Representatives from Petfood Industry magazine have announced that the Petfood Forum Europe 2015 conference, held on June 10, 2015, at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany, experienced sell-out attendance figures. More than 200 participants were present—a record for Petfood Forum Europe and a 25% increase over the last edition in 2011—coming from throughout Western and Eastern Europe and other places far and wide. The 32 countries represented included Argentina, Canada, Israel, Korea, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, Thailand and the US.
This representation may reflect the increasing globalization of pet food. Petfood Forum 2015, held in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, in April, drew almost 2,500 participants from 33 countries. With Petfood Forum Europe nearly matching the number of countries, with only about a 10th of the number of attendees, it seems to indicate there is a continuing appeal of Europe as a region for pet food professionals to learn the latest industry research and network with industry peers.
Held in conjunction with Victam International 2015, Petfood Forum Europe featured expert presentations on pet food packaging, safety, processing, emotional palatability and novel ingredients, such as microalgae as a source of omega-3s for dogs, specific medium chain triglycerides as potential weight loss agents for cats and insects as protein sources for dog and cat diets.
“Europe is the epicenter for significant innovation in pet food,” stated Debbie Phillips Donaldson, Editor-in-Chief of Petfood Industry. “One of the most progressive areas of pet food research happening in Europe is on insects as a possible protein source. Tarique Arsiwalla, co-founder of Protix in the Netherlands, presented information from this area and announced that his company is participating in the launch of the first commercial pet food product using insects as a protein ingredient. This is just one example, but several of our speakers presented compelling new research for our attendees.”
Petfood Forum Europe also offered several networking opportunities for participants, including with sponsors from leading industry suppliers. The conference will take place again in Cologne on 13 June 2017.
