Merrick’s helps shelter pets with baseball campaign

As baseball season begins in the US, Merrick’s is kicking off Homeruns for Shelters, a campaign that will support local shelters.
For every home run hit by the home teams during Opening Day games, Merrick’s will make a US$1,000 Merrick food donation to a local animal shelter – that’s one shelter for every homer. Pet parents can nominate their favorite local shelter or rescue on Merrick’s Facebook page and invite others to share and vote for their shelter. The shelters with the most votes will win a special delivery of Merrick food in April.
Here’s how to help your favorite shelter:

• Share #HomerunsForShelters from Merrick’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages and encourage your fans to nominate their local shelters or pet rescues.
• Post or tweet to your favorite baseball team about #HomerunsForShelters.
•  Share your best pet rescue and adoption stories and photos with us. Tweet and post pics of your pets sporting their home team caps and T-shirts, too, tagging #HomerunsForShelters. 

Study: Pet food labeling needs more transparency

A new study published in Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, the official journal of the Veterinary Associations of the Nordic Countries, has found that many pet food brands contain unspecified animal parts that are not listed on labels.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Nottingham, examined 17 popular wet pet foods for dogs and cats in the UK. Researchers said they examined the presence and authenticity of animal sources of proteins in pet food in the wake of the 2013 horse meat scandal in the human food chain.
The pet foods were sampled for the relative presence of DNA from bovine, porcine, chicken and horse sources. In the samples, no horse DNA was detected, but there were substantial levels of unspecified animal species in most products tested. The study found that 14 of those brands contained cow, chicken and pig DNA, but none of those animals were listed on the label. Of the seven brands with prominent descriptions containing the term “with beef,” only two were found to contain more bovine DNA than porcine and chicken DNA combined.
 Researchers concluded that there is a need for the pet food industry to be more transparent with consumers in the disclosure of the types of animal proteins in their products. They said full disclosure will allow consumers to make more informed choices on purchases that are particularly important for pets with food allergies, reduce the risk of product misinterpretation, and avoid potential religious concerns.

Partner in Pet Food acquired by investment firm

Partner in Pet Food (PPF) has been acquired by global private equity investment firm Pamplona Capital Management for EUR315 million (US342.7 million).
“Pamplona’s investment in PPF is the start of an exciting new phase of our company’s development,” said Attila Balogh, CEO, Partner in Pet Food Group. Under Advent’s stewardship. “PPF has gone from strength to strength, expanding across Europe into new categories and delivering excellent growth rates. We look forward to working with Pamplona as we start the next stage of our development, where we will look to continue organic growth while focusing on strategic acquisitions.”
Since Advent acquired the business in 2011, PPF has dynamically grown sales, predominantly through new products and innovation. The company has made significant investments in its industry-leading research and development and production capabilities in recent years, along with strategic acquisitions. This investment has enabled PPF to drive significant increases in sales, particularly through the launch of premium alucup and single-serve pouch products.
Pamplona is backing PPF’s current management team led by Balogh, who will become executive chairman, and will continue to invest in the business to support organic growth. The business plans to accelerate product innovation across its private label and branded offerings and will also look to grow through further innovations and acquisitions in Western and Central Europe. Pamplona has a strong track record of investing long-term capital in market-leading companies that are managed by exceptional management teams.
“PPF is one of Europe’s leading pet food producers. We look forward to working with Attila Balogh and his management team to grow the company further. PPF has a superb track-record of delivering organic growth and is a natural consolidator in the European pet food,” said Markus Noe-Nordberg, partner, Pamplona Capital Management.
 PPF is one of Europe’s largest producers of private label wet and dry pet food, supplying the continent’s top retailers across 37 countries.

Animal Supply Co. acquires Wilson Pet Supply

Animal Supply Co. (ASC) has acquired Wilson Pet Supply, based in Hanover Park, Illinois, USA.  This acquisition expands Animal Supply's service throughout the Midwest with significant focus in the Chicago area.
"Our mission is to deliver success to the independent pet retailer through product line breadth and services and by being local everywhere to meet our customers’ needs. Wilson's tremendous success over the years, particularly in supplies distribution, will strengthen our product offering and commitment to the independent pet retail channel," said George Ristevski, CEO of Animal Supply Company.
Jim Wilson, chairman of Wilson, added: "Animal Supply is the perfect partner for our customers and vendor partners.  ASC's vast resources will bring tremendous value to our retail community and will provide great opportunities for our employees." 
 Mike Neylon will continue as president of Wilson Pet Supply and will be an integral part of the ASC management team and integration team. After 41 years in the pet supply distribution business, Jim Wilson will retire.

Fressnapf partners with arvato for online store

Specialty pet supply chain Fressnapf has partnered with arvato Distribution GmbH to handle the logistics and returns processing for its online store, starting July 1.
The collaboration comes after the online store was converted to hybris software and SAP interface. The company hopes the move will lead to profitable growth and increased quality.
"I am convinced that, with arvato, we have found a service provider which is dedicated to customer care and customer orientation. We expect further improvements in the services, we offer to our customers, such as faster and more individual delivery times," says Alfred Glander, managing director at Fressnapf. "We look forward to continuing to work with arvato and are sure to have created a strong foundation for future growth."
 Fressnapf’s digital business has grown since the launch of its online store in 2009. The online business earned EUR50 million (US$54 million) in total sales for fiscal 2014.

Petfood Forum Asia 2016 to be co-located with trade shows

FIAAP, VICTAM & GRAPAS Asia 2016 will take place March 29-31 2016, at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) in Bangkok, Thailand.
FIAAP Asia 2016 is the only specialty exhibition and conference for the ingredients, additives and formulation of feeds for animals, aquafeed and dry pet food for the expanding Asia/Pacific markets. This show directly relates with VICTAM Asia 2016 as this primarily profiles animal feed production equipment and technology.
VICTAM Asia 2016 is Asia/Pacific’s largest exhibition of equipment, technology and ancillary systems required for the safe and effective production of feeds for animals, aquafeed and dry pet food and biomass pellet production. This show is co-located with GRAPAS Asia 2016 and FIAAP Asia 2016.
GRAPAS Asia 2016 and is the only trade show in the Asia/Pacific region for rice and flour milling systems, grain processing, storage, preservation and distribution, industrial noodle and pasta production, the manufacture of breakfast cereals and extruded snacks.
There are several supporting conferences co-located with the exhibitions:

• FIAAP Conference 2016
• Petfood Forum Asia 2016
• The Aquafeed Horizons Asia 2016
• The Thai Feed Conference
• Pellets Update Asia, Global Milling Conference/Grapas Conference
•  Good Manufacturing Practice 

Global Pet Expo sees record attendance for 2015

Global Pet Expo 2015 experienced record attendance, with 15,500 people attending the three-day show.
Presented by the American Pet Products Association and Pet Industry Distributors Association, the show had more than 311,300 net square feet of exhibit space, 6,061 buyers, more than 3,000 new pet product launches, 1,051 exhibitors and 3,113 booths sold.
“Having experienced another record-breaking year, we recognize that it is thanks to the growing support and consistent commitment of our exhibitors and attendees, which allows us to see such incredible gains,” said Andrew Darmohraj, executive vice president and chief operating officer of APPA. “Global Pet Expo attracts the best the pet industry has to offer, which certainly motivates us to provide the best trade show possible to meet their needs.”
Twenty percent of exhibitors were international, making up 213 of the 1,051 exhibitors. Twenty-nine percent of buyers were from outside of the U.S., coming from 82 countries.
Now in its fifth year, the New Products Showcase Awards recognized best in show, second and third place winners across nine categories. With more entrants than ever, buyers narrowed down their top picks out of 925 products to determine the winners.
Also released at the Show were APPA’s annual pet industry spending figures, which showed an estimated $60.5 billion in pet spending for 2015, an all-time high. Global Pet Expo is open to independent retailers, distributors, mass-market buyers, and other qualified professionals.
The 2016 Global Pet Expo will take place March 16-18, 2016, in Orlando, Florida, USA, at the Orange County Convention Center.