Carnivore Meat Co. receives FSSC 22000

Carnivore Meat Co., manufacturer of Vital Essentials, has earned Food Safety System Certification, FSSC 22000.
The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) certification validates Vital Essentials’ commitment to its food safety program for its manufacturing process at their USDA-certified and federally inspected pet food facility in Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA. Vital Essentials’ manufacturing process for frozen and freeze-dried pet food and pet treats adheres to the same safety and quality standards of top-tier human food companies worldwide.
“Accomplishing FSSC 22000 has been one of our top goals at Vital Essentials. Attaining this goal was a yearlong process, as it thoroughly audits every manufacturing practice, record-keeping system and employee activity in the facility that affects the production of our high-quality frozen and freeze-dried pet products,” said Lanny Viegut, owner and CEO of Vital Essentials. “I’m very proud of our entire team. FSSC 22000 certification is a testament to our company’s and our employees’ commitment to being a leader in innovative, safe and premium quality pet food and treats that our customers’ pets have grown to love.”
During the certification process, Vital Essentials’ facility went through an extensive audit process in which all areas of the operation were examined: management engagement and responsibility, GMP’s and SOP’s, supplier and sourcing audits, workplace safety, HACCP food safety program, emergency response and preparedness planning, traceability, validation, verification and continuous improvement.
The FSSC 22000 Food Safety System Certification provides a framework for effectively managing the organization's food safety responsibilities. FSSC 22000 is fully recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and is based on ISO Standards. It demonstrates that a company has a robust Food Safety Management System in place that meets the requirements of its customers and consumers.
Vital Essentials is the first in the raw pet food category in the U.S., to receive the FSSC 22000 certification. This certification bolsters several of the company’s other achievements. Vital Essentials is one of only three USDA-certified and federally inspected pet food facilities in the world. They have earned a superior rating (99.3%) from Bureau Veritas (BV), an international food safety audit firm, and recently received their EU certification, permitting the import of their pet products into Europe.

Prins wins Best Product of the Year award

Prins ProCare Super Active pressed dog food has been awarded Best Product of the Year 2015-2106.
Best Product of the Year is one of the leading competitions in The Netherlands during which consumers can vote for their favorite products.
Prins won the award in the pet food category with Prins ProCare Super Active, a 100% natural pressed kibble that is one of the best-selling products in the Prins assortment. This variety is especially recommended for growing and active dogs.
Due to the high density of pressed kibble in comparison to extruded kibble, smaller portions can be fed, thus reducing stomach load. Therefore Prins ProCare Super Active is very suitable for dogs that are active or compete in dog sports.

Simmons Feed Ingredients breaks ground on Arkansas facility

Simmons Feed Ingredients, a division of Simmons Foods Inc. & Affiliates, this month held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new 89,125-square-foot pet food ingredient facility in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
The company plans to invest approximately $26 million in the facility where it will produce fresh and frozen meat ingredients for pet food manufacturers. The project will generate an estimated 78 new jobs.
“The pet food industry requires ingredient integrity, traceability and safety. We’re really proud of the work our team has done in setting a new standard for how ingredients are produced,” said Todd Simmons, CEO of Simmons Foods. “We’re excited to see this innovative facility here in Arkansas.”
He added, “We’re very thankful for the support from our state and community leaders. They made it possible for us to keep this project local.”
Simmons was born and raised in Siloam Springs and took the helm as CEO in 2012. Simmons Foods, a producer of poultry, pet food and ingredient products, is one of the state’s largest private companies and employs over 1,200 people in its Siloam Springs operations. The company combines proprietary processes and its extensive experience in food production to develop innovative, top-quality ingredients for pet food manufacturers.
“Arkansas is fortunate to have a company like Simmons Foods here in our state,” said Governor Asa Hutchinson. “Simmons has an emphasis on strong family values and an exemplary workforce that have driven the company to today’s significant expansion announcement. Their business model is an inspiration for entrepreneurs throughout the state.”
Founded in 1949, Simmons Foods has been known for its business foresight, innovation, and loyalty to its customers and community. In the late 1990s, the company began to concentrate on business-to-business customers. Some customer relationships go back almost 50 years.
“The Simmons history goes back many decades in Siloam Springs,” said Siloam Springs City Administrator Phillip Patterson. “Simmons is a great corporate partner here, and having them build this facility here is a huge acknowledgement that they want to be here and reinvest in the community.”

Blue Buffalo settles class action lawsuit over ingredients

Blue Buffalo Pet Products Inc. subsidiary Blue Buffalo Co. Ltd. has entered into a settlement agreement in class action lawsuits brought against it on behalf of consumers.
The lawsuits claim that some Blue Buffalo products were not consistent with the company’s “True Blue Promise,” which states that the products are “formulated with the finest natural ingredients” and made with “no chicken/poultry by-products meals; no corn, wheat or soy; and no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors.”
On May 6, 2014, Purina filed a lawsuit against Blue Buffalo for false advertising after testing revealed the presence of poultry byproduct meal in some of Blue Buffalo’s top-selling pet foods. On May 6, 2015, Blue Buffalo acknowledged in court that a “substantial” and “material” portion of Blue Buffalo pet food sold to consumers contained poultry byproduct meal, despite advertising claims to the contrary.
Blue Buffalo denies any wrongdoing and has agreed to the settlement to eliminate any ongoing litigation.
Under the terms of the agreement, Blue Buffalo will pay US$32 million into a settlement fund to settle the claims of the plaintiff class. The agreement is subject to preliminary and final approval by the court. The company intends to pay the settlement with cash on hand.

Cargill acquires feed formulation software company

Driven by opportunities in the global feed software market to provide customers with integrated formulation software and solutions on a larger scale, Cargill has acquired Format International Ltd., a leading global feed formulation software company with more than 30 years of experience and more than 5,000 users across 93 countries.
Format International specializes in the design, authoring and marketing of recipe optimization, ingredient allocation and food and feed formulation solutions for the animal feed, aqua feed, pet food, human food, premix and other industries.
Format International will become part of Cargill Feed Management Systems (FMS), a software company that operates as a separate part of the Cargill Animal Nutrition business. FMS has more than 12,000 users and provides formulation and operations solutions to the feed industry.
The acquisition creates a unique opportunity for Cargill to create world-class formulation solutions and provide customers with an even more comprehensive range of products and services.
“This acquisition combines Format International’s software capabilities and state-of-the-art platform with Cargill’s expertise in animal nutrition and nutrient analysis,” said Bruce Feist, managing director, Cargill Feed Management Systems. “Together, we will be able to offer our customers a complete and fully integrated nutrition solution that will deliver the right information to the right person – anytime, anywhere.”
Customers and employees will benefit not only from Cargill’s scale and animal nutrition expertise, but also from working with a company that shares its values. “What impresses me about Cargill is its high ethical standards, sustainable business practices and values-based culture focused on customers, employees and communities,” said Merryl Webster, managing director, Format International. “Its commitment to providing customers with end-to-end solutions will give Format’s customers additional choices of tools and systems which will help to more effectively grow their businesses long-term and ensures that we continue to deliver high quality products and services to them.”

Geelen Counterflow signs on to Paris Pledge For Action

Geelen Counterflow has signed on to The Paris Pledge For Action.
The pledge is an initiative of the COP21 French Presidency. L’Appel de Paris, or The Paris Pledge for Action, brings together a multitude of voices on an unprecedented scale with a single, collective statement:
“We welcome the adoption of a new, universal climate agreement at COP 21 in Paris, which is a critical step on the path to solving climate change. We pledge our support to ensuring that the level of ambition set by the agreement is met or exceeded.”
Sander Geelen, managing director of Geelen Counterflow: “We have signed this pledge because man-made global warming is an urgent threat to the world we leave to our children and because the feed and food industry that we are active in can and must play an important role in solving this problem, as confirmed by the signing of this pledge by companies such as Mars, Nestlé, Unilever, Kellog, Arla, Danone, Coca Cola, DSM, BASF, Tesco, Carrefour, etc.”
“We must change course urgently. Our new energy-plus-office is an example of what is now possible. A much bigger challenge is to develop technology that helps our customers to reduce their ecological footprint. Every dryer we supply to the feed and food industry consumes on average the same amount of energy as 300-500 households. Most of the energy currently is from natural gas. We can have a major impact on the carbon footprint of the feed and food industry and we are determined to take that responsibility seriously.”

Packaging purchases driven by service attributes

Service attributes, not product characteristics, are driving purchases of packaging containers, materials, equipment and supplies, according to research conducted by Priority Metrics Group (PMG).
The company has conducted more than 40 proprietary research projects on behalf of packaging (materials, containers, equipment, supplies) suppliers over the past two decades. After interviewing more than 4,000 purchasers, PMG has been able to identify a consistent pattern.  The objective has been not only to identify how buyers of packaging rank performance, but also to determine which of the categories are of higher importance.
“Some companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars perfecting their product offering. But unless that innovation is dramatic and disruptive, what determines whether or not the sale will be made or the business retained, are service attributes,” said John Barrett, president, PMG. “A better mouse trap – if it does not bring added revenue or enhanced profit – will collect dust.”
Packaging buyers identify the most important of those such as responsiveness, communication, customer service and accessibility. Product attributes—including product quality, product performance, product line, equipment and systems, even innovation—are of lesser importance.
“It may come as a surprise to many in the packaging community that business is won, and enduring competitive advantage achieved, by building and maintaining strong personal relationships between the buyer and vendor,” said John Barrett, president, Priority Marketing Group.
These relationships occur at multiple levels – senior management (business relationship), mid-management (communication, accessibility) and operational (responsiveness, customer service).
“Product quality and performance are more easily duplicated – by using the same equipment to produce the packaging components or buying from the same raw material suppliers. Service performance is much more difficult to replicate and consequently can lead to sustainable advantage,” Barrett explains.
Product improvement and innovation should be centered on delivering lower cost to customers. Price is something most suppliers do not want to use as a lever. However, helping customers to lower their total cost also can be a powerful way to establish and grow a long-term, profitable relationship.
PMP’s proprietary unique research approach yields results which not only tells companies where their customers rank them in a broad spectrum of attributes, but also compares the data against competition and prioritizes it in order of importance.
“A company may receive a high score in innovation, for example, but if the customer doesn’t identify innovation as an important characteristic then the score becomes less relevant. It’s important to identify which attributes are most relevant to the customer and put processes in place to make sure they either remain or improve to levels that will sustain the business,” Barrett concludes.