PET Food Processing - October 2019 - 67

CONSULTANTS

tour

GUIDES

Only a few things
in life are as
scary, risky and
rewarding as
creating a product
and selling it.
Fortunately,
there are some
experts willing to
illuminate the path
for those brave
enough to try.

By Jennifer Semple | jsemple@sosland.com

It's human nature to seek out the advice of someone who
has traveled down the path you are just beginning, especially if that route is known to be strewn with boulders,
pits, flying debris and no clear signs and guideposts. Or
maybe the signs and guideposts are in a language you
don't speak or understand. Knowing when and from
whom to ask for guidance can make all the difference.
Pet Food Processing spoke to several seasoned professionals who apply their experience in pet food and treat
manufacturing to the business, production, packaging,
distribution and marketing opportunities of the clients
who come to them for help. These service providers go
far beyond initial business start-ups and help companies
navigate through the challenges they encounter on the
path to success.

Meet the A-team
Deena Krestel-Rickert, Ph.D. is a consultant to the pet
food and treat industry. Based in Chesterfield, Missouri,
she brings more than 30 years of experience in this
industry and supports clients on a wide range of projects including new ingredient introductions, palatability opportunities, new product development, pet food
innovations and growing market share.
BSM Partners, LLC, Mandeville, Louisiana, led by
managing partner Nate Thomas, offers what the company refers to as a technical services suite that includes clinical nutrition, food safety, quality and regulatory, veterinary and research and development. The company also
offers a business services suite that provides engineering, operations and business transformation, marketing

and innovation and supply chain management.
BSM's Clinical Nutrition division offers functional
product formulation, formula review and recommendations for optimization. The BSM Assurance arm provides food safety, quality and regulatory services specializing in system implementation and control, validation,
troubleshooting and mitigating regulatory concerns on
behalf of clients.
The Veterinary Services branch of BSM provides
professional veterinary consultation, technical services,
designing and implementing clinical feeding studies,
as well as specific research in nutrition areas, technical
writing and functional product design. For research and
development, Thomas says BSM is food science-focused
and has the technical capability to develop any product
of interest to its clients including wet, extruded, freezedried, injection molded, baked and raw.
Another seasoned veteran of the pet food industry is
George Collings, Ph.D., president and general manager,
Collings Nutrition Solutions, O'Fallon, Missouri. The
company supports product development and business
planning from concept to consumer affairs. The services
cover all phases of the pet food business from innovation to production support, quality systems, regulatory
and claims through business planning, market innovation and sales support. The company is also active in
building new nutritional and process technologies.
Coming from a veterinary perspective, the team at
North River Enterprises, Denver, Colorado, offers expertise in veterinary medicine, customer service, regulatory compliance and marketing including branding,

Proper formulation,
testing and feeding
trials are key to
safeguarding a
company's future.
Purina

www.petfoodprocessing.net | 2019 | PET FOOD PROCESSING

http://www.petfoodprocessing.net

PET Food Processing - October 2019

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