We are excited to announce that we will be participating in six different tradeshows and expos across the globe this year! These events are crucial for us as they enable us to connect with our customers, vendors, and other important industry contacts. Moreover, these customer-facing pet food industry events help...
Petfood Forum 2023 Reflections
AFB recently wrapped up another fantastic Petfood Forum in Kansas City, Missouri! This global conference and exhibition took place May 1-3, 2023 and was great for pet food industry professionals to connect, learn about trends, and share ideas. This year, there were almost 400 exhibitors and thousands of attendees from around the world. While pet food suppliers and manufacturers comprised the bulk of the audience, distributors, nutritionists, consultants, and others attended as well. Many job functions were represented, with the majority from Sales & Marketing, Management, Research & Development, and Purchasing.
AFB is a Premier Sponsor and had a prominent booth location right by the entrance and escalators. More than 30 AFB team members attended the event, traveling to Kansas City from Europe, Asia, Latin America, and across the United States. Every year, Petfood Forum presents one of the best opportunities for our global and cross-functional teams to meet with customers, suppliers, and AFB colleagues.
Petfood Forum kicked off on Monday night with an outdoor reception at the Kansas City Power & Light District. It was a light-hearted way to catch up with familiar faces and meet new people before the conference goes into full-swing the next day. Tuesday is usually the peak of the event, where the day is packed with meetings, exhibition exploring, and informative pet food industry sessions. Every year, the topics are relevant and represent a variety of industry areas.
On the exhibition floor this year, we again saw a focus on nutrition and a variety of functional ingredients for improved health and wellness. We noticed alternative proteins were less present than in previous years. Throughout the conference, a common thread was how to bring value to customers.
AFB introduced a raffle this year, asking for submission of a “top growth area for pet food” in exchange for a chance to win a Remarkable 2 Tablet. It was a fun conversation starter and a helpful way to gather different thoughts on where the pet food industry might go in the coming years. Out of hundreds of submissions, these were the top focus areas: functional and health ingredients, innovative products (different ingredients & processing), and sustainability. On Wednesday morning, we did a live raffle and announced a lucky winner! Thank you to all who participated.
Petfood Forum is an event we look forward to every year and this year was no exception. See you next year at Petfood Forum 2024, April 29-May 1!