(April 2024)
Premium Foods
Companies are prioritizing functional solutions in their product offerings.
Retailers are seeking products with substantial brand loyalty, recognizing the importance of offering trusted brands that resonate with pet parents. This consumer-centric focus drives companies to prioritize product education, engagement with retailers, and efforts to meet evolving consumer needs.
Quality ingredients are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of talking points for premium food and treat manufacturers who attended Global Pet Expo. Leading companies took advantage of the face time with current and prospective partners to highlight their latest product innovations and formats that prioritize functional solutions like skin and coat, joint health and digestion, as well as convenience and ease of use. The event also afforded companies the opportunity to highlight their sustainability and charitable work for conscientious retailers and end consumers. Those in the trenches of developing new formulations, meanwhile, made sure to compare notes on the latest regulatory recommendations and news pertaining to pet nutrition.
Robert Downey, President of Annamaet Petfoods, was in his element engaging in such conversations. ”As a nutritionist here at Annamaet Petfoods, I am keen on any discussion regarding nutritional concerns in our pets,” he said. ”A hot topic from the nutrition side is the growing discussions about copper storage issues. High copper levels used to only be a concern in Bedlington Terriers; now it is a growing concern in West Highland Terriers, Wheaton Terriers as well as Labrador Retrievers and Dobermans. AAFCO is currently trying to establish a safe copper upper limit for dogs.”
As a pet nutrition leader, Annamaet Petfoods led two talks at the event. “With two nutritionists on staff and more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, we will be sharing some of the science that backs Annamaet Petfoods,” Downey said prior to the event. The company also made a showing in the New Product Showcase this year with a new Small Breed Salmon and Lamb formula; they also debuted Annamaet Recovery Chews, an ideal post-exercise functional treat for active dogs, Downey said.
ZIWI also took the spotlight by hosting a happy hour the first day of the event, said Senior Marketing Manager Jessica Krueger. “It was incredible to see so many new formats within the alternative-to-raw space,” she said. “We’re seeing a lot of brands come up with new and exciting innovations that provide even greater variety of formats for pet parents to choose from. We are proud to be among those with our newest innovation, ZIWI Peak Steam & Dried recipes for dogs and cats. These recipes create a wonderful first step into alternative-to-raw nutrition with a competitive cost to feed. After years of hard work creating our newest Z-MicroSteam technology, it was an honor to launch this creative solution at Global.”
Holly Sher, President and Owner of Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Company, noted fewer attendees this year. “We would have liked to have seen more outreach and attendance from the small independent retailers. At Evanger’s, the small independent retailer is our focus, and we would have liked to see more representation from indie pet retailers at this year’s Global. We also understand it’s hard for in die pet retailers to travel and incur expenses to attend Global, so if there is anything APPA can do to help make it easier or more affordable to get retailers to the show, we support this 100 percent.”
Networking and industry chatter are important incentives for companies who choose to attend Global, but not much can top the retailer presence and interactions. “The best conversations usually came from retailers stopping in saying that they have heard so much about Northwest Naturals,” said Amy Snell, Director of Sales and Marketing for Northwest Naturals (NWN). “Or, ‘I special order so much NWN it is time for me to bring this in.’ This creates excitement that our name is getting out there and becoming one of the sought after raw foods.”
For Steve Hilker, Head of Marketing for MPM Products USA, which manufactures both the pet specialty focused brand Applaws and the omnichannel tailored brand Reveal, the show’s “Innovation in Motion” theme resonated deeply. “It signified our commitment to creating and sustaining trends in the cat food category,” he said. “At Global, we showcased Applaws’ new Puree treats as well as the brand’s new Mousse pouches, which fit in with tailwinds we’re seeing on cat treats and what we know of curious cats seeking a variety of tastes and textures. [We also showed our] New Senior Mousse with Flakes and Kitten complete and balanced dry food from our Reveal brand, both aligned with the life-stage trend that we also saw at the show. As a spectator and participant, it’s always thrilling to be at the heart of what’s happening in the industry.”
This year’s event also served as the platform for the global relaunch of the Applaws brand, said Hilker. “Our presence garnered significant attention, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. The expo served as a springboard for our brand, reaffirming its position as a leading global brand available in more than 40 countries.”
It was also a reintroduction to the Global audience for Alphia, according to Chief Commercial Officer Wade Nilson. “This show was a chance to demonstrate how Alphia is constantly evolving and striving to improve the lives of pets and their owners through Alphia’s pet food safety standards,” he said. “Overall, we received positive feedback on our booth, which reaffirmed our mission as a trusted pet food manufacturing company committed to nourishing and protecting pets with food safety at the helm. We had engaging conversations across the board and were thrilled to attend our first Global since beginning our new journey with PAI Partners.”
Nilson elaborated on some of those conversations: At the show, the most meaningful discussions I had were about Alphia’s future, and how at Alphia, it is about more than making kibble; we take pride in our high standards to ensure food safety and quality in every bowl. I also shared insights on the pet food and manufacturing trends that I’m currently seeing and how my team is working on capitalizing on them.”
Nulo attracted visitors to their booth with several creative experimental elements, including interactive product showcases. Lauren Gill-Wood, Senior Vice President of Sales at Nulo, said, “For attendees who visited our booth, we hope they walked away with a sense of excitement around the innovation Nulo is bringing to market and the support Nulo offers retail partners. Our Cold Pressed kibble alternative and Gently Cooked shelf-stable complete and balanced meals are extending NuAd-premium nutrition platform into alternative feeding categories that meet the consumer need for convenient better-for-you offerings pets will love. Nulo has a proven track record of building strong partnerships and supporting retailers through robust nutritional training, local event support, geo-targeted ads and co-op marketing initiatives.”
Assessing the company’s showing at Global, Gill-Wood said, “Our experience has taught us that a successful tradeshow drives long term growth through increased brand awareness and enhanced relationships with retail partners. Of course, sales are part of the recipe for a successful show, but we also value the number of new connections that may grow into partnerships, the buzz created by introducing people to the brand, and the existing relationships that are deepened through the tradeshow experience.”
BrightPet Nutrition gauged its show outcome by similar metrics. “We’re always thrilled to attend Global. It’s a great opportunity to meet face-to-face with our friends from every part of this industry,” said CEO David Kowal.
Kowal explained the company had several highlights it wanted to impart on visitors, including a new partnership with Zinpro on their ProPath line of performance minerals. “The newly enhanced formulas allow for additional retention of important nutrients in every bag of Blackwood dry dog kibble, aiding in everything from heart health, brain health, digestion, to skin, coat and joint health,” he said. “We took great pride in introducing visitors to just a few of the many new products and product extensions we plan to release throughout 2024. This includes, among others, our re-introduction/refresh of the Blackwood brand, including our new partnership with Zinpro, plus expanding the Stewart brand with a host of innovative products, including: Raw Coated Kibble; Raw Naturals; Raw Medley; and Functional Meal Toppers.”
RAWZ Natural Pet Food debuted several new recipes this year including a LID dry recipe in rabbit, wet cat and dog recipes, wet dog stews and wet gravy cat recipe, Owner Janet Scott said. “We hope that attendees who visited our booth walked away recognizing our commitment to using high meat content in all our foods, and that our recipes are minimally processed without the use of rendered meals and fats,” she said. “Additionally, we take pride in the fact that RAWZ donates 100 percent of its profits to providing service animals, as well as supporting cat rescues, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord causes.”
Reflecting on the show, “Measuring the success of the show involves assessing various aspects of our participation, as well as the outcomes achieved,” said Scott. “We feel this was a great show for RAWZ. We had meaningful meetings with our distributor and retailer partners to discuss how we can help them increase their sales. We also thanked them all for their support and enabling us to donate $3.2 million to date to the charities that we support. Additionally, we had several meetings with new retailers to introduce them to RAWZ and our entire line of products.”
Peter Christiani, Director Sales Development for Portland Pet Food Company, explained product education was a key goal this year, “Our products are unique as we offer fresh, human-grade meals served in a shelf-stable pouch-so it is important to ensure stores understand how to sell them and who they should be targeting. We feel our emphasis on education and in store selling materials really resonated with people learning about our products for the first time and customers who have been selling us since we started! Secondly, we continue to emphasize our efforts within sustainability. Our Pet Sustainability Coalition decal was proudly brandished at the booth, and we were able to tell our sustainability story to visitors who continue to seek our products that meet their shoppers’ needs.”
From her vantage point, Sher with Evanger’s said she felt most conversations this year revolved around value, solutions and brand resiliency more than innovation. “Consumers are looking for the very best food at the very best price, and here at Evanger’s, we feel very fortunate to be able to deliver that and check all boxes.”
Sher explained, “We recently released the Made in the USA Evanger’s EVx solution-focused line of canned dog and cat foods based on real functional needs. All EVx foods contain pre- and post-biotics. We are the first and only canned food that includes postbiotics, which brings our canned foods’ nutritional levels the highest in the industry and on par with raw foods.”
For Portland Pet Food, their measure of success similarly encompasses multiple factors. “We measure success in both a quantitative and qualitative manner. We of course track customer data including orders, new customers, and overall number of prospects that came to the booth,” said Christiani.
While premium foods and treats makers know their target consumers want clean, quality ingredients to feed their pets, they made sure to educate attendees on how their specific products have functional benefits that cover a range of needs and are easy to feed and convenient. Nutritionists are also heeding the latest news coming from regulatory agencies on what potential ingredients to be wary of with future innovation.