Geert van der Velden is IQI Trusted Petfood Ingredients’ Innovation Manager responsible for Business Development, generating new products and concepts that meet the needs of existing and new customers. Geert has more than 25 years of experience in the international petfood industry and has gained knowledge and experience in many sections of IQI’s business. He has been with IQI since 2019.
You have a rich career in the industry, what initially led you to this field?
I have an animal nutrition background, and I spent 20 years valorising animal by-products (from meat processing plants) into animal feed, petfood, food, pharma and organic fertilizer. In 2019 I decided to change my focus. My focus since then is fully on petfood. And then not focused only anymore on animal by-products (however still very important in petfood), but many other highly nutritional, functional and sustainable petfood ingredients.
Pet humanisation is a significant trend in today’s market. How do you think the petfood industry is adapting to meet the evolving needs and expectations of pet owners? And how has this trend influenced the work you do?
The petfood industry has already moved in the last few years with changing the name of their final customers from pet owners to pet parents. That name change already tells you a lot about the mindset of the petfood industry. The petfood industry is adjusting, for example by using ingredients that also are becoming more popular in human nutrition. Just to name some examples: salmon, sweet potato, prebiotics, omega-3 supplementation, etc. But also, general food concerns like sustainability and animal welfare (not only of the pets, but also of the animals that we consume as humans and our four-legged friends). Another human food trend which is also major in the petfood industry is functional foods. I try to follow the trends in the petfood market as good as possible and as such adjust the product portfolio of IQI accordingly. IQI is working predominantly with supply partners so we can offer the much-required transparency. Since 2024 we are also offering products that meet the humanisation trend and are developed in partnership with our parent company the OSI group.
How does IQI ensure traceability and transparency in its operations, and how do you put these commitments into practice?
We offer our customers full transparency of our supply chain, including information on the quality, purity and full traceability of our ingredients. Our products come with a unique IQI Quality Passport that can be accessed with the order number via a secure login portal.
What are some of the latest ingredient trends you’re seeing in the petfood industry, and how do you think these trends are shaping the products and preferences of pet owners?
In general, it is more the petfood market trends that determine which new ingredients are introduced to petfoods in order to meet those trends.
For example, alternative proteins are still a big item in the petfood industry. Whether it is about insect proteins, further processed vegetable proteins, or fermented proteins (single cell proteins). Petfood producers are following the developments closely. A current concern is that alternative proteins are more expensive per unit of protein as compared to the traditional proteins. In case we are able to decrease this gap I am convinced that alternative proteins can grow substantially.
There are also alternative Omega 3 sources. The food and petfood markets were highly dependent on fish-based EPA & DHA (Omega 3) sources. With the significant upscaling of the micro-algae Omega 3, there are now great alternatives available with a stable supply and affordable pricing.
Other product categories that strongly gain traction are upcycled ingredients and ingredients that can have a functional (health & wellbeing) benefit for cats and dogs.
Looking Ahead, what do you foresee as the most significant opportunity and challenge for the petfood industry, particularly concerning sustainability and responsible sourcing?
The petfood industry is using a large amount of animal by-products in their recipes. It is a great application for parts of the animal that are not directly consumed by humans. But in some regions in the world the total amount of animal production is going down or animal by-products can be used for other applications (e.g. energy). The petfood industry should be prepared to utilise alternative protein and also fat/oil sources. Not only because of potential availability concerns, but also because the younger generations pet parents have other sustainability and welfare requirements. It is up to the petfood ingredient suppliers, like IQI, to supply animal proteins that are as sustainable as possible, are highly digestible and meet welfare requirements. On top of that, we are developing alternative sources of proteins, fats/oils, starches, fibres and minerals to meet the growing demand of the petfood industry, because we all foresee a global growth of the petfood volumes.
Published in the January 2025 issue of International Petfood.
