April 27-29, 2026

All Speakers

Dog and cat food research experts who will present at Petfood Forum & Petfood Essentials

Sean Jones
Director of Sales
Glacial Freeze Dry
Sean Jones, MBA, is the sales director at Glacial Freeze Dry, where he supports pet brands in launching and scaling freeze-dried products. Prior to joining the company, he founded Foodynamics, a multimillion-dollar enterprise acquired by Glacial in 2025. As co-founder of What’s In The Bowl Pet Shops and its franchise system, Jones has firsthand experience in building successful pet businesses, having collaborated with more than 150 brands on product strategy, formulation, packaging and go-to-market execution. He also served for over a decade as faculty at the University of Phoenix. Certified in pet nutrition, canine herbalism and raw feeding, Jones blends technical expertise with real-world insights.
Date/TimeTitle
Tue Apr 28
1:30 PM - 2:35 PM
Alternative and sustainable pet foods: 1:30-2:35 p.m.
KCCC Room 2503
  • Flexible feeding: Alternative pet foods, feeding opportunities and value propositions

Shannon Landry, research director for pet, Packaged Facts, provides consumer insights on the usage of alternative format pet foods such as fresh and freeze dried as “add-ons” or supplements to kibble or wet pet food. She features Packaged Facts data examining how pet owners use pricier formats to add interest and variety to traditional pet food diets, plus the meaning of value to pet food shoppers. Insights touch on pet food spending, pet owner attitudes about traditional pet food formats and novel proteins, and the pet/owner dynamic, demonstrating how and why owners explore ways to introduce variety into their pets’ standard diets and what factors impact pet food choice.

  • Hidden inputs, real savings: Turning overlooked ingredients into margin-positive freeze-dried products 

Sean Jones, director of sales, Glacial Freeze Dry, introduces a comprehensive framework for the systematic reallocation of underutilized raw materials and nonstandard inputs embedded within existing supply chain infrastructures into premium freeze-dried pet food products. Extending beyond conventional examples such as organ meats and bone broths to emphasize broader, often untapped potential, the approach enhances product differentiation and nutritional value while contributing to improved margin performance and operational efficiency. It also addresses material identification and suitability, cost modeling for freeze-dried applications and a pilot-scale validation framework.

  • Bridging batch and continuous operations in freeze dried pet food manufacturing

Matt Graunke, freeze dry sales executive, Parker Freeze Dry, presents an in-depth approach to optimizing freeze-dried pet food manufacturing through automation, intelligent scheduling and advanced refrigeration design, as manufacturers face the challenge of integrating batch-based freeze-drying into production environments dominated by continuous operations. He offers actionable insights into designing and operating freeze-dried pet food facilities that balance batch processing precision with continuous production efficiency.