Debbie Phillips-DonaldsonDebbie Phillips-Donaldson is editor-in-chief of Petfood Industry magazine and Petfood Forum.From the Author - Page 72Pet Food MarketPetfood Forum Asia highlights global strength of petfood industryConsidering that the worldwide economy is still shaky -- with unemployment remaining high and consumer confidence low in many regions, and industries like petfood still coping with issues like volatility in ingredient availability and pricing -- it would not be a surprise for members of our industry to worry about the near future. But I believe most people who attended Petfood Forum Asia 2012 last week in Bangkok, Thailand, walked away with a "glass half full" view of our industry.Pet Food MarketWhy Petfood Industry has Apps (and your brand should be mobile, too)In January we released a Petfood Industry App for Android smartphones, joining the Apps available for a year now for iPhones and iPads. Considering our readership is global (nearly 50% of our audience is outside North America), we want readers to be able to access current and back issues of the magazine as well as our website -- all the Apps include links to the latest news and products -- in as many digital formats as possible. That holds true for all readers, no matter where they're located, because in today's busy world, mobile is becoming a key way to reach people.HomeDo you have a mobile and social marketing strategy for your petfood brand?More than 300,000 mobile Apps have been developed in the past three years, according to MobiThinking.com, and they’ve been downloaded 10.9 billion times. Another tech source, Flurry Blog, puts the number of App downloads at 40 billion.Pet Food MarketExtrusion short course highlights strengths of global petfood marketIf you are new to the petfood industry -- or work in another function besides dry petfood production and need to learn much more on that subject -- one of the best ways by attending the annual Feeds and Petfood Extrusion Short Course at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, USA. The course, just concluding its 22nd edition, offers a nearly week-long immersion into grinding, mixing, extruding, drying, cooling and coating dry petfoods and feeds, combining classroom sessions by industry experts with live demonstrations on machines designed to do all those petfood production steps.Pet Food MarketWho's posting what about your products or brand online?Earlier this year, comScore, an online and digital tracking firm, released a report showing nearly everyone in the US who is online -- a whopping 98% -- uses social media. That usage equates to US females spending an average 7.9 hours a month on social media and US males spending six hours.Pet Food MarketIdeas to ramp up your cause marketing this yearCause marketing -- promoting a brand, product or company through donations or other giving to charitable causes -- is growing worldwide. In the US alone, spending on causes reached US$1.68 billion in 2011, according to IEG, a branding and sponsorship support firm (and reported by Matt Carmichael on AdAge.com).Pet Food MarketNo surprise: FDA misses important FSMA deadlinesJanuary 4 -- a year after the Food Safety Modernization Act was signed into legislation -- was the date several of its key provisions were to take effect. According to FDAImports.com, the Food and Drug Administration has failed to finalize these provisions by the deadline.Market Trends and ReportsAuspicious start to year for petfood industry?Rising sales plus declining costs add up to a positive direction for any business or industry. Based on news wrapping up 2011, that may be the direction for petfood this year.Pet Food MarketGood news for the new year: lower ingredient prices?A panel of experts convened in December 2011 predicted the price of corn and other commodity ingredients would moderate this year after record-setting price hikes last year. Though these experts are part of the poultry industry, their predictions might hold insights (and good news) for petfood manufacturers, too.Pet Food MarketFDA's new food safety alliance: help for the 'little guys'?To help US food, feed and petfood producers be prepared to meet new regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act and prevent foodborne illnesses, the US Food and Drug Administration has announced a new Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance. Forged from a partnership with the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute for Food Safety and Health, the alliance's mission is to develop training courses and materials aimed at preventing contamination of human and animal food during production, FDA says.Pet Food MarketGlobal petfood sales grow 4% in 2011Petfood sales continue to grow at a modest pace, accompanied by anemic volume growth. Data available as of the beginning of December show global petfood sales have increased 4% this year, according to the folks at Euromonitor International, who generously provided year-to-date figures along with comparisons to 2010.HomeAre consumers willing to pay for petfood proven safe?January 4 marks the first birthday of the Food Safety Modernization Act (see pp. xx). I imagine most manufacturers that produce, market or import petfood to the US aren’t celebrating the milestone, because the new law means new regulations to comply with, along with the added costs of doing so (including myriad new fees from the Food and Drug Administration).Previous PagePage 72 of 81Next Page
