The future of pet food

Missed chance

‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ many people must have thought to themselves in May 1997. They decided not to invest in shares of the online bookseller Amazon, which were available at just $18 (€15.50) each back then. A little over 20 years later, a single share currently sells for around $1,800 (€1,558) and those people are perhaps regretting having missed out on their chance to earn a million dollars. Bad luck!

Of course, Amazon’s success is not only based on selling books any more, and some share splits did the rest. However – and that is the actual crux of the matter – there was a movement, there was an idea, there was a chance to do something completely different. And there is always someone who just does it, and many who don’t. Those who don’t thought ‘Who will buy books online? Consumers need to feel them! People want a tactile experience, they want to read a few pages before they buy.’ Well, who wants to be a millionaire?

Mega trends

As an expert on mega trends, Mathias Haas researches how the world is changing and what impact all the new possibilities and new behaviours will have on corporations, on society and on individuals. His findings are detailed, focused and relentless. He asks: ‘Who says retail is dead? It heavily depends on how you do it!’ Mega trends concern everyone, but not everyone needs to be concerned. Those who are prepared and know how to evaluate current developments will be in pole position when it comes to accessing new customers with new products and services. The decisive part is the mindset.

Haas, who has been part of over 100 product launches, will be speaking at GlobalPETS Forum to show that the future is not really that complicated. His audience will learn from many cross-sectoral examples – and all of them are based on the here and now. No ‘futurology’, but facts and learnings from real life: international, across all trades and certainly eye-opening for pet industry professionals. After all, who would have thought a few years ago that there would be a market for products that help to remotely entertain pets with a smartphone when the owners are not at home? (Or even when they are!) Will we soon have robots for that task, which will give us even more time for self-optimisation?

In a world where noodles with insects are no longer thrown away but have become the latest must-have and where the neighbour’s lawn-mowing robot is the new status symbol, the challenges organisations are facing today are completely different from anything they have dealt with in the past. Change is constant, also in the approach to pets.

Mathias Haas, who, by the way, has been surrounded by cats all his life, will take his audience at GlobalPETS Forum on a journey into a new way of looking at things. Don’t worry: it is not about programming algorithms – it is about what you (and others) can do with them. It is about inspiration, about new ways of thinking. It is about making the right decisions at the right time – for the time to come: the future!