Latin America's petfood industry, the third largest petfood market in the world with the highest growth rate, has a current market volume of 4 million metric tons, which is expected to increase to 6-7 million tons by 2017, according to a presentation at the International Rendering Symposium.
Latin America holds a 17 percent share of the global petfood market, according to Dr. Gianni Carniglia, National Renderers Association, who spoke at the symposium, recently held during the 2013 International Production & Processing Expo. Four Latin American countries hold nearly 95 percent of the market volume of petfood: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile (although 40 percent is imported here). Further, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina account for 93 percent of the volume, with Brazil alone capturing 70 percent.
Dr. Carniglia said that the Latin American petfood market has been sustained up to now mostly by economy products, but consumers are demanding higher quality as the socioeconomic situation improves. “Consistent and healthy growth in the petfood industry requires improvement in the quality of local protein meals and fat, a huge opportunity,” he said.
A presentation on the sustainability of rendering was also given at the symposium by Dr. Charles Gooding, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Clemson University. He explained that rendering meets most of the applicable 'green' criteria set by the World Resources Institute, based in Washington, D.C., USA.