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French pet food manufacturer Continentale Nutrition confirmed that investment funds AgroInvest and India Invest will invest 19 million euros (US$23.4 million) to acquire a joint stake in the company, merging Villeneuve Petfood with Continentale Nutrition.
Continentale Nutrition also announced that regional public property company Communauté d’Agglomération du Boulonnais will buy its logistics platform for 10 million euro (US$12.3 million). The merger of Continentale Nutrition and Villeneuve Petfood will mean the companies employ a total of 922 people.
Pet parents need to consider their pet's age, size, health and activity level when selecting the appropriate pet food, according to Michael Bellingham, Pet Food Manufacturers' Association chief executive. Bellingham said that different dog breeds require different nutrients, so it can be "very beneficial" to tailor an animal's diet to its needs. Bellingham noted that commercial dog food is specifically designed to be "nutritionally balanced" to meet a dog's health requirements, so it is also critical that pet owners do not feed their pet table scraps that lack these necessary nutrients.
"Pet owners may also want to consider other factors such as convenience of feeding - for example wet versus dry - the dog's enjoyment of a food and their own budget," Bellingham said.
The new standard, ISO 12875:2011, Traceability of finfish products - Specification on the information to be recorded in captured finfish distribution chains, specifies the information to be recorded in marine-captured finfish supply chains in order to establish traceability. The new standard specifies how traded fishery products are to be identified, and the information to be generated and held on those products by each of the food businesses that physically trade the products through the distribution chains.
Halo, Purely for Pets won a total of 22 awards in Tails Magazine's 2010 Readers' Choice Awards.
Readers voted for their favorite animal-related services and products in 15 cities, nominating Halo for more awards than any other petfood brand. Halo was voted the winner in the categories of best dog food, best cat food, best dog treat and best cat treat. Cities that voted Halo as recipient of these awards included Los Angeles, USA; Washington, DC, USA; Orlando, Florida, USA; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Denver, USA; Indianapolis, USA; and the metropolitan areas of New York, USA, and New Jersey, USA.
Canidae Natural Pet Food has announced its support of the 2011 Pink Ribbon Puppies calendar created to aid in the fight against breast cancer.
The calendar is a fundraising project; funds raised will go toward breast cancer research. "We are thrilled to share with you a wonderful and inspiring project that has been put together by a long-time member of the Canidae breeder program," said Suzanne Alicie, Canidae Responsible Pet Ownership blog author. "While the Pink Ribbon Puppies website may appear to be just an adorable site with puppies on it, there is a serious and touching story behind it."
The calendar features a litter of Canidae-fed lab puppies, born in September. When one of the co-owners of the litter's dam was diagnosed with breast cancer, the other co-owner decided to support her friend via this project. More information on the calendar can e found at the Pink Ribbon Puppies website.
Nestle SA expects petfood sales to surpass US$1 billion in Latin America next year as consumers there start buying supplies designed for dogs and cats, according to a Bloomberg article.
In the article, Nestle Purina's Chief Executive W. Patrick McGinnis said sales in Latin American countries like Brazil are growing at nearly 20% a year, as incomes of pet owners rise. McGinnis also said Nestle is hiring more salespeople and pursuing acquisitions to strengthen its Latin American business. According to the article, Nestle reported nine-month sales growth and a total revenue of US$85.4 billion, helped by gains in emerging markets like Latin America.
All American Pet Co. Inc., makers of the brands Grrr-nola Natural Dog Food, Grrr-nola Natural Food Bar and Bow Wow Breakfast, has expanded its sales team with the addition of a five-member lead sales team to accommodate the company's establishment of a national product distribution network.
"In today's challenging economy and ever changing retail environment, it is crucial to have personal relationships with accounts to successfully navigate the unique practices and procedures of each retailer -- this is especially true for new vendors offering first-to-market products like our Grrr-nola nutritional dog food bars," said Lisa Bershan, president and director of sales.
In her blog titled Fully Vetted, Dr. Patty Khuly recently discussed the importance of switching up your pet's food, citing that variety in petfood can offer more nutritional balance.
"If we’ve undertaken thousands of times more research on human nutrition and still can’t decide what’s best for us, does it not stand to reason that a 'nutritionally balanced' diet for our pets might elude modern science as well?" she writes.
Khuly said an "occasional formula change" can help combat getting stuck in a nutritional rut.
Although she said some colleagues disagree with her on this point, she stands "by the reasonable assumption that variety is a good thing."
Khuly also offers a top 10 list of why to change up your pet's diet, including food allergies, gastrointestinal motility disorders and practicality (such as ability to obtain certain formulas).
Evanger's Dog and Cat Food Co. is now accepting photographs for its 2011 annual nationwide pets calendar contest.
The company will choose 12 winners as "pet of the month," with winners selected for featured spreads under the calendar themes of Evanger's sport exhibitors, service dogs, rescued pets and most creative pet photo. The 12 winners will receive Evanger's Super Premium canned and dry petfood and a 2011 calendar.
To submit photos for the contest, send a high-resolution image as an E-mail attachment to contest@evangersdogfood.com by Monday, September 20 at 6 pm Eastern Standard Time (US). In the E-mail, write "2011 Contest" in the subject line and include the following information in the body: applicant's name, photographer's name, names of all pets in the photo, address, phone number and theme the entry is being submitted for.
A dog’s indiscriminate taste is not always a positive trait. In fact, it can lead to gastrointestinal infections and consequent ailments such as diarrhea and vomiting that come from eating spoiled people food and petfood.
Other dogs develop gastrointestinal diseases, such as inflammatory bowel diseases, that are not directly attributed to the diet, but are influenced by intestinal bacteria.
Researchers at the University of Illinois are working to devise dietary interventions to combat these infections through advanced DNA pyrosequencing technology.
This new method of DNA sequencing has helped researchers uncover the phylogeny in a healthy dog’s gut. The goal was to obtain a standard that could be used as a comparison to diseased states in the future.
“It’s a first step toward making progress in our understanding of how diet affects gastrointestinal infections,” said Kelly Swanson, PhD, University of Illinois associate professor of animal science. “Dogs do not rely heavily on microbial fermentation as it pertains to energy requirements, but a balanced and stable microbiota is critical for maintaining gastrointestinal health.”
Elmira Pet Products began as a family business, but now sells its animal nutrition products around the world, according to an article on Food&Drink Digital that highlights the company.
The company began as one of the first petfood companies to produce products specifically for the veterinary market. In 2009, the company, which previously sold only private label brands, was able to produce its own brand when it acquired the Maple Lodge Farms petfood division, Nutram. The company has recently made investments in machines for the packaging of its products.
In May, Hill’s reduced the bag size of its Science Plan Canine petfood from 15 kg to 12 kg.
The price reduction announced in April was applied proportionately to the smaller bag size, so customers will still see a reduction in price, according to the company. In May of last year, the company reduced the bag size of its Science Plan Canine Adult Light from 15 Kg to 12 Kg, which resulted in volume growth of 11% for the brand and 38% more units sold. As a result of the smaller 12 kg packages, the company's 7.5 kg large breed canine products will be delisted.
Science Plan is the brand of petfood sold by Hill's outside of the US, where it is called Science Diet.
Grain-based foods may be blamed for illnesses in some pets and could be avoided with diet changes, according to an article on celiac.com.
The grains in many petfoods can cause gluten-intolerant pets to become sick, claims blogger Destiny Stone. Switching a pet to a gluten-free diet must not only encompass petfoods but also other products the pet come in contact with because pets often lick themselves, she adds. A number of pet products are available gluten-free, including food, treats, care products and medications.
A new product from Nestle Purina uses new research identifying a range of nutrients that can improve mental capacity and memory in elderly dogs, according to a telegraph.co.uk article.
A study at Toronto University, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, showed that dogs fed an anti-aging diet that contained special dietary fats found in some natural vegetable oils, improved their memory and learning skills. These special dietary fats, called medium chain triglycerides (MCTs), are easily converted into energy that is absorbed by the brain.
The MCT supplements are being included for the first time in a petfood with Purina Pro Plan Senior 7+ Original, according to Dr. Jill Cline, senior research nutritionist with Purina.
Procter & Gamble (P&G), owner of the Iams and Eukanuba brands of petfood, has signed a deal to acquire privately held Natura Pet Products, based in Davis, Calif.
P&G, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, says the move allows it to "expand into the attractive holistic and naturals segment of the petfood category," complementing the company's current petfood brands and helping advance an overall growth strategy of "reaching more consumers in more parts of the world more completely."
Natura's brands include Innova, Evo, Healthwise, California Naturals, Mother Nature and Karma. Its products are sold in pet specialty stores and veterinary clinics, mainly in the US and Canada.
"Its time for the right company to take our brands to the next level of growth. P&G is that company," says John Rademakers, founder and owner of Natura. "We know that P&G will honor our history as they capitalize on their strengths to build these brands."
The deal is expected to close in about a month.
A grieving pet owner and her husband have donated five acres of land in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, as a sanctuary to honor the pets that died or became seriously ill during the 2007 melamine-tainted petfood recall, according to a recent article. The couple lost six pets in the recall.
The memorial is scheduled to open on June 12.
Mike Grant, the nutritional science director for SeniorPetProducts.com, recently debunked the myth that commercial dog foods are allegedly bad in a San Francisco Chronicle article.
Grant explained that research has shown that the quality of commercial dog foods is more than adequate to meet proper nutritional requirements for most if not all breeds of dogs.
