Executives from pet food companies including Nestlé Purina PetCare, Nature’s Variety, Freshpet, Aller Petfood Group and Central Garden & Pet are among the expert speakers confirmed for Petfood Forum 2018. The exclusive conference for the global pet food manufacturing industry takes place April 23-25 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
Daniel Henke-Cilenti, marketing director, Purina brands, explains what transparency means to his company during a roundtable session, “What’s the next big thing? Pet trends market outlook,” on April 25. Aaron Grimm, COO of Nature’s Variety, co-presents a concurrent session on April 24 about using high pressure processing to support clean label trends in raw pet food, while that same day, Henriette Bylling, CEO and owner of Aller Petfood Group, discusses why pet food is surrounded by secrecy. In addition, Scott Morris, president of Freshpet; Mary Wuestenberg, director of talent acquisition for Central Garden & Pet; and Tim Blurton, CEO of Hyper Pet; serve as panelists during an April 25 executive roundtable on talent acquisition and retention.
Petfood Forum 2018 also features exclusive pet food consumer research from David Sprinkle, publisher and research director for Packaged Facts, on what pet owners expect from pet food companies in terms of trust and transparency. More than 20 other sessions cover new market data and trends, and the latest research on pet food nutrition, ingredients, processing and safety. Keynotes by Jack Hanna and Brian Hare, PhD, open and close the conference portion of the event.
Participants in Petfood Forum also experience the Student Program featuring a new competition allowing students in pet food-related university programs to present their research, plus a new Product Showcase demonstrating new products and services from leading industry suppliers. An exhibit hall full of suppliers and multiple networking opportunities round out the event.
Petfood Forum 2018 schedule (as of press time)
Monday, April 23
7 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. Petfood Forum registration and check-in
10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Petfood Forum exhibitor move-in
5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Petfood Forum and Petfood Innovation Workshop opening reception
Tuesday, April 24
7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Petfood Forum registration desk open
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Opening keynote: Jack Hanna
9:30 – 10:15 a.m. General session: My pets eat better than me: pet specialty data and trends show why — Natasha Davis, GfK
9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Exhibit hall open
10:15 – 10:45 a.m. Coffee break
10:15 – 11:45 a.m. Time in exhibit hall
10:15 – 11:45 a.m. Paws for a break (visiting pet charities)
10:30 – 11:45 a.m. Petfood Forum Student Program paper oral presentations, meet and greet
10:30 – 11:45 a.m. Product Presentation Showcase
11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. Lunch
1 – 4 p.m. Concurrent sessions:
Nutrition
Ingredients
Market/marketing
Processing/safety
2:30 – 3 p.m. Coffee break
4 – 5:30 p.m. Reception
4:30 – 5:15 p.m. Poster reception
Wednesday, April 25
7:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Registration desk open
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. General session: Exclusive research: Achieving trust and transparency with today’s pet parents — David Sprinkle, Packaged Facts
8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Exhibit hall open
9:30 – 11:45 a.m. Time in Exhibit Hall
10 – 10:30 a.m. Coffee break
10:30 – 11:45 a.m. Petfood Forum Student Program paper oral presentations, meet and greet
10:30 – 11:45 a.m. Product Presentation Showcase
11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. Lunch
1 – 2:30 p.m. Roundtable and panel sessions
2:30 – 3 p.m. Coffee break
3:15 – 4:30 p.m. Closing keynote: Brian Hare, PhD — plus announcement of student paper award winners
4:45 – 6:30 p.m. Closing reception, Grand Ballroom D
Full Petfood Forum schedule and session descriptions
Petfood Forum 2018 exhibitors and map
Learn about new product development at Petfood Innovation Workshop
Follow the pet food new product development journey during Petfood Innovation Workshop on April 23. This unique event offers in-depth information plus hands-on, immersive lab stations at a nearby test kitchen facility. Opening sessions will include data and trends in new pet food products launches from James Restivo, client director for the pet vertical at Nielsen, plus an overview of the product development process in pet food by Greg Aldrich, PhD, research associate professor and coordinator for the pet food program at Kansas State University (K-State).
At the K-State-Olathe campus (about 30 minutes from the Kansas City Convention Center), attendees will participate in interactive presentations and stations demonstrating various phases and aspects of developing new pet food products. The stations and presentations will be provided by leading industry suppliers.
For a full schedule, descriptions and to register, visit https://goo.gl/my6p6V.
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