10:15-10:45 The Chinese food market: trends, categories and channels driving growth – Alfred Zhou, managing director of GfK Retail and Technology China, examines the trends, product segments, leading players and retail channels in the Chinese pet food market. It’s no secret that the market is growing and that growth is expected to continue, but why, where and how? Zhou reveals which companies and categories are dominating the Chinese market and the broad prospects for future success.
Zhou has more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing management roles in technical consumer goods industries. Previously he served at Lexmark and Founder Group. He holds a degree from Peking University.

 

 

10:45-11:15 Converting non-edible biomass into pet food – Dejan Miladinovic, quality manager for Norwegian University of Life Sciences, explains why novel protein sources like biomass are needed to make pet food production policy resistant to the risk factors that challenge the world food supply. Microalgae, yeast and bacterial biomass is proliferating much faster than any other biomass, and each type has an excellent amino acid profile in its highly digestible protein. In addition, insect meal has a protein level similar to that of fishmeal and can contain high-grade fatty acids.

Miladinovic is a quality control manager at the Centre for Feed Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). He has been at NMBU since 2005, teaching courses related to feed and pet food technology at the master and doctorate levels and researching within the same field. Previously, Miladinovic held various positions at NMBU related to feed, innovation, raw materials and rheology of novel feed/food ingredients. He holds a master of science in feed manufacturing technology from NMBU as well as a master of science in innovation and entrepreneurship from the University of Oslo. Currently he is a PhD candidate in the Department for Mathematical Sciences and Technology at NMBU. Miladinovic has published dozens of scientific articles published and presented at many conferences.

 

 

 

11:45-12:15 Developing strategic, profitable global pet food marketing plans – Vicki Lynne Morgan, president of Animal Brands, describes how generational preferences, business practices and trends in world culture are changing at a rapid pace, while global competition, new technologies, innovative products, relentless cost cutting and proliferation challenge conventional marketing wisdom. She focuses on three key fundamentals that serve as foundations for customized, goal-centered, strategic marketing plans that meet ever-changing challenges in the global pet food industry.

A business development advisor, Morgan has a passion for helping clients achieve their goals. With 40 years of marketing and selling in the pet industry, she has experience as a PSS professional sales trainer, is ISO 9000 certified in marketing and selling and is a certified guerrilla marketing coach. Previous speaking engagements include Global Pet Expo, H.H. Backer Trade Shows, Petfood Forum and SBA-sponsored American Small Business Development Center national conferences.

 

 

12:15-12:45 Latest trends in the global supply of marine ingredients – Meng Wang, China market analyst for IFFO, provides an update on the latest trends on the supply side of fishmeal and fish oil as important pet food ingredients. In addition, he addresses the latest developments that certify the responsible management of fish-based resources and, thus, the sustainability of marine ingredients, as well as the price dynamics that justify the use of marine ingredients as the best source of EPA and DHA for pets.

 

Wang joined IFFO, the Marine Ingredients Organization, in 2014. As part of IFFO’s strategy to build networks in Asia and market knowledge on the region, he follows the latest market and regulatory trends in fishmeal, fish oil and other marine ingredients in China by conducting desk and field research, developing analysis reports, promoting IFFO and providing services to IFFO members from the market analysis perspective. Wang studied international economics and trade at Inner Mongolia University of Technology and Peking University. Before joining IFFO, he served with a Chinese market analysis company as the chief analyst responsible for energy sectors.

 

 

 

14:00-14:30 A universal, unique and innovative sensory language for pet food market differentiation – Perrine Delime, PhD, research project manager for Diana Pet Food, explains why pet food manufacturers need make meal time a shared enjoyable moment by satisfying the pet’s appetite while also satisfying pet owner expectations for the food. Delime and her team have designed a unique tool to successfully compare the smell of Chinese, European and US dry and wet pet food products. The results highlight ways to help manufacturers achieve market differentiation.

Delime graduated from AgroParisTech in biology, nutrition and food science, and achieved a PhD thesis with Mars Petcare at the University of Nottingham, focusing on human sensory perception of flavor mixtures. Before joining Diana Pet Food in 2015, Delime was a project leader in sensory analysis at Mane. In her current role, she investigates human perception of pet food to develop new products to appeal to both pets and pet owners. She has presented at numerous conferences.

 

 

14:30-15:00 Innovations in pet food drying systems – Will Henry, director of technology/R&D for Extru-Tech Inc., brings to light the many challenges that typical drying systems face in the ever-changing pet food market. Specific innovations, including a strict and regimented set of validated performance analysis procedures, can help solve these challenges. Henry provides analytical data from real-world pet food processing systems, including those used for trending pet food categories such as high meat and grain free.

In his role at Extru-Tech, Henry addresses pet food manufacturers and audiences around the globe about extrusion, processing and food safety systems. He joined Extru-Tech in 2006 after serving as senior project engineer with Bachelor Controls. Henry holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Kansas State University and is certified in HACCP, BSL-2 and as an SQF practitioner.

 

 

 

15:30-16:00 Top 5 dog and cat nutrition concepts from consumer insights studies – Jeff Alix, global marketing manager, pet nutrition, for DSM Nutritional Products, presents results of studies of pet food consumers in markets around the world to identify nutritional concepts that resonated with these pet owners and learn what messaging was understood, meaningful and attractive. This information can provide brand owners with evidence supporting the development of robust nutrition-related messaging and brand positioning, particularly in emerging markets such as China.

Alix’s career in the pet food industry spans more than 35 years. After receiving his bachelor of science in chemistry from California State University, Northridge, he has gained experience across a wide array of functional disciplines including ingredient and food science, flavor chemistry, sales and marketing. Previously, Alix served as a research scientist at Nestle Petcare, a technical support and product development manager at Bioproducts (now AFB International) and, during the last 17 years, has held positions in sales, business development and marketing for DSM Nutritional Products. He is currently responsible for growing DSM’s pet food business by managing business-to-business and business-to-consumer worldwide marketing activities related to the pet industry.

 

 

16:00-16:30 Freeze-dried pet food: is China the next big market? – Calvin Smith, director of Pet Nutrition NZ, describes how the freeze-dried category has been the fastest-growing one in the influential USA pet food market and how this growth is starting to spread internationally. Strong evidence indicates that Asia is the new hot spot for freeze-dried pet food, but there are many considerations required when developing and marketing these products. Smith will share his experience and the nutritional, production and marketing benefits and challenges of freeze-dried dog and cat foods.

Smith is a former director and CEO of K9 Natural, a prominent New Zealand freeze-dried pet food brand. His background is in investment banking, where he spent 16 years working in global positions, culminating in becoming a managing director at Credit Suisse First Boston in London. Now, pet nutrition is his passion and has led him to develop a new company focused on the export of freeze-dried pet food from New Zealand. Smith regularly speaks to pet food and food industry leaders and entrepreneur groups in New Zealand and around the world.