Petfood Forum presents
Ask the Pet Food Pro
A series of chats with experts for anyone who wants to learn more about pet food.
Your questions, answered.
Get answers to your burning questions on some of the most important topics and issues for the pet food industry and, possibly, your business.
Petfood Forum presents Ask the Petfood Pro, a series of chats offering access to leading pet food experts who answer your direct questions, discuss the key elements within a given situation or topic, and provide insights into addressing it.
Join this free, informal Zoom chat to learn what you need to know to move forward and succeed!
Upcoming chats:
Please check back for updates, we are currently scheduling more Ask The Pet Food Pro sessions!
Pet Food Foreign Material Contamination: How to Prevent, Respond and Recover
Foreign material contamination remains one of the most serious challenges facing the pet food industry. From metal and bone fragments to plastics and other foreign materials, a single contamination event can result in production downtime, customer complaints, regulatory scrutiny, and costly recalls. During this Ask the Pet Food Pro Zoom chat, experts Paula Schwarz, senior director, key accounts at FlexXray, and Teki Lyons, Director-FSQA-S at Brightpet, will provide a practical overview of foreign material contamination in pet food manufacturing. The discussion will cover common contamination sources, detection methods, and the critical steps organizations should take when an event occurs. Attendees will gain insight into effective response strategies – including third-party inspection – investigation best practices, and corrective actions that can help minimize operational disruption and protect brand reputation. Designed for cross-functional teams, this Zoom chat is valuable for food safety and QA professionals, operations teams, plant leadership, and anyone involved in foreign material contamination prevention and response. This Ask The Petfood Pro session is sponsored by FlexXray.
Batching smarter: Practical ways to reduce waste and improve efficiency
Ingredient handling and batching systems are critical to plant performance, yet many pet food manufacturers continue to face challenges with efficiency, ingredient loss, system flexibility, and throughput. In this Ask the Pet Food Pro session, Todd Baker, vice president of innovation at Horizon Systems, and Justin McRae, Petfood Industry Manager, at Horizon Systems, will discuss practical strategies for evaluating and optimizing existing processes to improve plant performance without major facility changes. Attendees will learn how to reduce costly ingredient loss, streamline changeovers, improve automation, and increase system reliability while maintaining consistent, high-quality production. The session will also provide practical insights manufacturers can adapt for batching systems to accommodate new ingredients and evolving formulations more efficiently. This Ask The Petfood Pro session is sponsored by Horizon Systems.
What “clean label and natural” really means for gums in pet food
Hydrocolloids play a critical role in delivering the structure and texture consumers expect from canned and semi-moist pet foods. But as “clean label” expectations evolve, so does scrutiny around these ingredients. Beyond functionality, manufacturers now face growing pressure to justify ingredient choices—from sourcing transparency and processing impacts to questions about digestive health. Separating science from perception has become just as important as optimizing performance. Join Colin Hepburn, CTP for Macro Oceans, on May 26 at 10:00 AM CDT for this Ask the Pet Food Pro session as we break down what “clean label” really means for gums and hydrocolloids. This live Zoom chat will provide a science-based perspective that cuts through the noise and helps you make informed formulation decisions in a rapidly shifting landscape. This Ask The Petfood Pro session is sponsored by Socius Ingredients.
Unleashing lifelong wellness: Empowering pets’ health, vitality and longevity
Supporting pets as they age is crucial to maintaining their health and quality of life. By focusing on targeted nutrition and preventive care, pet parents can help aging companion animals stay comfortable and active in their later years. In this exclusive Ask the Pet Food Pro session, Dr. John Menton, Sr. Business Development Director – Pet, Kerry, will share science-backed ingredient insights to support immunity, joint, oral and skin/coat health, with the goal of improving senior pets’ well-being and longevity. This Ask The Pet Food Pro session is sponsored by Kerry.
From pouches to purpose: Packaging trends shaping pet care’s future?
The pet care market is evolving, driven by fresh food adoption, multi-form feeding, and rising expectations for health, convenience, and sustainability. This exclusive Ask the Pet Food Pro session with William Barlow, senior market development manager at Printpack, will cover market trends shaping pet care today, pinpoint where flexible packaging is falling short, and outline new opportunities for innovation and packaging design across pet food, treats, and emerging formats. Attendees will leave with clear takeaways on how packaging can serve as a strategic growth lever in the next phase of pet care. This Ask The Pet Food Pro session is sponsored by Printpack.
Ramparts of a Strong Food Safety System
The Ask the Pet Food Pro series continues with Ramparts of a Strong Food Safety System, a practical discussion on designing and maintaining effective food safety programs in pet food manufacturing. This episode of Ask the Pet Food Pro will walk attendees through key system components and highlight critical focus points to help mitigate common food safety hazards. Guest Will Henry, owner of TCH, will bring a plant-floor perspective on where food safety systems most often break down and how manufacturers can strengthen preventive controls without adding unnecessary complexity. The session will help pet food professionals reinforce food safety as a foundational, organization-wide responsibility. This Ask The Pet Food Pro session is sponsored by Neogen and Pet Food Compliance.
Women in Petfood Leadership: Building bridges: Communicating the unpopular
Join Women in Pet Food Leadership for a virtual Fireside Chat with Billie Johnson, Ph.D., Vice President of Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs for BHJ North America, for practical insights on communicating necessary information when your audience resists. Drawing on her experience as a pet food industry expert and longtime champion of regulatory, quality, and food safety best practices, she shares what drives adoption and acceptance when you introduce new programs and process changes. You will learn what works and what fails when implementing new programs, how to overcome resistance to change with a disciplined, patient approach, and how to explain the “why” so teams understand the purpose, the risk, and the expected outcome.
Women in Petfood Leadership: Navigating Career Transitions and Advancement
Join Women in Pet Food Leadership for a virtual Fireside Chat with Trish Kinney, Vice President of Innovation, Technology, and Quality for Pet at General Mills, as she shares candid insights on Navigating Career Transitions and Advancement. In this conversational and interactive session, Trish will discuss how to move confidently through key career moments, the realities of organizational culture and politics, and how to use both to your advantage. She’ll also speak to her experiences advancing in a male-dominated field and offer practical guidance for building influence, resilience, and clarity in your own path forward.
How plasma improves pet nutrition and product quality
In this episode of Ask the Pet Food Pro, Roger Gerlach, director of global pet food sales at APC, discusses how plasma functions as a versatile ingredient in pet food formulations. He will cover how plasma supports nutrition and pet health while enhancing processing performance and formulation flexibility. Drawing on APC’s research and formulation experience, learn how plasma helps manufacturers create natural, label-friendly and high-performing pet foods and treats that meet evolving consumer expectations. This Ask the Pet Food Pro session is sponsored by APC.
Smarter Conveyors & Packaging for Pet Food Manufacturing
Join Dorner and Garvey for an insightful Ask the Pet Food Pro session focused on optimizing pet food production with advanced conveyor and packaging technologies. Marco Pardo, Senior Product Manager for Conveyance Solutions at Columbus McKinnon, will address key challenges in pet food manufacturing, ranging from hygiene and gentle product handling to automation and seamless line integration. He’ll also share best practices for improving throughput, enhancing compliance, and supporting operational scalability. Whether you’re expanding production or fine-tuning your current system, this session offers practical, actionable insights to help you streamline processes and boost efficiency. This Ask the Pet Food Pro session is sponsored by Dorner.
Women in Petfood Leadership: A fireside chat with Yvonne Hsu, president, Hill’s
Join Women in Pet Food Leadership for an engaging conversation with one of the most accomplished women in the industry, Yvonne Hsu, president of Hill’s Pet Nutrition. This discussion will explore leadership development, the influence of workplace experiences, and the insights gained from leading one of the top pet food companies. You’ll hear tips from a well-respected leader who has built a successful career in the pet food industry. Yvonne will share what it’s like to lead one of the world’s top pet food companies and the responsibilities that come with that role. You’ll also learn how to apply her career experiences to your own path and leadership development.
How the Gut Microbiome Impacts Pet Skin, Joints & Oral Health
The gut microbiome is increasingly recognized as a central regulator of overall health in pets—not just for digestion, but across multiple body systems. Emerging research continues to uncover how microbial activity in the gut can influence inflammation, immune function, and the health of tissues far beyond the digestive tract. In this exclusive Ask the Pet Food Pro session, Jess Jarett, Ph.D., R&D Principal Scientist, Pet at Cargill, will take a deeper look at how the microbiome impacts skin, joint and oral health in pets, areas where pet parents are actively seeking visible, measurable wellness benefits. Join us to explore how these systemic connections are being studied, what the latest research reveals about the gut’s far-reaching effects, and how these insights can inform innovation in functional pet nutrition. Whether you’re developing new products or refining existing formulas, understanding the full potential of the microbiome may be key to meeting evolving pet owner demands. This Ask the Pet Food Pro session is sponsored by Cargill.
Dissecting the economics of developing premium pet foods
Join Will Henry, Process Group Director for 1 Solution Group and Extru-Tech, in this interactive discussion to learn best practices for developing a premium pet food diet, such as high meat, grain-free, clean label, or limited ingredients. He will answer your product development questions, including ones related to selecting ingredients and processing methods, and point out common pitfalls that can derail a new product before it ever gets off the ground. This Ask the Pet Food Pro session is sponsored by Extru-Tech Inc.
Scaling Freeze-Dried Pet Food Production: From Startup to Growth
In this interactive Ask the Pet Food Pro Zoom chat, Jerad Ducklow, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing of Parker Freeze Dry, and Sean Jones, Founder and CEO of Foodynamics, will share what it takes to scale a freeze-dried pet food business from small-batch production to a full-scale operation. They’ll outline three critical questions every business must answer to grow strategically and sustainably. The session will cover how to define your unique value proposition by identifying your “why,” proving product differentiation, and demonstrating the measurable benefits of freeze-drying to pet owners. You’ll also learn how to approach key investment decisions around equipment, vertical integration, business model fit, and risk tolerance—factors that influence your ability to attract funding and build a resilient operation. In addition, the discussion will explore critical growth strategies such as hiring, automation and long-term planning to help your business scale while maintaining quality and efficiency. This Ask the Pet Food Pro session is sponsored by Parker Freeze Dry.
Rethink Minerals: Strengthen Formula Foundations and Power Pet Health
Pet food manufacturers are under growing pressure to deliver better health outcomes, stand out in a competitive market, and meet shifting consumer expectations, all while staying profitable. Join Allison Millican, Ph.D., Global Pet Lead at Zinpro, for a new Ask the Pet Food Pro Zoom chat to explore how rethinking your trace mineral strategy can help you meet these demands. Discover how essential minerals already required in your formulas can unlock measurable health benefits, strengthen your product’s foundation, and differentiate your brand. Don’t miss this opportunity to strengthen your formulations and deliver the pet-proven results consumers demand. This Ask the Pet Food Pro session is sponsored by Zinpro.
The Power of Mentorship II: How Mentorship Has Shaped My Career
Powered by Women in Petfood Leadership. Join us for an engaging expert panel discussion where Women in Petfood Leadership (WiPL) distinguished leaders, Leah Lambrakis, Vice President Research & Development, Nutrition and Scientific Affairs at Simmons Pet Food & Simmons Animal Nutrition, and Leigh Ann Sayen, CEO at The Peterson Company, share firsthand how meaningful mentorship sparked growth and direction in their careers. Explore the defining mentorship experiences and powerful takeaways that shaped their professional paths. This Ask The Pet Food Pro session is sponsored by 3D Corporate Solutions and The Peterson Company.
The Power of Mentorship I: How Mentorship Has Shaped My Career
Powered by Women in Petfood Leadership. Join us for an engaging expert panel discussion where Women in Petfood Leadership (WiPL) distinguished leaders share personal stories about the pivotal role mentorship has played in shaping their careers. Discover memorable mentorship moments and valuable insights that inspired and guided them through their professional journeys. Our expert panel will include Dr. Gail Kuhlman, Retired Technical Fellow, Companion Animal Nutrition at Mars Petcare, Betty McPhee, Sales Manager, Heartland Supply CO., and Laura Moran, Founder and CEO of LPM Innovate, and Strategic Advisor at Lodestone Innovation.