CSG Talent attend Interzoo 2022 – Animal Health and Nutrition

Jemma Snow, Principal Consultant at CSG Talent is an experienced recruiter within Animal Health and Nutrition. Recently, Jemma had the opportunity to attend Interzoo based in Nuremburg, Germany where she had the chance to network with clients and candidates within her market, as well as attend in-person meetings with many connections she has only met through virtual means.

Interzoo is a fantastic event covering a broad spectrum of animal specialisms with over 2000 exhibitors from 66 countries and 38,000 attendees from over 126 countries.  It’s the world’s leading trade fair event for the pet industry.

Interzoo is the biggest marketing platform for the international pet industry, manufacturers, wholesalers and service providers. It’s an event on such a large scale it’s a key source of inspiration and insight for the animal and pet industry across the globe.

What made Interzoo such a great event to attend?

“I made some fantastic new connections with both potential clients and candidates, it also allowed me to put faces to names and meet people in person, after speaking with them virtually for a number of years! Hearing latest industry trends and insights allowed me to build a greater understanding of how the market is currently shaping, especially within the US and Europe.

It was a superb opportunity to represent CSG Talent as a brand ambassador, sharing our own insights with other attendees of the event. It’s been great to engage with new clients and start new partnerships to support their hiring strategy. I’ve been to many UK based trade events before, but Interzoo was amazing to be able to attend, the scale of the event is huge and showcases exhibitors across the global market.”

What are the latest trends within Animal Health and Nutrition?

Jemma has built up years of experience working within this market, working across livestock through to pets and exotic animals. She stays up to date with latest trends, developments and challenges in the market to enable her to effectively support her clients with their business growth plans, and candidates with their career journey.

“It was great to speak with some of the newer organisations in the industry, start-up companies who bring with them new ideas and approaches, as well as hearing from some of the more established global players. There is a shift for alternatives from the traditional wet meat-based cat and dog food.

Collagen seems to be the hot new ingredient in pet treats and supplements, possibly supplanting CBD (though there’s still plenty of that to be found). The up-and-coming collagen trend is no surprise, considering it is big in human food and supplements, and pet food often closely follows human food. As a structural protein derivative with ties to chondroitin sulphate, glucosamine and hyaluronic acid, it may fit alongside these ingredients in the geriatric health, joint and mobility, and osteoarthritis market channels.

Also continuing a trend that started pre-pandemic, freeze-dried and air-dried raw meat pet foods and treats were prevalent.

Sales of freeze-dried pet food increased 31.1% in 2021, according to a report recently issued by NielsenIQ. The report’s data did not include the air-dried subcategory, but a closely related one, dehydrated, recorded 25.9% growth. Granted, both subcategories are still small relative to others within pet food—for example, grain-free pet food registered sales of US$4.1 billion in 2021, compared to US$324.8 million for freeze-dried and US$387.6 million for dehydrated—but the growth rates are multiples higher than that for grain-free, at 4.3%.

Many more pet foods, treats and supplements included American bison (Bison bison) in their descriptions. Bison-based dog, cat and other pet edibles ranged from kibbles and freeze-dried raw diet to treats made from bison by-products like hearts and lungs. Despite marketing efforts disparaging by-products, using the whole animal reduces waste and boosting a products’ environmental sustainability. Similarly, raising bison or other livestock requires land, water, feed and other resources. Bison tend to need fewer inputs from people than cattle. As a native species, the American bison generally cause less environmental damage than introduced cows, sheep and pigs.

After rebounding from near-extinction, bison now provide novel pet food protein. Pet food producers may market bison-meat pet foods as sustainable. Bison remains uncommon in dog and cat foods, so it may also help pet foods stand out on retailers’ shelves and websites.

Organisations also spoke about having to adapt processes as a result of increased manufacturing and utility costs. Many businesses are streamlining activities and processes to reduce outgoings. They are looking at other ways to offset their rising costs, rather than just passing them on to the consumer by raising the price of their products. To overcome inflation, pet food manufacturers are focusing their efforts on process improvements to increase efficiency at their processing facilities. They are also implementing cost reduction strategies that significantly improve the bottom line.

A technology that is increasingly being implemented in pet food processing facilities throughout the world is liquid product recovery (“pigging”) technology. Pigging systems recover residual liquid from process pipelines. They are a great way for pet food manufacturers to improve the efficiency, productivity, profitability, and the competitiveness of pet processing operations.

With all these changes taking place it is no wonder that pet food manufacturers are continuing to search for the best people in the business to join their teams and help them overcome these hurdles and look to the future – which is where I, and CSG Talent, come in. We  can work with organisations to find the top talent they are looking  for.

How important are events like Interzoo to your role?

“Events like this enable me to continue building my credibility with clients and candidates within Animal Health and Nutrition, and to demonstrate my genuine passion and interest for this industry. People like to know that you truly interested in them as an individual, but also what their organisation has to bring. Ultimately, what the benefits and impact that has to the animals in both the short and long term.

I love networking with likeminded people, being an extrovert I really do get my energy from other people and Interzoo was a great opportunity for this. People invest in people like them, in people they like. I differentiate myself from others in my field as a recruitment partner, not only do I have strong knowledge of my market and continue to expand this, but I work closely in partnership with passion, integrity and honesty.”

Animal Health and Nutrition at CSG Talent

Jemma is an experienced recruiter within the Animal Health and Nutrition market, where she works with newly developed start-up organisations right through to global enterprises. Not only does Jemma have vast recruitment strategy experience and an in-depth knowledge of her market, she also has a genuine interest and passion for animals herself.

Jemma offers Animal Health recruitment solutions over a wide variety of roles:

Technical: New Product Development, Animal Nutritionists, Veterinary Technical Advisors, Clinical specialists – Veterinary Surgeons & Nurses, Regulatory Affairs

Sales: Sales Managers, Key Account Managers, Export Managers, Sales Executives

Marketing:  Brand/Product Managers, Digital Executives, Marketing Managers, Marketing Executive’s, Content Marketing Specialists, Events related roles

Managerial: VP’s, CEO’s

“Having grown up in what I can only describe as a “mini zoo” I've always had an interest in Animal Health and Nutrition. I’m passionate about helping people to progress their careers in this industry. I love the clients I work with, and I aim to make sure no stone is left unturned so that our clients will always have every option presented to them. I’m excited to see how Animal Health and Nutrition will continue to develop over the coming years.”

If you're keen to hear more insights from Jemma about the Animal Health and Nutrition market, exploring a potential new role, or if you are keen to engage with an experienced recruiter to support your hiring strategy, click here.