Agenda

Full agenda coming January 2027! 

🔔 We are currently developing the agenda for Petfood Forum 2027. The program will feature leading experts sharing insights on pet food nutrition, ingredients, safety, processing, packaging and market trends. The Expo Hall is open on Tuesday & Wednesday.

Interested in speaking? Submit your abstract by October 16

Monday, April 26

8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | Registration

10 a.m.-4 p.m | Pre-Event Seminar: The Operational Edge: Optimizing Your Pet Food Manufacturing Pipeline includes sessions, lunch & networking opportunities (separate registration)

8 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | Exhibitor move-in

4:30-6:30 p.m. | Petfood Forum opening reception, KC P&L District

Tuesday, April 27

7 a.m.-5:30 p.m.  | Registration

7-8 a.m. | Breakfast

8-9:00 a.m. | Welcome & Opening keynote: Why the future belongs to pet food — Jack Bobo, Executive Director, UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies
For decades, pet food has followed the human plate, borrowing its ingredients, its claims and its anxieties. But the road ahead is about to fork, and food futurist Jack Bobo argues pet food is on the better branch. In this forward-looking keynote, Bobo will show how the forces reshaping human food — shifting demographics, the premiumization of protein and a growing gap in consumer trust — will land differently in the pet bowl, and why pet food’s demand curve is poised to break away from human food.

9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. | Exhibit hall open

9:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. | Visiting pet charities

9:15-9:45 a.m. | Coffee break, exhibit hall

9:15 a.m.-12 p.m. | Pet Food Tech Talks, Tech Talk stage

9:15 a.m.-12 p.m. | Petfood Forum Student Program research presentations, Future of Pet Food Pavilion

12:15-1:30 p.m. | Lunch, exhibit hall

1:30-4 p.m. | Concurrent sessions on Pet Food Trends, Nutrition & Ingredients, Regulatory & Safety

2:30-3 p.m. | Coffee break, exhibit hall

4-5:30 p.m. | Networking reception, exhibit hall. Includes special networking area for Women in Petfood Leadership

4-5:30 p.m. | Student Program/industry poster researchers meet-and-greet, Future of Pet Food Pavilion

Wednesday, April 28

7 a.m.-2 p.m. | Registration

7-8 a.m. | Breakfast

8-9:00 a.m. | General Session: Macro economics market update: What’s the outlook for pet food?
Where do things stand with commodity and protein pricing, tariffs, freight volatility and supply chain risk — and what does that mean for pet food manufacturers and suppliers? How can and should they plan their next business strategies and moves?

9 a.m.-3 p.m. | Exhibit hall open

9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. | Visiting pet charities

9:15 a.m.-12 p.m. | Pet Food Tech Talks, Tech Talk stage

9:15-9:45 a.m. | Coffee break, exhibit hall

9:15 a.m-12 p.m. | Petfood Forum Student Program presentations & Awards, Future of Pet Food Pavilion

12:15-1:30 p.m. | Lunch

1:30-3 p.m. | Closing session: 20th anniversary of melamine recalls: What have we learned? What’s next?
Join industry experts to hear their insights on how the melamine-related pet food recall situation developed, what the industry learned then, and the lessons and procedural, safety and regulatory changes that have endured. Is another melamine or DCM crisis on the horizon, and how does the industry prepare?