Dr. Gregory Reinhart, former vice president of research and development at  Iams , spoke to the  Pet Food Regulatory and Technical Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, recently saying the US$16.9 billion petfood industry can attribute its higher-than-inflation rate of growth on product segmentation that tailors petfood products to specific lifestyles/life stages, according to an  article  posted on  www.Feedstuffs.com .   

Among the most important product segments are the large-breed foods. Science-based nutrition found that slowing large-breed puppies' rate of growth allowed for more optimal skeletal growth while achieving the same final bodyweight.

Other sought-after products include behavior/cognition products leading to better puppy trainability, weight-management products aiding pet weight loss and food produced for performance dogs to improve their endurance.

On the feline side, food products have been developed to reduce the incidence of hairballs, Reinhart said.