Agenda

Monday, May 11

All conference activities will be held in NCC Ost, Hall Sydney meeting room near Entrance East at the Nürnberg Convention Center.
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8:00-9:00 | Registration and check-in

9:00-9:45 | Welcome and opening session: Global and European pet food and pet care market update
Kate Vlietstra, senior research director, Mintel Food and Drink (tentative)

9:45-10:15 | Pawsitive change: A holistic approach to sustainability in pet food
Dan Lorenzen-Schmidt, senior vice president of business development and innovation, BHJ

Lorenzen-Schmidt examines how the pet food industry can move beyond narrow ingredient substitution toward a systemic, data-driven and collaborative approach to sustainability. While current efforts often center on renewable electricity and grain-related optimizations, most emissions sit within Scope 3, primarily linked to animal protein and grain sourcing. Sharing real-world examples, Lorenzen-Schmidt focuses on establishing transparent and comparable life cycle assessments (LCAs) across the industry, identifying emission hotspots beyond current efforts and exploring practical pathways to lower Scope 3 emissions through farm-level initiatives and regenerative partnerships. By harmonizing LCAs, engaging at the farm level and investing in upcycling and alternative protein technologies, the industry can meaningfully reduce its footprint while maintaining product quality and palatability.

10:15-10:45 | How rendered pet food ingredients compare to novel ones: What is most sustainable for the future?
Anne Gaasbeek, team lead and senior consultant, and Gregorio Brussino, medior consultant, Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk

This session critically compares the environmental performance of rendered and novel ingredients in the context of pet food and animal feed. Blonk’s work reveals greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of rendered ingredients are generally much lower than that of novel ingredients due to economic allocation — where most of the environmental burden is assigned to higher-value products such as meat — and scale and efficiency, as many novel ingredients are still in the pilot phase. Gaasbeek and Brussino explore the key factors driving the environmental impact of novel ingredients and discuss whether it is realistic to expect the current gap in GHG emissions between rendered and novel ingredients to narrow.

10:45-11:15 | Coffee break

11:15-11:45 | Enzymes advancing sustainability, digestibility and health in companion animal nutrition
Deni Kostelac, Ph.D., senior scientist, International Flavors & Fragrances

Dr. Kostelac discusses how targeted enzyme applications can unlock nutritional potential from fiber-rich substrates, reduce reliance on conventional protein sources and deliver health benefits — particularly for senior pets. As the pet food market evolves with rising ingredient costs, sustainability imperatives and the health needs of companion animals, alternative ingredients are increasingly explored to compensate for potential protein scarcities and reduce environmental impact. Enzymes can unlock nutrients from alternative materials that often have health-associated bioactives inaccessible to the animal unless released from their complex matrices, positioning enzymes as a key link between sustainability, affordability and innovative nutrition.

11:45-12:15 | Perceptions, sources and the evolving role of long-chain omega-3s in pet nutrition
Julian Pietrzyk, Ph.D., technical product manager, MiAlgae Ltd.

Dr. Pietrzyk examines the growing recognition of long-chain omega-3s as key drivers of health outcomes in companion animals, aligning with the wider industry trend of pet food premiumization. While alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is often included in formulations, only very limited conversion to the biologically active forms eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) occurs in companion animals. To assess current awareness and practice, independent surveys were conducted among veterinary professionals and pet food manufacturers. Preliminary findings indicate veterinarians widely acknowledge the importance of omega-3s in pet health but vary in their understanding of the differences among ALA, EPA and DHA. Survey data from pet food manufacturers reveal strong awareness of the sustainability challenges of marine-derived long-chain omega 3 sources, with salmon oil — the predominant source in the industry — found to have relatively low DHA and EPA concentrations. These results offer insights into scientific understanding and industry readiness to transition toward more sustainable long-chain omega-3 sources.

12:15-12:45 | Rethinking protein with a new framework to evaluate quality and essential amino acid balance in canine nutrition
Stuart Lowther, founder and top dog, Thrive Pet Nutrition

Lowther explains application of the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIASS) and essential amino acid (EAA) profiling across common animal and plant proteins used in canine nutrition, including chicken, beef, salmon and select legume proteins. Protein quality in pet food has historically been assessed through crude protein content or outdated indices such as the protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score, which overlook the digestible essential amino acids that truly determine nutritional efficacy. DIASS represents a new standard that evaluates protein sources based on the digestibility and bioavailability of each indispensable amino acid, offering a precise indicator of their role in canine muscle maintenance, immune health and metabolic function. Lowther highlights how adopting DIASS can guide ingredient selection, integrating amino acid-based evaluation into formulation and quality assurance strategies while improving labeling accuracy and advancing the science of canine nutrition beyond crude metrics.

12:45-14:00 | Lunch

14:00-14:30 | Beyond the box: What makes pet food subscription models stick (tentative)
Annika Rahm, co-founder, Hey Holy

Rahm shares lessons learned from building and advising subscription businesses across industries, with hands-on experience scaling her company into a subscription-first — and ultimately subscription-only — business. She reveals exclusive findings from a 2025 customer survey that showed clear, data-backed insights into what customers really value in a dog food subscription: 70% care most about timely restocks, while digital convenience and doorstep delivery rank higher than discounts. Rahm breaks down the operational and strategic levers that make subscription models thrive and where many go wrong, uncovering what truly drives retention, loyalty and long-term profitability in recurring revenue models.

14:30-15:00 | From hype to evidence: Real-world consumer insights from Europe’s first cultivated meat trial for dogs
Jan Luprich, strategic partnerships lead, and Katharina Eist-Holland, Ph.D., head of strategic development, Bene Meat Technologies

This session presents findings from the first consumer-facing trial of cultivated meat dog treats in the European Union, in which hundreds of participants across multiple countries received the treats and recorded their observations through structured feedback addressing their dogs’ acceptance, perceived naturalness, safety perception and willingness to purchase. Preliminary results show prior exposure to educational materials and hands-on experience meaningfully impacted acceptance and perceived product value. Luprich and Eist-Holland share aggregated outcomes regarding consumer sentiment and behavioral trends, plus implications for research and development, product communication, regulatory pathways and market strategy in the pet food industry.

15:00-15:30 | Coffee break

15:30-16:00 | AI-assisted supplier auditing: Transforming pet food supply chain assurance
David Rosenblatt, DVM, head of learning and academic services, Sher Consulting and Training

Rosenblatt introduces AI-assisted supplier auditing, a new paradigm that enhances the effectiveness and consistency of traditional audit processes. Many of the most serious pet food safety incidents in recent years have originated from hazards introduced through purchased ingredients or finished products, including mycotoxins, veterinary drug residues and vitamin premix imbalances — risks that cannot be fully controlled during manufacturing. Testing alone is insufficient to manage these threats, yet investigations consistently reveal that critical weaknesses in pet food safety management systems are often overlooked by auditors due to limited sector-specific experience or insufficient analytical tools. Rosenblatt demonstrates how AI can support each stage of the audit cycle, emphasizing second-party auditing but also offering valuable insights for internal and third-party auditors seeking to elevate their practices with next-generation tools.

16:00-16:30 | Optimizing pet food freeze-drying processes: Energy, hygiene and nutritional integrity
Magnus Jochumsen, senior project and sales manager, GEA Process Engineering

Jochumsen explores recent engineering advancements in freeze-drying technology. Freeze-dried pet food is growing at a compound annual rate of 5%, reflecting a broader shift toward high-quality, minimally processed nutrition for pets. Key focus areas include energy optimization techniques to minimize thermal losses and enhance heat transfer efficiency, design strategies that enable higher throughput and consistent product quality, process automation and solutions that meet stringent food safety standards while simplifying cleaning and maintenance. Gain a deeper understanding of how freeze drying preserves nutritional quality and appearance and how process innovations can support the evolving demands of pet food production without compromising quality or safety.

16:30-18:00 | Reception