USSEC co-sponsored the 4th Pet Food Forum celebrated in Guadalajara, Mexico, organized by the Balanced Feed Manufacturers Association.  The forum, which ran June 12-13, had over 160 registered participants, mostly related to pet food companies with a number coming from related services companies.
USSEC Regional Director - Americas Francisco de la Torre and consultants Gerardo Luna, Carlos Espinosa and Ingomar Middelbos attended this conference.  Dr. Middelbos gave a lecture titled “Optimizing Soy Protein Use in Pet Food Formulations,” sponsored by USSEC.  He gave a recap of the size of the global soybean market and the relevance of the Mexican market to the U.S. soy industry.  Mexico is currently U.S. soy’s second largest export market.  Dr. Middelbos described soybean products’ types, processes, uses and applications.  He then turned to the merits of soybean protein in pet food in terms of nutritional quality and comparison with other protein sources, specifically in dry pet foods.  He also highlighted the nutritional composition of soy describing it as concentrated with a good amino acid profile, while being highly digestible.  Dr. Middelbos compared soy with other protein sources and how it differs at the macro level with other common pet food protein sources.  Soy protein sources are easily digested by dogs, and soy protein (meal and flour) are at least equally and sometimes and better digested than animal-based proteins used in pet foods.
This event marked the first time that USSEC participated in a pet food-related forum in the Americas region.  USSEC expects to participate in the next editions of this event to continue promoting the use of U.S. soybean products in this growing industry in Mexico.