Champion Petfoods, the Canadian pet food manufacturer, has announced the grand opening of its C$32 million ($23.5 million) Global Innovation and Discovery Centre in Acheson, Alberta.
The pilot facility, located at the company’s NorthStar Kitchen, was funded by parent company Mars. The centre is designed to develop, evaluate and refine new recipes, proprietary technologies and product concepts for its Orijen and Acana brands before scaling them to high-volume production.
According to the company, an additional investment of C$15 million ($11 million) is planned for its Canadian facilities over the next five years to enhance production, packaging and sustainability. This builds on C$591 million ($435 million) invested over the past ten years to establish pet food manufacturing in Canada.
Stacey Osborn, president of Champion Petfoods, commented: “This facility empowers our Associates to push the boundaries of pet nutrition, developing nutrient-rich foods with the speed, safety and scientific rigour that pet lovers expect from us”.
The centre will leverage the regional agricultural network to source fresh ingredients and collaborate with scientists and veterinarians from the University of Calgary and the University of Guelph to pioneer evidence-based pet nutrition, with findings from the studies set to be open-sourced.
Source: Mars
