Author: Lisa Cleaver

Petsource by Scoular has completed a $75 million expansion at its plant in Seward, Nebraska, delivering additional capacity to help existing customers grow and space to accommodate new customers seeking production at its state-of-the-art facility. The company said the tripling of capacity also allows customers to better introduce new products to market, with the expansion providing an additional 70,000 square feet of freeze-dried pet food ingredient manufacturing space. Freeze-dried products are among the fastest growing pet food categories. “Petsource has identified a need in the market to help brands expand their freeze dried product offerings,” Chad Kucks, director of commercial…

Petsource by Scoular has completed a $75 million expansion at its plant in Seward, Nebraska, delivering additional capacity to help existing customers grow and space to accommodate new customers seeking production at its state-of-the-art facility. The company said the tripling of capacity also allows customers to better introduce new products to market, with the expansion providing an additional 70,000 square feet of freeze-dried pet food ingredient manufacturing space. Freeze-dried products are among the fastest growing pet food categories. “Petsource has identified a need in the market to help brands expand their freeze dried product offerings,” Chad Kucks, director of commercial…

Better Choice, a pet health and wellness company and maker of the Halo Elevate pet food brand, has acquired its former R&D partner, Aimia Pet Healthco Inc.The two companies first partnered in October 2023 to collaborate on R&D for a supplement to support weight loss in pets. In November, Aimia signed a second R&D agreement with KGK Science to help develop the supplement. With the acquisition of Aimia, Better Choice said it will be in a better position to manage clinical trials internally in hopes of continuing supplement development.More than half of all dogs and cats worldwide are classified as…

Excerpted from press releaseWestfleisch, Germany’s second largest meat marketer, is expanding its range of pet food products with the acquisition of The Petfood Company.Based in Bocholt, Germany, The Petfood Company receives its raw materials via short transport routes from the meat centers of Westfleisch, including Coesfeld and Oer-Erkenschwick. “With this acquisition, we take a further step towards expanding our own value chain,” explained Dr. Wilhelm Uffelmann, CEO of Westfleisch. “Due to strong demand from our retail partners, we see high growth potential for The Petfood Company’s premium products. We want to take advantage of this together.” The Petfood Company filed…

Viva has announced a voluntary recall of three pet food products from its duck recipes, including Viva Duck for Dogs (ground), Viva Duck for Dogs (chunked) and Viva Pure Duck (for cats and dog).In a statement on its website, the company said the recalled products fall under Lot 22853, which was last shipped on December 6, 2023, to more than 1,500 customers.Viva said it received only one customer complaint out of 1,500 who purchased products from the affected lot that prompted an investigation and voluntary recall.The FDA obtained and tested samples of Viva Duck for Dogs (Chunked) Lot 22853 after…

Excerpted from a press release.Bond Pet Foods has shipped its first two metric tons of an animal protein created by fermentation to Hill’s Pet Nutritionwhich will begin formulating test products using innovative, more sustainable ingredients for regulatory review and market evaluation.Separately, the companies announced a second joint development agreement to create additional animal protein for potential use in Hill products. The collaboration between Bond and Hill’s, announced in late 2021, aims to develop a source of more sustainable animal protein to meet the dietary needs of dogs and cats.The two metric tons produced by Bond represents a major milestone toward…

Hill’s Pet Nutritiona division of Colgate-Palmolive, recently released its financial results for the fourth quarter (Q4) ended December 31. Net sales for Hill’s Pet Nutrition reached $1.11 billion, up 5% from $1.06 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, the company reported. Operating income was $231 million for the segment, down slightly from $233 million in fiscal 2022 in Q4.Organic sales for the fiscal year showed a steady growth of 10.5%, with a price increase of 11%. Reported volume decreased 4% reflecting the impact of lower private label volumes, the company said. Organic sales showed growth of 4.5%, with…

John Gibbons of PetBusinessProfessor.com, who compiles and analyzes “petflation” data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), noted in his latest December 2023 report that the YOY pet food producer price index (PPI) is down from last month, but still up compared to 2022.In December, pet food prices reached +5.1%, down slightly from November’s figure of +5.6%. National inflation slowed significantly from June 2022, but pet food prices continued to rise through June 2023. Pet food prices passed the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) in July 2022 , and at 5.1% in December, it was still 50% above the…

Danish pet food company Globe Buddy has introduced a super-premium dog food based on a novel and sustainable protein source – insects. “We’ve made it easy to feed your furry friend a healthy and delicious diet while doing good for the planet, simply by reducing the climate impact of dog food,” said Bjarne Gravesen Jensen, CEO and cofounder of Globe Buddy. Globe Buddy Brown’s insect-based dog food features protein from black soldier fly larvae, which is good for all dogs, the company says, especially those with sensitive digestion or intolerance to traditional meats. The company says it’s also a win…

Excerpted from a press release.Sumitomo Corp., through Sumitomo Corporation do Brasil SA, announced a joint investment in Cyns, a biotechnology company located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to unlock the next chapter of the black soldier fly ( BSF) farming in Latin America.Started in 2015, Cyns’ specializes in sustainable insect-based animal nutrition in South America. Its BSF ingredients are found in dog treats, birds and other exotic pet foods available at Brazil’s largest pet retail outlets.Lambarin Investimentos, a Brazilian family office and wealth management firm, also participated in the seed founding round with Sumitomo.”We believe that we have a very competitive…