ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, US — The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) on July 13 began accepting nominations for its 2022 Friend of Pet Food Award.

The Friend of Pet Food Award was introduced in 2019 to recognize members of the pet food industry who have made significant contributions to support growth and innovation. An “ideal nominee,” according to the AFIA, is currently active in the pet food industry or a related sector, including product development, transportation, regulatory, academia, media or promotion.

“As the science around animal nutrition evolves, we depend on talented individuals to help us research and think bigger about how we can deliver safe, innovative products to keep our pets fed sustainably into the future,” said Louise Calderwood, director of regulatory affairs at the AFIA. “The AFIA Friend of Pet Food Award is a great opportunity to nominate someone within your company who is going the extra mile for the betterment of pet nutrition and the industry.”

AFIA will accept nominations through Sept. 1. The recipient will be invited to the AFIA Pet Food Conference held on Jan. 25, 2022, during the International Production and Processing Expo in Atlanta, Georgia, US, where the winner will be presented with a plaque.

The inaugural 2020 Friend of Pet Food Award was presented to Kate Shoveller, PhD of the University of Guelph and Gail Kuhlman, PhD of Mars Petcare at AFIA’s 2020 Pet Food Conference.

The 2021 Friend of Pet Food Award was presented to Galen Rokey of Wenger Manufacturing, Inc. and Michael Panasevich of Summit Ridge Farms.