HODGES, S.C. — Symrise’s business unit Diana Pet Food is expanding its palatability measurement services for cat food in North America with an investment in its Panelis measurement center that includes a new building and two additional cat panels.

Panelis currently offers Versus and Kinetics testing methodologies for dry cat food, as well as monadic tests for cat treats. Following market trends and customer expectations, the company decided to build two additional cat panels of 40 cats each. One of the panels, dedicated to dry food and treats, will qualify for Liking tests on top of Versus tests for kibbles, allowing a focus on the animals’ preference and also on enjoyment during mealtime. The other panel will focus on wet food palatability testing.

The design of the additional building, completed in early June 2021, provides an optimal environment to ensure best-in-class cat’s well-being while using innovative techniques for pet food performance measurement.

The new panel members, a mix of kittens adopted from the local humane society and pure breed cats, are now discovering their new home. The pets are currently going through their qualification phase which forms the last step before these kittens become official Panelis tasters.

Diana Pet Food is a global provider of products and services that improve pet food palatability, pet health, and pet food protection. Currently, the company is present on five continents with 1090 employees, 18 industrial sites, 18 sales offices and 4 expert measurement centers with more than 1000 cats and dogs. With Panelis, the company provides its clients with studies on cats and dogs’ feeding behaviors and preferences. Panelis also delivers insights about owners’ perception of their pets’ feeding experience.

The center’s teams ensure that all studies are reliable and objective, being based on repeatable and controlled testing methodologies. Since accurate answers can only be obtained from healthy, happy, and stress-free pets, Panelis provides pet-friendly environments and has conceived protocols that respect product characteristics and the natural and specific feeding rhythms of cats and dogs.