Manhattan, KS - In an effort to help pet food professionals better understand and manage the intricacies involved with creating pet foods and treats, the IGP Institute hosted the IGP-KSU Pet Food Formulation for Commercial Production course.
This training was held from January 13-17, 2020, and was attended by 32 participants coming from several countries.
The course showcased a variety of pet food-related topics through labs and classroom exercises.
Participants learned about different aspects of pet food formulation and gained a working knowledge of ingredients, processes, and the software necessary to create new companion animal products.
The diversity in the content of the course attracted pet food employees from a wide range of roles such as formulation, new product development, quality control, marketing, sales, and new company startups.
Course participant, Paul Paige, sales manager at Diana Pet Food, works with small company startups in the pet food industry, and helps direct them on how to formulate and how to increase the palatability of their formulas.
“This course gave me more of a first-hand, hands-on knowledge base of what my customers are going through,” says Paige.
“I’m able to assist more in the process and then able to recommend the best product for them to succeed.”
Course activities ranged from making extruded foods, treats and canned foods in the lab, to creating formulations using software.
Participants also engaged in classroom discussions over various topics pertaining to ingredients, regulations, nutrition, and the process of making pet food.
“They’ve been in the lab and learned how to make the food, and the idea is to integrate the manufacturing process and connect this with knowledge about ingredients,” says Greg Aldrich, research associate professor and pet food program coordinator.
“What we’re trying to do is teach our participants how to be effective formulators for new pet food products in all of the various formats: cans, baked, dry, extruded and even raw or other new food formats.”
In addition to feed manufacturing and quality management, the IGP Institute also offers courses in the areas of flour milling and grain processing, and grain marketing and risk management.
For more information, please contact Kelly Boswell at 785-532-4096 or kelly12@ksu.edu