Fostering innovation thanks to university partnerships

GlobalPETS explores how pet firms in the UK, US and Canada are finding in the academic world the help they need to increase their business and performance.

In the UK

Leeds Beckett University in the UK has developed a 2-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with pet treats supplier and distributor Sniffers Pet Care.

Rosi Newman, Post Award Manager for the Research and Enterprise Service at Leeds Beckett University in the UK, says to GlobalPETS that the partnership aims “to build on the company’s rapid growth”

According to Newman, universities can be a great resource for small businesses to facilitate a connection with industry experts. “There are a number of Innovate UK-funded business support programs which attract generous government funding to help businesses to work with university expertise,” she adds.

For this specific project, they have been awarded Sniffers 67% grant funding from the government-run Innovate UK agency for 2 years. The company contributes the remaining 33% of the costs.

How will the project unfold?

KTPs have been an ongoing initiative run by the UK government for 50 years and Leeds Beckett University have been running them for about 2 decades. The university works with businesses, developing KTP projects that are designed to transfer the academic knowledge and expertise of the university into a new business initiative.

In the case of Sniffers Pet Care, Leeds Business School will support the KTP Associate to work with the pet treat company to develop strategies to identify the best distribution channels and to expand a new product line named NAW (no animal wasted) into the supermarket and grocery retail sector.

The Leeds Beckett marketing academic experts also collaborate with Sniffers to support the company marketing and decision-making capabilities in the longer-term, again embedded by the Associate. Newman adds that there will also be a focus on the pet company’s new offering, NAW, to amplify the product’s impact by creating a brand personality and reputation.

The British university started working last year with pet food manufacturer Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN) in a project aimed to support the business’ journey to operate with net-zero carbon.

They collaborated to analyze and evaluate IPN’s ‘Scope 3’ emissions—the carbon produced within the supply or value chain.

US and Canada

Across the pond, the University of Guelph is working with Champion Petfoods in a project that looks at the mineral bioavailability in dog food, protein quality and safety of pulses.

Professor Anna Kate Shoveller, that is leading the project, says to GlobalPETS that research targeting pet nutrition is “especially critical as there are not a lot of research funding bodies.”

The Canadian university is working on many new projects, including protein quality metrics for dog food, amino acid requirements in cats and fatty acid metabolism in dogs and cats.

Some of the university’s other pet partnerships include Petcurean Pet Nutrition (net energy systems for application to feline diets), J.M. Smucker Company (bioavailability of methionine from field peas) and The F.L. Emmert Company (the effects of yeast on gut health in dogs).

Kansas State University is running an ongoing pet feed and science program. Professor Hulya Dogan, Interim Grain Science Department Head at Kansas State University, explains that the program covers a variety of subject areas such as meal quality and how manufacturing influences feed additive stability.

The university also runs an annual event known as KibbleCon, where over 100 pet food industry representatives from around the US gather to share their expertise.

Professor Dogan also reveals plans to open a new Global Center for Grain and Food Innovation, with space to “revolutionize the way we teach and conduct research.” The new center will allow students, scientists and business leaders to “find and create solutions for producers and food and feed-related industries.”

The benefits

The opportunity to work with pet companies is a way of networking and creating collaborative relationships between universities and businesses, Newman notes to GlobalPETS.

Once the Sniffers project ends, the university says it is committed to a “long-lasting mutually supportive relationship, continuing to work closely together, exploring new academic research as well as funding opportunities and embedding a credible partnership.”

Participating in government majority-funded projects is a huge bonus for pet companies, especially small-scale businesses. Newman recalls that the government has increased the funding pot available for KTPs and is now supporting 50% more projects across the UK.

For Anna Kate Shoveller from University of Guelph, these types of partnerships bring a level of transparency and honesty to the research enterprise and it is beneficial to the university as companies are willing to pay the real cost of research.

Hulya Dogan from Kansas State University highlights those thanks for these partnerships the academic world gain insight into the challenges and opportunities facing the pet food industry. Students can also experience benefits by interning at manufacturing plants.