Each month the Petfood Industry E-newsletter will bring you the latest market data available from several different sources including Euromonitor, Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) and ACNielsen.

Today's market research data chart comes to you from: Information Resources, Inc.

Global growth: Key factors from Euromonitor
Year-on-year growth from 2005 to 2006 offered similar views of past years in the global petfood market. During the review period, the fastest growing regions for dog and cat food were Eastern Europe and Latin America. From 2004 to 2005, Eastern Europe and Latin America both had over 21% year-on-year growth. In 2005-2006, growth was slower with Eastern Europe at 13.6% period growth and Latin America at 13.4%. This is still a better showing than from slower markets such as North America and Asia Pacific.

Strong growth in these regions is attributed to several factors. In Mexico, investment by major industry players such as Nestlé México and Effem México is a key factor of growth. Consumers have increased awareness of healthy diets for pets and are using their greater disposable incomes to provide better food for their dogs and cats. Across the Atlantic, consumers in the Czech Republic have also taken to feeding pets with prepared foods. Product innovation continues to drive growth in the region with consumers wanting functional, enhanced foods for their critters.

For more information about Euromonitor International's petfood research and/or to purchase reports online, click here.

Product news

Low-cost cooling
Noren Products Incorporated offers the Compact Cabinet Cooler™ for the food processing industry cools electrical panels and enclosures without letting contaminants inside. Washdown, hazardous location and corrosion-resistant models are all available in many different sizes. This cooler removes heat/keeps dust and moisture out and prevents failures/downtime caused by overheating electronics at a fraction of the cost of air-conditioning. Maintenance free and freon free.

Cylindrical vacuum dryers
Charles Ross & Son Company has recently introduced a new line of cylindrical dryers for the chemical process industries. The unit shown is a 150-cubic-foot model. It is being used to dry specialty chemicals. Internal agitation consists of an improved paddle design, set at opposing angles, to ensure that the materials being dried are continuously exposed to the jacketed surface area of the trough and endplates. Designs are available from one through over 500 cubic feet. Other options include choppers for size reduction, spray nozzles, variable speed drives, control systems, etc.

Microencapsulant and crystal modifier
Protection of heat-sensitive nutrient ingredients against high-temperature process degradation is offered by Stepan® EDS (erythritol distearate), a shell component developed by Stepan Company Food & Healthy Specialties, for use in high temperature microencapsulation applications. Stepan EDS, characterized as a hard waxy flake with a bland taste, features a melting point of 80°C, to offer robust high temperature protection when used as a carrier in fluid bed, pan coating, annular jet and spray chill systems.

Organic cleaning
Xtreme Steam one-step dry steam cleaning and sanitizing systems by AmeriVap Systems cleans and sanitizes thoroughly, even in difficult places to reach on equipment, production lines, packaging lines and working environments. For wrappers, conveyors-chains, belts, sprockets, scales, sensors, refrigeration systems, electrical panels, circuit boards, gaskets, slicers, dicers, etc. No need for toxic cleaning and disinfectant agents. Uses only quarts per hour, not gallons per minute. This technology is clean, economical but, most of all, eco-friendly.

Retrofit side sealer
Shrink packagers experiencing side-seal failure—the leading cause of downtime and rewraps on high speed H/F/F/S shrinkwrapping equipment—can significantly improve throughput rates and seal reliability with a simple new retrofit technology from Shrink Packaging Systems Corporation (SPS).

Available for high-speed H/F/F/S shrink lines such as the Shanklin® FloWrap series, the Green Machine replaces traditional hot-wire sealers with a proprietary low-heat sealing system. The patent-pending technology virtually eliminates resin buildup, component burnout and seal defects caused by high ambient heat. A digital temperature controller simplifies setup and ensures thin, ultra-strong seals that hold up reliably throughout the distribution chain.

Research notes

Lifelong diet restriction and osteoarthritis in dogs
This study was conducted in order to evaluate the effects of diet restriction on development of radiographic evidence of hip joint osteoarthritis in dogs. In a longitudinal cohort study, 48 Labrador Retrievers from seven litters were used. The 6-week-old puppies were paired with littermates by sex and weight, and each pairmate was randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups of 24 dogs each. Starting at 8 weeks of age, 1 group was fed ad libitum (control fed) and the other was fed 25% less (restricted fed) of the same diet for life on a pairwise basis. The dogs' hip joints were radiographed in the standard VD hip-extended view at multiple intervals prior to one year of age and at annual intervals thereafter on the basis of birth anniversary. A board-certified radiologist unaware of group assignment scored the radiographs for evidence of osteoarthritis.

Prevalence of radiographic evidence of hip joint osteoarthritis in all dogs increased linearly throughout the study, from an overall prevalence of 15% at two years to 67% by 14 years. Restricted-fed dogs had lower prevalence and later onset of hip joint osteoarthritis. Median age at first identification of radiographic evidence of hip joint osteoarthritis was significantly lower in the control-fed group (six years), compared with the restricted-fed group (12 years).

Restricted feeding delayed or prevented development of radiographic signs of hip joint osteoarthritis in this cohort of Labrador Retrievers. Lifetime maintenance of 25% diet restriction delayed onset and reduced severity of hip joint osteoarthritis, thus favorably affecting both duration and quality of life. In addition, the data indicated that development of hip joint osteoarthritis was not bimodal in these dogs but occurred as a continuum throughout life.

Source: Smith, G.K., et al., 2006. Lifelong diet restriction and radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis of the hip joint in dogs. JAVMA 229:690-693.

Primary hair growth in dogs and selenium
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary selenium (Se) concentration on hair growth in dogs. Thirty-six beagles were stratified into six groups based on age, gender and body condition score. The dogs were fed a torula yeast-based canned food for three weeks. Then the dogs were fed varying amounts of selenium supplied as selenomethionine for an additional 24 weeks. Analyzed selenium concentrations in the experimental foods for the six groups were 0.04, 0.09, 0.12, 0.54, 1.03 and 5.04 mg/kg dry matter, respectively. Body weight and food intake were not affected by the selenium treatments.

Serum selenium concentration was similar initially, but was significantly different at the end of the study among groups. Dietary selenium concentration below 0.12 mg/kg diet may be marginal for an adult dog. Dietary treatment had no effect on serum total thyroxine (TT 4 ), free thyroxine (FT 4 ) and free 3,3´5-triiodothyronine (FT 3 ). There was a significant diet and time interaction (p = 0.038) for total 3,3´5 triiodothyronine (TT 3 ). Hair growth was similar among groups initially, but significantly reduced in dogs fed diets containing 0.04, 0.09 or 5.04 mg Se/kg when compared with 0.12, 0.54 and 1.03 mg Se/kg at week 11 (p < 0.05) and week 22 (p = 0.061). These results demonstrated that both low and high selenium diets reduce hair growth in adult dogs.

Source: Yu, S., Wedekind, K.J., Kirk, C.A. and Nachreiner, R.F., 2006. Primary hair growth in dogs depends on dietary selenium concentrations. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition 90(3-4):146-151.

Positions available

Our help wanted listings aim to inform petfood industry professionals about employment opportunities worldwide. Contact gstadel@wattnet.net for more information on placing a listing in upcoming issues.

Help wanted: Various positions available
Openings for sales and marketing personnel, nutritionists, processing experts. Rapidly-growing national leader in uncompromised, science-based superpremium natural petfoods, clinical diets and supplements. Send resume to: Wysong Corporation, Atten: Cathy Adams, 7550 Eastman Ave., Midland, MI 48642 USA, Fax: +1.989.631.8801, E-mail: cadams21212@aol.com.

References

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