Mars recently announced the opening of the Mars Petcare Academy, dubbed as China’s first pet nutrition education platform. It was opened at the Mars plant in Beijing's suburban Huairou district.
Mei Jianxun, head of Mars Petcare Academy, shared, “According to our latest survey, there are less than 3 percent of pet owners in China who feed their pets with professional pet food that is specifically designed to cater for pets’ unique nutritional needs. The figure is far lower than that in the United States and Europe, which is more than 85 percent.”
The goals of the Mars Petcare Academy include helping Chinese pet owners understand pet nutrition and better identify their pets’ nutritional needs and conduct scientific feeding.
Mars Petcare entered into China in 1993 and is touted as one of the world’s leading pet food manufacturers.
Mark Andrews, general manager of Mars Petcare (China), shared, “There are 60 million dogs and cats in China, but the calorie conversion is 3 percent in contrast to 85 percent in advanced countries. This is a shared challenge for both Mars Petcare and the pet care industry as a whole in China and offers a huge potential and great opportunity for all of us.”
It is believed that the lack of pet nutrition knowledge along with misconceptions and inappropriate feeding methods of the Chinese to their pets can lead to health problems of the animals. The center hopes to help in this regard.
The official website of Mars Petcare is http://www.mars.com/global/brands/petcare.aspx.
No comments posted...