Asia is among the fastest growing regions for pet food, with almost 6 percent annual sales growth. In 2016, pet food sales in Asia reached US$6.5 billion, said Euromonitor International. That makes this market ripe for expansion and innovation, which pet food professionals can learn about at Petfood Forum Asia 2018 on March 28 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Held again in conjunction with Victam Asia, one of the largest agri-feed shows in the world, Petfood Forum Asia brings expert insights and tips from industry leaders on pet food nutrition, ingredients, marketing and production. The exclusive conference, now in its sixth edition, also provides a unique opportunity to network with other pet food professionals from throughout the world, as well as with representatives of leading industry suppliers.
Following is the schedule and lineup of topics and speakers as of press time:
8:30-9:30 Registration and check-in
9:30-10:15 Welcome and opening session: Recipe for success: Why the human-animal bond is the No. 1 ingredient in pet food – Sandy Robins, pet lifestyle expert and author, explains the role of the human-animal bond in changing how pets are fed and how pet food companies can take advantage of this bond to improve sales, including how to reach and educate consumers via various retail channels and social media.
10:15-10:45 Process solutions for current pet food trends – Brian Streit, director of pet food and aquatic technology for Wenger Manufacturing Inc., provides a review of pet food and treat product trends – ecommerce, humanization and premiumization, natural and special diets, superfoods and consumers seeking transparency – from an equipment and process supplier perspective, addressing the processing challenges these new products create.
10:45-11:15 Coffee break
11:15-11:45 Creating value with alternative protein sourcing while ensuring palatable pet foods – Aurélie de Ratuld, PhD, R&D cat platform manager for Diana Pet Food, uses her new research to answer this question: Can the pet food industry continue to please pets and meet the challenges of a global growing planet in terms of animal protein availability, food safety crises, sustainability and custom barriers?
11:45-12:15 Health benefits of nutritional lipids beyond regulatory recommendations – Shiguang Yu, PhD, global technical manager for DSM Nutritional Products, presents new evidence-based guidance for improving pet food quality and new product development via the health benefits of nutritional lipids. The research shows the benefits can best be achieved when the lipids are used beyond the recommendations of AAFCO and FEDIAF.
12:15-13:45 Lunch
13:45 -14:15 Building a social community to support pet food ecommerce – Jin Huang, international business director for Navarch Petcare, describes the strategy and tactics her company used to develop an ecommerce business from scratch, taking it to 78 percent of the company’s sales in just six years. Building strong social network communities, plus creating online promotions and events with digital platform partners, play an important role.
14:15-14:45 Using novel technologies to extract pet food nutrients from single-cell organisms – Dejan Miladinovic, quality control manager at the Centre for Feed Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, explains how proteins obtained from single-cell organisms have an optimal profile of amino acids, with high nitrogen retention and high digestibility in model animals. Yet extracting the proteins is challenging, requiring new technologies.
14:45-15:15 Decreasing dryer variation to sustainably raise discharge moisture, increase capacity, reduce energy – Douglas Beloskur, product manager of automation for Buhler Aeroglide, shares a case study conducted with a pet food customer using cloud-based infrastructure to highlight the challenges of over-drying in the pet food production process. The results showed tangible improvements to a pet food supply chain.
15:15-15:45 Coffee break
15:45-16:15 An energy efficient pet food process design for chilling, cooling and drying – Anders Haubjerg, PhD, senior process engineer for Graintec A/S, presents a process design for extruded pet food production facilities that integrates the operation of the dryer, cooler and chiller to elevate overall process energy efficiency.
16:15-16:45 Beta-glucans effects in pets: benefits and possible applications – Fernando Roberti, technical expert for pet food at Biorigin, provides scientific evidence of the health benefits of beta-glucans for pets. These physiologically active compounds, generally considered biological response modifiers, can stimulate the immune system of dogs and cats and safely provide anti-inflammatory properties, helping pet food companies differentiate their products.
Petfood Forum Asia updates
For the latest information or to register, bookmark PetfoodForumEvents.com/Asia.
