News & Newsletters: Page 719

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.

Nestle unveils solar array at petfood manufacturing facility in Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Nestle Purina PetCare unveiled the company's largest solar array at its petfood manufacturing facility in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The solar array, designed and installed by United Renewable Energy, is comprised of nearly 1,900 solar panels, which will produce more than 585,000 kilowatt hours of clean, sustainable energy each year.

Mintel releases 'Pet Food in Mexico' report

Mintel Global Market Navigator released a report on "Pet Food in Mexico," with annual year-end market size data, most recently updated in 2012. The report covers packaged, prepared dry and wet food for dogs and cats.

Affinity Petcare enters Brazil petfood market in joint venture with Mogiana

Affinity Petcare, part of the Spanish petfood manufacturer Agrolimen Group, is forming a new joint venture with Brazil's Mogiana Alimentos SA. Affinity Petcare will enter into the Brazilian petfood market with its purchase of a 50 percent stake in Mogiana Foods, a Brazilian animal feed producer.

Pet Food Manufacturers Association asks pet owners to help pets lose weight

The Pet Food Manufacturers Association is asking pet owners in the UK to take part in its "Weigh in Wednesday" campaign, which began May 8, in an effort to encourage pet owners to help their pets lose weight and become healthier. The campaign comes after new research from the association shows the mismatch between pet owners' perceptions of their pet's body condition and the reality of it.

New survey looks at pet adopters' petfood brand choices

Pethealth Inc. published aggregate results for its third online survey of new cat and dog adopters. The April 2013 Adopter Survey revisits and provides an update on the company's first survey on petfood and pet specialty retail purchasing behavior of new pet adopters, published in May 2012.

Pet obesity correlated with human obesity, vet says

Dr. Richard French, DVM, dean of animal studies and Allerton Chair of Animal Health Sciences at Becker College, is urging pet owners to pursue healthy lifestyles in honor of May as National Pet Month. The bond between human owners and their pets may affect the health of both, he says, especially for health concerns associated withobesity.

Aller Petfood Group reports earnings increase for fiscal 2012

Aller Petfood Group reported earnings of DKK14 million (US$2.5 million) at the end of fiscal 2012, up from DKK9 million (US$1.6 million) in 2011. The petfood company's success is attributed to strong market share in the private-label market, where the company says it owns 50 percent in Russia.

De Haan Petfood stops production in the Netherlands after explosion

Wet petfood manufacturer De Haan Petfood BV has temporarily stopped production as a result of an incident in the petfood production facility in Nieuwkoop, the Netherlands. In the afternoon on May 7, an explosion occurred in one of the retorts in which under-pressure cans are sterilized.

Court rules FDA failed to comply with FSMA rulemaking schedule

On April 22, a Federal Court sided with two nonprofit organizations when it ruled that the US Food and Drug Administration failed to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act's mandatory rulemaking schedule. After failing to meet a July 2012 deadline that required FDA to promulgate seven new regulations covering extensive food safety topics, the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Environmental Health filed a complaint against FDA in the US Federal District Court for Northern California.

Hill's forms petfood distribution network to aid pets during emergencies

Hill's Pet Nutrition has established a Disaster Relief Network through the Hill's Food, Shelter & Love program, which will enable Hill's to quickly deploy petfood resources in case of an emergency. The Network consists of nearly 100 participating shelters across the US that Hill's can coordinate with to distribute emergency food supplies to pets in need.

Mars Petcare to expand German petfood production facility

Petfood maker Mars Petcare's German subsidiary will invest €17.4 million (US$22.8 million) in its plant in Verden an der Aller, Germany. The company says the money will be spent to expand petfood production facilities that manufacture single-serve pouches.

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