Petfood Industry's Phillips-Donaldson to retire, Roembke named successor

Petfood Industry has announced that Debbie Phillips-Donaldson, longtime editor-in-chief, will retire on Dec. 28, 2026, concluding a distinguished career spanning two decades with the company. 

Jackie Roembke has been named her successor as editor-in-chief, and the transition between the two is already underway to ensure continuity across Petfood Industry's content, media, events and audience relationships.

Elise Schafer, the editor of WATT Global Media's Feed & Grain brand, has now assumed responsibility for directing the content efforts of WATT's Feed Strategy brand.

Phillips-Donaldson has directed all content for PetfoodIndustry.com, the brand's e-newsletters, Petfood Forum conferences and related media, and Petfood Industry magazine since joining WATT Global Media in 2006.

"I am very grateful for my time at Petfood Industry and Petfood Forum and have relished all the experiences and wonderful people I've encountered," Phillips-Donaldson said. "As the industry continues to evolve and grow, I have full confidence that Jackie and the rest of the team will continue to cover the industry with excellent, timely, objective content that provides pet food professionals with the enlightening information they need to do their jobs and grow their businesses."

Before joining WATT Global Media, Phillips-Donaldson worked for 13 years at pet publisher BowTie Inc. as editor of Cat Fancy magazine, new product manager and editorial vice president. She also served for 5 1/2 years as editor of Quality Progress magazine with the American Society for Quality. She is a graduate of Southern Illinois University with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

"We thank Debbie for her two decades of leadership and her vital role played in the growth of Petfood Forum and the Petfood Industry brand," said Steve Akins, executive vice president of global pet food and events at WATT Global Media. "We look forward to the continued growth of our pet food manufacturing audience as Jackie leads our content team in the future."

Feed industry expertise applied to pet food

Jackie RoembkeWATT Global MediaRoembke brings more than two decades of animal nutrition and feed manufacturing journalism experience to the role, including tenure with WATT Global Media since 2013. She previously served as editor-in-chief of Feed Strategy and Feed & Grain, where her coverage spanned poultry and livestock nutrition, feed ingredients and additives, and feed manufacturing operations — expertise directly relevant to the ingredient sourcing, formulation and production challenges shared across the feed and pet food sectors.

Throughout her career, Roembke has built a track record of in-depth coverage of macro agri-food trends, global feed and ingredient markets, and emerging pet food-adjacent topics. She has also created, organized and produced international industry events addressing critical issues facing stakeholders across the ingredient supply chain, manufacturing technology and nutrition science. Those events include the Feed Mill of the Future Conference and the Feed Strategy Conference series, which created platforms for innovation and knowledge exchange in feed manufacturing.

"My background covering feed manufacturing and animal nutrition has given me a strong appreciation for the science, formulation and regulatory considerations that shape the pet food industry," Roembke said. "I look forward to applying that perspective to Petfood Forum and Petfood Industry, and to continuing the in-depth coverage of ingredients, manufacturing and market trends this audience relies on."