Petfood Essentials is an interactive, informal educational preconference seminar held the day prior to the opening of Petfood Forum, and this year it's going to tackle the hottest topic in the pet food space: sustainability. “Sustainability” is a diverse topic, and in focusing on it during this one-day seminar, Debbie Phillips-Donaldson, editor-in-chief of Petfood Industry, said she hopes to give guidance to pet food professionals.
“As with most industries and categories, sustainability in pet food is becoming increasingly essential to business success,” she said. “Not only are pet owners and other entities in the pet food supply chain expecting and demanding more environmentally responsible practices and results, but companies are also finding that following such practices often results in cost savings.”
Because of that growing interest and necessity, people in the pet food industry need more actionable information, which is what the Petfood Essentials program will provide.
Pet Sustainability Coalition partnership
Starting or advancing an organization’s sustainability journey is tough and complicated. The Petfood Essentials team partnered with the Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) to develop the Essentials' education program, which will delve into consumer trends and demands for sustainability, plus sustainability in pet food ingredients, packaging and processing.
Experts — including from the PSC — will provide information and insights on key points along the journey, how to determine an environmental footprint and how to make a supply chain more sustainable. In addition to education sessions, participants will also learn through a hands-on life cycle analysis (LCA) group exercise.
In addition to education sessions, participants will also learn through a hands-on life cycle analysis (LCA) group exercise during Petfood Essentials.Paul Ward Photography
Sessions at a glance
This year, Petfood Essentials will be held on Monday, April 28, at the Kansas City Convention Center, the day before Petfood Forum opens its doors. Session highlights include:
Welcome and opening session: How to start your sustainability journey — Allison Reser, director of sustainability and innovation, Pet Sustainability Coalition
Reser will provide insights on where to start on a sustainability program, how to get buy-in inside your company and with other stakeholders, how to build a roadmap and decide where to focus first.
Demystifying life cycle assessment for the pet food industry — Marty Heller, senior consultant, Blonk Sustainability
Heller will explain what a life cycle assessment (LCA) is, how to use it and how it can support your sustainability goals. The LCA has become the standard method for evaluating the environmental impact of a product or service, and is behind the environmental footprinting data increasingly used to characterize supply chains, calculate Scope 3 corporate emissions and even drive choices between competing ingredients.
The session introduces a group exercise that participants will work on throughout the day, offering hands-on experience with a pet food LCA aimed at developing a more intuitive understanding of the important levers available for managing the environmental footprint of pet food products.
How human food and pet food can work together to deliver sustainability outcomes — Gail Tavill, global chief sustainability officer, OSI Group
Leveraging learnings on climate accounting from the human food sector, Gail Tavill, global chief sustainability officer, OSI Group, shows what is possible for pet foods and pet food ingredients in terms of setting baseline footprint targets, developing strategies for achieving those targets, sharing lessons learned and methodologies for making claims. She will share real-world examples of co-creating value for customers to deliver claimable carbon reductions through custom supply chain solutions.
Standardizing the environmental footprints of pet food ingredients — Janjoris van Diepen, footprint director North America, Mérieux NutriSciences/Blonk Sustainability
This session will explain how companies setting targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions creates a strong pull for data in the supply chain, requiring pet food producers to initiate carbon footprint management strategies and develop decarbonization pathways. Ingredients are the main driver of carbon emissions for pet food production, and their footprints can vary significantly by source, while also being influenced by choices in accounting approaches and data quality.
Allison Burdick, sustainability analyst, Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC), will also provide information on PSC's ingredients database tool through its partnership with HowGood.
Rethinking pet food packaging: How sustainability shapes the future — Antonio Cabras, CEO, Velvet Srl
The transition to sustainable packaging materials, such as recyclable and compostable options, is reshaping the pet food industry, driven by consumer preferences and increasing regulatory demands. Cabras will explain the balanced trade-offs and benefits of sustainable materials and provide case studies of successful implementations to demonstrate necessary production chain modifications.
Group presentations of their LCAs.
The seminar includes lunch and coffee breaks, and will be followed up by a mixer at the Kansas City Convention Center. The full Petfood Essentials agenda can be found here.
Purchase the Petfood Forum 2-Day & Petfood Essentials Combo Pass for the best value. Register by February 28 to save up to $200.
Petfood Forum and Petfood Essentials show dates are April 28-30, 2025, in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. To stay informed on the latest event developments, go to PetfoodForumEvents.com.
