Petfood Forum portfolio of live conferences and exhibitions (which includes the annual Petfood Forum conference in Chicago, Petfood Workshop, Petfood Forum Asia and Petfood Forum Europe) and the first event of its kind to be held in China specifically for the needs of petfood and pet treat manufacturers.
According to Euromonitor International, China is the seventh fastest-growing petfood market, with a projected 7.7% compound annual growth rate through 2015. Euromonitor projects the China petfood market will reach US$476 million in sales by 2015.
An annual conference, Petfood Forum China will be held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, which has recently undergone expansion and renovation.
Trends, needs and petfood buying habits of Chinese dog owners—Tang Yang, president of Goumin.com, the largest online network for Chinese dog owners, and Dog Sign, one of the leading dog magazines in China, will present information on the Chinese dog market and dog food purchases. How and where do dog owners in China seek information on dog food and nutrition, and what key factors guide their purchasing decisions?
Healthy food, healthy pet, happy human: How specialty micronutrients and functional ingredients can drive animal health and pet food value—Ingmar S. Middelbos, PhD, manager of specialty products & pet market for Novus Nutrition Brands, explains how to truly add value to petfood products by focusing on functional areas that can be achieved by (non-nutritional) functional ingredients. He will focus on joint health (as basic as glucosamine and as advanced as the latest hydrolyzed collagen products), oral health (abrasives but also probiotics) and senior pet health (ingredients that help maintain lean mass, weight loss, kidney protection, eye health).
Dr. Middelbos received a master’s of science in animal husbandry from Wageningen University, Netherlands, and a master’s and doctorate in companion animal nutrition from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focused on how fiber sources may affect canine gut health. Upon graduation in 2008, Dr. Middelbos joined Novus International Inc., working as an R&D scientist on new product development. In 2011 he moved into marketing and business management, where he now leads the global pet industry team for Novus.
Overcoming the perception of Asian-made consumables in the US market—Anthony Guidice, director of international operations for petfood company Weruva International, discusses how to overcome a perception in the American marketplace that Asian-made consumer goods are poorly made. He will first explain why this perception exists, then lay out a course of action for manufacturers to move away from the stigma, including ways to prove regulations, quality and safety practices are being followed and tell a powerful quality and safety story to the US consumers.
Weruva International is a petfood manufacturer that has taken an Asian-made brand of goods and made it number one in its category. Guidice has 20 years’ experience in every facet of the pet industry, from retail and distribution to marketing and manufacturing. He regularly addresses pet industry professionals, delivering hundreds of seminars and workshops to distribution teams, the company’s own sales team and retail store employees of the US’s top independent pet store chains.
Trends in nutritional management of pet digestive health— Juan Gomez, PhD, global director of the companion animal business for Alltech, focuses on prebiotics and biomolecules in addressing ingredient sources, functional roles and interactions, applications beyond digestibility, immunity, trends in research and pathways to pet well-being and future applications.
In addition to his role as director, Dr. Gomez serves as chairman for the companion animal sessions of the Alltech International Symposium. Previously he was R&T director at Ralson Purina. He earned his doctorate in food science and nutrition from Cornell University, a master’s in food science from Leeds University and a bachelor’s in engineering from Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal.
Safe petfood: validation, recontamination and other considerations—Will Henry, director of technology R&D for Extru-Tech Inc., introduces the major principles of food safety to help petfood manufacturers subjectively review all aspects of their production scheme to secure the manufacture of safe, quality petfood and reduce the risk of recontamination. He will cover pending and new regulations in the US, scientific validations and common pitfalls encountered during audits of extrusion-based petfood safety systems.
Henry joined Extru-Tech in 2006 after serving as senior project engineer with Bachelor Controls. He presents extensively on extrusion and food safety around the world. He holds a bachelor’s of science in electrical engineering from Kansas State University.
The effects of kibble shape and particle size on feline palatability, processing parameters and texture—Kristopher Figge, senior scientist with AFB International, presents results of studies on what cats prefer in terms of meal particle size and kibble shape. This research has also has implications for extrusion processing and product development.
Figge has been with AFB for 12 years. In his role, his focus is on working with customers to improve the palatability of their cat and dog diets. He holds an MBA and has delivered numerous customer presentations on palatability testing and applied research in cat/dog palatability.
Advancements in high-barrier plastic packaging for shelf-stable petfood—Vivek A. Chougule, business development manager for Printpack, shares new technologies that make it possible to process and protect high-quality, nutrition rich pet food in consumer-preferred plastic containers. He will cover trends in packaging, compare the environmental footprints of various formats, address effects of food sterilization and storage on packaging material performance and discuss advances in food processing technologies.
Chougule has over 10 years of advanced packaging technology experience. In his current role, he focuses on developing Asia and Europe markets for advanced packaging solutions. Chougule holds an MBA from the College of William and Mary (USA) and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and packaging science from Clemson University (USA).
New product development workshop—John Adams, president of Adams Development, and Marcel Blok, owner of Change Stranamics BV, present a brief workshop on how to structure a new product development process, including tips and best practices.
Adams has worked for 40 years in the ingredient business focusing on new product development, including 20 years working with ingredients aimed at the pet industry. He has held various positions in a large British ingredients business and served as R&D Manager for four specialist project teams, marketing manager (large animal feeds) and corporate development manager. In 2001, Adams set up his own consulting business focusing on strategic use of ingredients and new product development.
Blok has nearly 30 years of experience in the pet industry in senior marketing positions, as the founder and first president of Iams Europe and as consultant to top US and European industry leaders as well as family-owned companies. He founded Change Stranamics in 1995 to act as a strategic advisor to players in the global pet industry and help them find and stay on the road to a sustainable future.
12 October, 2012
8:00-8:30 Registration/check-in with coffee and tea
8:30-8:45 Introduction by Chinese government official
8:45-9:45 Trends, needs and petfood buying habits of Chinese dog owners—Tang Yang, president of Goumin.com and Dog Sign magazine
9:45-10:25 Healthy food, healthy pet, happy human: How specialty micronutrients and functional ingredients can drive animal health and pet food value—Ingmar S. Middelbos, PhD, Novus Nutrition Brands
10:25-11:00 Coffee break
11:00-11:40 Overcoming the perception of Asian-made consumables in the US market—Anthony Guidice, Weruva International
11:40-12:20 Trends in nutritional management of pet digestive health— Juan Gomez, PhD, Alltech
12:20-13:30 Lunch
13:30-14:10 Safe petfood: validation, recontamination and other considerations—Will Henry, Extru-Tech Inc.
14:10-14:50 The effects of kibble shape and particle size on feline palatability, processing parameters and texture—Kristopher Figge, AFB International
14:50-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-16:10 Advancements in high-barrier plastic packaging for shelf-stable petfood—Vivek A. Chougule, Printpack
16:10-17:10 New product development workshop—John Adams, Adams Development, and Marcel Blok, Change Stranamics BV
Pet Fair Asia is the leading pet products exhibition in China for the rapidly growing Chinese companion animal marketplace, with visitors from 23 countries. A total of 44,347 visitors attended Pet Fair Asia 2011, an increase of almost 12% from 2010. Exhibitors in 2011 totaled 446 from 20 countries, including over 50 petfood and pet treat companies.