Kansas City, Missouri – May 18, 2018 – Representatives from Petfood Industry have announced that Petfood Forum 2018 attracted a record attendance with thousands of pet food professionals from 38 countries and nearly 300 exhibitors.
Over 21 percent of those in attendance were from international pet food companies from countries including Brazil, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Thailand and others. The 2018 edition of Petfood Forum was held on April 23-25, in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
Industry professionals in attendance included representatives from Blue Buffalo, Cargill, Champion Pet Foods, Diamond Pet Foods, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Mars Petcare, Merrick Pet Care, Nestlé Purina, Nippon Pet Foods, Tyson Foods, The J.M. Smucker Co., Perfect Companion Group, Royal Canin, Unicharm, and many others.
Attendees were provided with numerous opportunities to network and conduct business during nightly receptions, time on the sold-out Exhibit Hall floor and through the connect feature on the Petfood Forum app. Attending and exhibiting companies made connections with the next generation of professionals through the new Student Career Center. The Student Career Center featured academic pet food research conducted by undergraduate and graduate students. The universities represented during the oral presentations included University of Florida, University of Illinois, Iowa State University and Kansas State University.
In addition to three days of networking, Petfood Forum 2018 featured a lineup of 40 globally recognized presenters to share new research and insights on a variety of topics. Sessions included trust and transparency, alternative ingredients for pet food applications, producing clean-label raw pet foods, reaching the connected consumer, and much more. Included in the list of presenters were keynote speakers, Jack Hanna and Brian Hare, PhD.
“The speakers provided important information which included data, growth and trends focusing on the categories of nutrition, ingredients, marketing, food safety and processing,” said Debbie Phillips-Donaldson, editor-in-chief of Petfood Industry. “Transparency with consumers was a major topic among the presentations this year.”
Prior to the conference and exhibition, an interactive educational format was available through Petfood Innovation Workshop: New Product Development Journey on April 23. Attendees participated in six stations led by top pet food industry researchers and suppliers focused on how to successfully launch new pet food and treat products.
Select editors from the pet trade including Pet Business, Pet Product News and dvm360 were also in attendance to provide added content coverage of the event.
Event organizers have announced that Petfood Forum 2019 will once again be held in Kansas City, Missouri at the Kansas City Convention Center on April 29-May 1, 2019. For details on the 2018 conference and exhibition, as well as other Petfood Forum events, go to www.PetfoodForumEvents.com.
About Petfood Forum & Petfood Industry
Petfood Forum is organized and hosted by Petfood Industry (www.petfoodindustry.com). Both are owned by WATT Global Media, a content company founded in 1917 that provides exceptional business content and solutions to the agribusiness industry. As an industry innovator, WATT Global Media has connected buyers and sellers in the poultry, animal feed and pet food industries through its media channels for more than 100 years (www.WATTGlobalMedia.com).
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Contact:
Lynzee Glass, Forum Marketing Coordinator
o. +1.815.966.5521 | e. lglass@wattglobal.com