Arturo Valdez, GfK Mexico’s consumer and retail director, will deliver the opening session of Pet Food Technology: Innovation in Superpremium Diets.
In Mexico, superpremium dog and cat foods continue to grow in popularity, taking market share from established premium brands and creating an opportunity for the Mexican pet food industry. To help Mexican and other Latin American pet food companies catch this trend, Arturo Valdez, GfK Mexico’s consumer and retail director, will deliver the opening session of the interactive workshop, Pet Food Technology: Innovation in Superpremium Diets (Tecnología de Alimentos para Mascotas [TAM]: Innovación en Dietas Superpremium) on December 5, 2017 in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
During the opening session of TAM, Valdex will explore pet food segment growth and relevance among main retail specialized market channels. He will delve into Mexican pet owners’ new mindset as pet parents, not just pet owners, in terms of values, needs, lifestyle and trends.
Pet Food Technology: Innovation in Superpremium Diets workshop
Following Valdez’ presentation, TAM participants will visit interactive stations over two days of intensive learning and networking. At each station, participants can learn, hands-on, from industry suppliers about how to use various ingredients, equipment, processing techniques or other information to make the premium and superpremium pet food and treats that Mexican pet food consumers demand.
Mexican pet food workshop opening speaker biography
Valdez, who also serves as the marketing opportunities and innovation director for GfK in Mexico, is a business administration graduate from National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, market research and new product development for brands, products and services in segments such as fast-moving consumer goods, financial, travel and leisure, pharmaceutical and healthcare, home and personal care.
Previously Valdez worked for global research agencies Millward Brown and Walker Information, and in marketing and market intelligence roles for Heineken Mexico. In addition, Valdez has collaborated with universities on conferences or as a part-time lecturer at UNAM, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and Anahuac University. He currently teaches the new product development module at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).
Valdez joined GfK in 2015 to lead local and regional projects involving the pet care industry and consumer trends, values and lifestyles related to consumption patterns and habits.
Tim Wall covers the dog, cat and other pet food industries as a senior reporter for WATT Global Media. His work has appeared inScientific American, Live Science, Discovery News, Honduras Weekly, Global Journalist and other outlets. He holds an M.A. in journalism and an M.S. in natural resources, both
from the University of Missouri - Columbia, along with a bachelor's degree in biology.
Wall served in the Peace Corps in Honduras from 2005 to 2007, where he coordinated with the town government of Moroceli to organize a municipal trash collection system, taught environmental science, translated for medical brigades and facilitated sustainable agriculture, along with other projects.
Many hours, efforts, dollars and brainpower go into pet food companies’ and regulatory bodies’ efforts to ensure that products on the market are safe and healthy for pets.
