Petfood Forum kicks off its 23^rd year April 27–29, 2015, with several new elements, including the location—Kansas City, Missouri, USA, the hub of the global petfood manufacturing industry—a new schedule and dynamic keynotes. What hasn’t changed is that this exclusive conference and trade show still offers premier learning about the latest petfood research and developments, plenty of networking opportunities and the chance to do business with key industry suppliers and other petfood manufacturers.

Held at the Kansas City Convention Center, Petfood Forum 2015 begins the evening of April 27 with an opening reception. On April 28, a keynote by Jackson Galaxy, star of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell, starts the conference portion of the event, as he talks about the inspirations for his career, lessons he’s learned from working with cats and their owners and why his primary goal is to help save the 4 million animals that die in shelters each year, working through his Team Cat Mojo campaign and Jackson Galaxy Foundation.

Galaxy will be followed by Dave Bolen, former CEO of Pet Supplies Plus, presenting pet retailing insights on how petfood manufacturers can grow their businesses and the industry. The afternoon of April 28 and morning of April 29 features four concurrent session rooms covering pet nutrition and petfood marketing/product development, safety and processing, with presentations from leading industry experts.

The conference portion of Petfood Forum ends the afternoon of April 29 with a discussion session on developing your future workforce and research projects through industry-academic partnerships, led by Greg Aldrich, PhD, and featuring several executives from petfood manufacturers and suppliers. That will be followed by the closing keynote, in which the Flying Houndz Frizbee Trick Dog Show performs, with the group’s owners explaining how and why they work with rescue dogs.

Petfood Forum includes a large exhibit hall on April 28–29 and many networking opportunities, including a new closing barbeque and Taste of Kansas City reception on April 29. Also new in 2015 is Petfood Innovation Workshop: Next Generation Treats, which takes place April 27 and includes a field trip to a Food Innovation Accelerator Lab at nearby Kansas State University-Olathe, where participants can practice hands-on product development of treats.

Petfood professionals also registered for Petfood Forum will receive savings on their Petfood Innovation Workshop registration; early bird discounts are available for both events through February 15. For more information on speakers, the schedule and registration, visit www.PetfoodForumEvents.com.

Petfood Forum 2015 schedule

Monday, April 27

8:00 am-7:30 pm  Petfood Forum registration and check-in

8:00 am-5:30 pm  Petfood Forum exhibitor move-in

5:30-7:30 pm   Petfood Forum and Workshop opening reception

Tuesday, April 28

7:30 am-6:30 pm  Registration desk open

7:30-8:30 am  Breakfast

8:30-9:30 am  Opening keynote: Jackson Galaxy, star of My Cat From Hell

9:30-10:15 am  General session: Pet retailing insights for petfood manufacturers: how to grow your business and the industry —Dave Bolen, former CEO, Pets Supplies Plus

10:15 am-6:45 pm  Exhibit hall opens

10:15-10:45 am  Coffee break in exhibit hall, visiting pets

10:45 am-12:00 pm  Time in exhibit hall, visiting pets

12:00-1:30 pm  Lunch

1:30-2:15 pm  Concurrent sessions 1

Nutrition:

Future canine health: novel ingredient innovation —Roger Clemens, DrPH, CFS, CNS, FACN, FIFT, FIAFST, Chief Science Officer, Horn

Marketing/new product development:

The next big thing in petfood —Maria Lange, Senior Product Manager, Consumer Choices, GfK USA

Processing:

Case study of high meat inclusion in dry-expanded petfoods —Will Henry, Director of Technology, R&D, Extru-Tech

Petfood safety:

Crisis management: how to develop and implement a crisis preparedness plan —David Rosenblatt, DVM, Director of Training, Sher Consulting and Training

2:20-3:05 pm  Concurrent sessions 2

Nutrition:

How well do dogs use the omega-3s in their food? —Signe Svindland, Director, Pet Food, AkerBiomarine

Marketing/new product development:

Trends and news in the pet market: considerations for business planning —Joel Adamson, Senior Consultant, Brakke Consulting

Processing:

Manufacturing procedures for natural and organic jerky pet treats —Kohl Danielle Schrader, PhD, Food Processing Technologist, Marlen International

Petfood safety:

Validating ozone as a sanitizing agent in pneumatic conveying pipelines —Jonathon Thorn, Executive Director, Process Technology, Schenck Process

3:05-3:45 pm  Coffee break in exhibit hall

3:45-4:30 pm  Concurrent sessions 3

Nutrition:

The new AAFCO calorie content statement regulations: does your product label comply? —David A. Dzanis, DVM, PhD, DACVN, CEO, Regulatory Discretion Inc.

Marketing/new product development:

Structured product development in its strategic setting —Marcel Blok, Founder, Change Stranamics

Processing:

How to avoid product degradation in petfood handling —Benny Simonsen, Manager, Technology and Business Development, Graintec A/S

Petfood safety:

Microbial process control solutions for the petfood industry —Michael Wendorf, MS, MPH, Senior Technical Advisor, Microbiology, Neogen Corp.

4:35-5:20 pm   Concurrent sessions 4

Nutrition:

Marine algae as an alternative for improving cognitive function of senior dogs —Jeff Alix, Global Pet Nutrition Marketing Manager, DSM Nutritional Products

Marketing/new product development:

Feline bitter receptors: a journey from DNA to electronic tongue —Nancy E. Rawson, PhD, Senior Director, Innovation and Basic Research, AFB International

Processing:

Evolution of petfood manufacturing equipment and process controls in a post-FSMA world —Brian Streit, Director of Pet Food & Aquatic Technology, Wenger Manufacturing

Petfood safety:

An alternate surrogate for Salmonella in validation studies of low water activity petfoods —Derrick A. Bautista, PhD, Corporate Microbiologist, Big Heart Pet Brands, and Erdogan Ceylan, PhD, Research Director, Silliker Inc.

5:20-6:45 pm  Reception in exhibit hall

6:00-6:45 pm   Poster reception in exhibit hall

Wednesday, April 29

7:30 am-4:30 pm  Registration desk open

7:30-8:30 am  Breakfast

8:30 am-3:00 pm  Exhibit hall open

8:30-9:15 am   Concurrent sessions 5

Nutrition:

Nutritional benefits of pulse ingredients from the dry milling process in petfood —Mehmet Tulbek, PhD, Director, Research and Development, AGT Food and Ingredients Inc.

Marketing/new product development:

Petfood retailing 2020 —John Stanley, President, John Stanley Associates

Processing:

Benefits of using freshly prepared meat in dry petfoods with novel meat processing and extrusion technologies —Aboubakry Diallo, PhD, Research Associate, University of Nottingham

Petfood safety:

Automating food safety and QA to achieve continuous improvement, audit readiness and a best-in-class operation —Eric Johansen, Quality Manager, Wilbur-Ellis

9:20-10:05 am  Concurrent sessions 6

Nutrition:

Potential benefits of b(1-3)-D-glucans for dogs —Vaclav Vetvicka, PhD, Professor of Pathology, University of Louisville

Marketing/new product development:

FDA’s new guidelines on nanotechnology —Ray Matulka, PhD, Director of Toxicology, Burdock Group

Processing:

Future proofing your retort room: new packaging for new petfood products —Greg Jacob, Vice President/General Manager, Allpax Products

Petfood safety:

New approaches to accurately measure B vitamins in petfoods —John Szpylka, PhD, Director of Chemistry North America, Silliker Laboratories

10:05-10:45 am  Coffee break in exhibit hall, possibly more visiting pets

10:45 am-12:00 pm  Time in exhibit hall

12:00-1:30 pm  Lunch

1:30-2:45 pm  Discussion session: A call to action: building your petfood future and workforce through industry-academic partnerships —led by Greg Aldrich, PhD, President, Pet Food Ingredients & Technology. Panelists include Lafe Bailey, Co-CEO and President of Sales and Business Development for Wenger Group; Ben Bowen, Executive Director of Global Quality and Customer Laboratory Services for Kemin; Rick Shields, Executive Vice President of Technical Services for Simmons Pet Food; plus other executives from petfood manufacturers and academia.

2:45-3:30 pm  Coffee break

3:30-4:30 pm  Closing keynote: Flying Houndz Frizbee Trick Dog Show 

3:00-12:00 pm  Exhibitor tear-down

5:00-8:00 pm   Closing reception barbeque and Taste of Kansas City

Thursday, April 30

Optional, private tours to Sabetha, Kansas State and around Kansas City