News & Newsletters: Page 718

Rural pet owners, couples with no kids spend more on petfood, pet supplies

Pet owners ages 55 to 64 and couples without children are most likely to pamper their pets, compared to those pets owned by single pet owners and single parents, according to a new analysis by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In general, American pet owners spend about US$500 on average, about 1 percent of their annual pet budget.

Pedigree Feeding Project names two newest cities to receive free petfood

Pedigree petfood brand named Erie, Pennsylvania, USA, and Detroit/ Flint, Michigan, USA, as the newest communities to participate in the Pedigree Feeding Project – a program that supplies shelters with 100 percent of their core dog food needs at no cost. Pedigree began the search for two new communities in January, asking dog lovers to visit the brand's Facebook page to nominate a community or shelter.

Bosch expands vertical form-fill-seal packaging test facility

Bosch Packaging Technology, a supplier of processing and packaging technology solutions, completed expansion of its vertical form-fill-seal test facility in New Richmond, Wisconsin, USA. The US$850,000 vertical expansion, which started in May 2012 and was completed in December, helps Bosch accommodate two full VFFS packaging lines that include secondary packaging, such as case erecting, loading and closing.

Market Trends and Reports

Pioneer Natural Pet Foods expands production capacities

Pioneer Natural Pet Foods is offering a new resource for private-label co-packing, thanks to the purchase of the Pied Piper facility in Hamlin, Texas, USA, by new ownership. Pioneer Pet Foods upgraded the 148,000-square-foot facility and expanded its capacity for dry kibble dog and cat foods as well as baked and extruded biscuits.

Wet petfood manufacturer De Haan temporarily relocates production

Wet petfood manufacturer De Haan Petfood BV has temporarily relocated its production after it was stopped following an incident on May 7. The petfood company suspended production at its facility in Nieuwkoop, the Netherlands, after an explosion in a retort severely damaged the production line.

Latest Victam publication includes info on 2014 animal feed conferences

Victam International released its spring edition of Showtime, available for download online. This latest edition of Showtime contains information on animal feed production tonnages, rice consumption, technical articles, and information on the FIAAP, VICTAM and GRAPAS Asia 2014 exhibitions and conferences.

Pet Market Industry report available from Key Note Market Intelligence

Key Note Market Intelligence published the latest Pet Market Industry market report, examining the pet market industry in the UK. The report reviews the UK's leading companies, as well as the wider economy the sector serves.

Alltech offers live streaming of International Symposium, May 19-22

Alltech's 29th Annual International Symposium is set to take place May 19-22 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. For those that are unable to attend in person, the event will have live-streaming and on-demand videos of select presentations, blog posts, photos and more daily on the Symposium Live! Web page.

Feed and Pet Food Joint Conference opens early bird registration

Registration is now open for the Feed and Pet Food Joint Conference, taking place at the J.W. Marriott in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, September 24-26. Petfood industry members interested in attending the conference may register online by Sunday, August 11 to take advantage of the early bird rate of US$390.

AFIA names former Pet Food Committee leaders as 'Co-Members of the Year'

The American Feed Industry Association named Jarrod Kersey, PhD, Nutro Co., and Jason Vickers, P&G Pet Care, as "Co-Members of the Year," at the board of directors' meeting May 14. Both have provided leadership to AFIA’s Pet Food Committee during the last two years, each serving a term as chair.

Pet Food Institute redesigns website for consumers, members

Pet Food Institute has redesigned its website, www.petfoodinstitute.org, which now features updated, consumer-friendly information, enhanced profiles for PFI members and improved functionality. For the public, the new site includes information on how petfood is made, ingredients that go into it, nutritionpetfood provides, safety practices companies must follow and more.

Market Trends and Reports

New Del Monte Meow Mix Facebook app awards cash prizes to users daily

Petfood maker Del Monte Foods recently launched a Facebook application for its Meow Mix cat food brand. The app allows users to upload a photo of their cat, map out facial features and then watch the cat perform a rendition of the Meow Mix jingle.

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