The first animals to be domesticated by humans were wolves, although the jury is still out on when exactly this occurred. Now a menagerie of animals is considered companion animals or pets, from the fuzzy chinchilla to the majestic horse. The original reasons for domestication were as varied as the species themselves: protection, hunting, travel and companionship.

Today, pets are considered by their owners to be members of the family. They have their own toys, a special place on the sofa or even their own room.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Americans individually spent an average of $500 on their pets for a collective total of $66.75 billion, three times more than 20 years earlier. Their growth in spending is being outpaced by China, where pet lovers are estimated to spend 50 percent more by 2019. With a human population 4.5 times larger than the U.S., this may soon become the world’s biggest market. The European pet industry is also fairly substantial and, according to EuroDev, is expected to grow to $36.4 billion USD by the end of 2017, with the biggest markets being France (16.5 percent), Germany (16 percent) and the U.K. (15.3 percent).

As the population increases, the middle class grows and new geographic markets develop, opportunities abound in the pet sector. Additionally, advances in technology that have been disrupting many other industries are certain to have an effect. Traditional pet products and emerging technologies are converging, opening up never-before-seen opportunities.

Following the eight digital technologies framework* I’ve used in previous blogs, what could disrupt the companion animal market?

1. 3D appendages?

These doggie knee implants are created using a 3D printer. Image courtesy of 3D Systems.

3D printing can offer veterinarians novel life-saving techniques for pets. 3D Systems has partnered with Rita Leibinger Medical to create and print titanium orthopedic knee implants for dogs. They have reported nearly 10,000 successful implants using a procedure they call tibial tuberosity advancement (TTA). TTA eliminates the need for a veterinarian to repair the ligament because it stabilizes the joint using a titanium implant, which speeds up both the surgery itself and the animal’s recovery time.

While it may sound expensive, TTA actually costs significantly less than traditionally hand-built prosthetics. There are many incredible tales of second chances — a duck with a new silicone foot, a cat’s knee implant and a pup’s prosthetic legs. Though not designed solely for animal and veterinary use, several companies have now created prosthetics for animals: NovaCopy, Stratasys, MakerBot, 3dyn and BTech.

2. Are robotic dogs man’s new BFF?

Move over, Fido, man’s new best friend is…a robot? Robotic “Rover” has certainly done well in Japan, where Aibo (Sony) engineered a robotic dog in 1999 that was designed to learn about its owners and to react appropriately to their emotions. These robots used both sensors and artificial intelligence to create such a real impression. In fact, so genuine was the appearance that owners in Japan were holding funerals when their pets “died.”

While this original design was for fun and companion purposes, there seems to be an opportunity to create robotic dogs to replace some of the service animals we have today. Japanese company NSK created Lightbot, a guide robot of sorts, but the design leaves much to be desired when compared to a snuggly pup! Alternatively, robotic dogs or cats could be an ideal solution for families with severe allergies that are prohibitive to real animals.

MiRo is a programmable robotic canine created by Consequential Robotics that has sensors for detecting its surroundings, facial recognition technology and is designed to be emotionally engaging. MiRo won the Best Demonstration Award at the 2017 Human-Robot Interaction conference in Vienna, Austria.

CHiP, made by WowWee, is an intelligent, affectionate robot dog. Using smart technology and advanced sensors, your responses will determine CHiP’s behavior. Cozmo is yet another example.

There is also a robotic company that designs robots resembling animal-like frames called Boston Dynamics. Though these robots are intended less for companion purposes and more for practical applications, they are designed to learn and adapt to their environment. Once you watch a video of their robot, Spot, it’s hard not to imagine how it could easily segue into the pet world with just a little “prettying” up.

3. Drones for lost doggies

There are some practical applications for drones in the pet industry. For one, a drone is capable of searching and finding missing pets. They are able to cover a wider area than a human could and, when combined with other technologies such as the GPS wearables discussed below, could zoom in on the lost animal. Drones have already been used to track and count strays in urban areas such as Houston, Texas. The World Animal Awareness Society used drones to film strays to increase awareness and compassion for the issue.

A few months ago, IBM filed a patent for a drone that could act as a pet sitter or trainer, providing your dog or cat with constant monitoring while you’re away at work. It could train your pet or provide entertainment should your dog get restless or lonely. Potentially, the drone could allow the dog in or out, and also dole out food or treats at mealtimes or for training purposes.

Netherlands-based Tinki.nl thinks the 100 million kilos of dog droppings that are neglectfully distributed in his country create quite the nightmare. Teaming up with Space53, the companies use a drone equipped with thermal imaging and recognition software to locate the mess and apply GPS coordinates to its location. Then, a robot receives the coordinates and cleans the area. It's an incredible way to combine technologies to address a real problem.

4. Sensors for Spot

Sensors for pets, particularly in the form of wearables such as GPS-enabled collars, have seen significant growth over the last few years.

WonderWoof BowTie is a dog activity tracker that can set daily recommended activity targets for your pet based on size, breed and age. It records movement and sends owners progress reports (or reminders to get the dog to be more active!) via an app.

The Buddy by Squeaker glow-in-the-dark LED collar takes this a step further, using GPS and Bluetooth technology to track and organize daily activity. Not only does it use geofencing and real-time tracking, but it will also determine your dog’s temperature and set the thermostat in your home to make your pet more comfortable. It is waterproof and connects to your smartphone for real-time health analysis and updates.

PetPace, designed for dogs or cats, monitors health and alerts owners when something is wrong. Other examples of health monitoring devices include the iotatracker, FitBark and Tailio for cats.

What about fish? FishBit monitors your aquarium, including temperature and fish/coral/plant stock, and it reminds you when the water needs to be changed, all through an app on your smartphone.

Wearables offering GPS monitoring include PawTrack, specifically for cats, Whistle for dogs and Tractive for both dogs and cats. Petkit not only offers a wearable that monitors activity and food intake, but also assesses an animal’s mood, and so does DogStart’s TailTalk. PawTracker is also designed for both dogs and cats and uses GPS locating to keep track of your pet.

However, sensors go beyond wearables. Tired of scooping kitty litter? Litter-Robot has a space-age-looking enclosed litter “box” that senses when your cat is done and cleans the box for you. It also alerts you when the box is full so all you have to do is dump the drawer.

Perhaps the most practical opportunity for sensor technology is in automatic feeders. PetNet makes an automatic feeder that gauges the amount of existing food and reorders more if levels run low. CatFi does much the same, and also uses 3D facial recognition to track how much each individual cat is eating.

Designed by animal-loving neurosurgeons, CleverPet is an automatic feeding system that is also designed to engage and challenge your pet to ease boredom. OurPets Wonder Bowl is paired with a collar tag that allows only the animal it is connected with to eat, which is great for people with more than one pet or animals on special diets. Eyenimal offers a wide range of products, from invisible fencing to no-bark collars, cameras and automatic feeding devices. PetSafe offers all manner of pet products, including food dispensers, automatic ball launchers, electronic pet doors, laser toys for cats and more.

There is no shortage of variety of sensor applications. Most of these are wearables in the form of collars, some are feeders or toys. Almost all will connect to your smartphone, where appropriate.

Astro: Garmin’s handheld tracking system

Catspad: Programmable automatic cat feeder

Gibi Pet Tracker: Attaches to any pet collar and connects to your phone

iFetch: Automatic ball thrower

LINK: Wearable uses AI to determine what constitutes intense activity

Tabcat: Lightweight tracking collar, specifically for cats

MarcoPolo: Long range, waterproof, lightweight tracking collar for dogs and cats

Nuzzle: GPS location collar and activity tracker

PetPace: Collar collects pet’s vitals including temperature, activity, pulse, calories consumed (and burned), etc.

Poof: Daily activity tracker (includes sleep!)

Voyce Sensor tracks activity, heart and respiratory rates, quality of rest, etc.

5. Using artificial intelligence (AI) to talk to your pet

No need for your pet to be bored while you’re away — AI can be used to entertain, challenge and even reward him. Image courtesy of Petcube.

The next step in AI might be talking to and understanding your pet! Not long ago, Amazon said it would be selling pet translators within the next 10 years. Already, there is an app available in the U.K. that is a “human-to-cat translator,” but it does not necessarily claim to use AI and reviews are mixed as to its effectiveness.

As already mentioned, robotic dogs can use AI, and sensors provide a means of collecting information for AI to make real-time decisions. PetBot uses AI to recognize your dog, give it treats when you choose (through an app) and take pictures that are sent to your smartphone. Felik is an intelligent pet companion that uses AI to create the same movements a human does when using a laser pointer to play with a cat or dog, keeping your pet entertained while you’re away. Petchatz also allows owners to chat with their dog and release treats to reward their attentiveness.

6. Create your own pet through augmented reality

Augmented reality, sometimes referred to as “mixed reality,” offers its own version of what the future of household pets might be. Rather than robots, what about holograms? This is just one of the many applications of Microsoft’s HoloLens using Actiongram. These holographic pets are able to interact with their owners and fetch balls, perform tricks for treats and even display personalities and emotions like shyness and happiness. These digital companions will build intelligence and learn to interact with people.

British company INDE has created all types of AR systems for many top organizations, including an interactive dinosaur display for National Geographic. Who’s to say what other AR companies may move into the pet industry?

7. Virtual reality allows for much cleaner “pet” homes

This imploring face may be created in a virtual world, but it still demands love and attention. Image courtesy of Foopets.

VR technology is proving to be an effective training tool, including within veterinary education. Future animal surgeons can learn extensively from this technology in the classroom, but there are other, less serious functions for the technology as well.

Google Cardboard has made it easy for anyone to use VR apps such as Virtual Reality Pet. HTC Vive, the creator of Konrad the Kitten, has really upped its game recently with a new design using Oculus Rift’s handheld touch controller, which allows users to not only see a virtual pet, but to physically touch, pet, hold or cuddle one. FooPets offers both puppies and kittens as adoptable virtual pets that require food, love and attention.

Reading about VR in the pet industry almost begs the question: Will pets experience VR as well? Pawculus Rift was a pretty good April fools’ joke by Cramer, but who’s to say that one day there couldn’t be a use for it? Could VR for your pet keep them entertained while you’re at work? Could it be used to train them? As quickly as technology is moving, new opportunities arise every day, and it may not seem so strange to imagine.

8. Blockchain could verify your pet’s pedigree

Undoubtedly, blockchain technology has the capability to revolutionize transparency in pet pedigrees. Privacy is always a concern within a series of transactions, such as the sale of a pet through multiple owners, but blockchain is designed in such a way that the digital records are not centrally located, nor controlled by one entity. No one can manipulate the data, and it is fully secure. This leaves it virtually impregnable to hackers or information seekers with malintent.

The biggest benefit of blockchain is the ability to share all types of information. From an animal’s breeding history to its yearly veterinary care, health records, dog show awards, training certifications, etc., Blockchain can actually store information from any device, even robots, sensors and microchips.

Internet of things (IoT) becomes the internet of pets

Any of these eight digital technologies can become part of the IoT. It is IoT technology that interconnects them, even in ways we may not yet comprehend. For example, IoT connects the camera in your living room with the smartphone on your desk, allowing you to monitor your pet while you’re at work. It’s also IoT that connects your phone back to the treat feeder, allowing you to reward your pet for behaving while you’re at work! IoT enables the collection and interconnectivity of data. This is extremely important when considering the health and well-being of your pet.

Big data and the microbiome

In recent years, discussion has evolved about the role of the microbiome, or the bacteria in your stomach, and the effects a healthy gut can have on humans. The same is true for animals. Studying an animal’s microbiome and the effect nutrients has on it is not easy. Thankfully, there is another new type of technology called nutrigenomics (the study of how nutrients affect an organism’s genes). It uses a gene chip that allows researchers to test different nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, yeast fractions, probiotics, prebiotics and even essential oils, to see how adding them to an animal’s diet can improve their digestive efficiency.

Why is this important? By improving the microbiome, or gut, of your pet, you can improve their overall health. It will reduce their chances of getting sick and improve their energy levels. There are very few nutrigenomics centers in the world, and most are dedicated to human research. Alltech has built the only one dedicated to animals and has collected a tremendous amount of data, challenging traditional analytical systems, but big data algorithms have been developed that allow for this information to be analyzed and understood as never before.

The eight technologies, the IoT and the advent of big data described here are digital disruptions affecting nearly every aspect of modern life, including even our four-legged companions. While some of the concepts may seem hard to fathom, given the speed of innovation, concepts that don’t exist today may quickly emerge and become a reality. Advances in the pet industry are already apparent, and new technologies arrive on the market on a daily basis, growing the market ecosystem map. From a commercial standpoint, it’s clear: The pet industry is growing by leaps and bounds, and there are exciting (and profitable!) times ahead for those who cater to people’s love for their companion animal family members.

*The framework for these eight technologies was first proposed in a PwC article.

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Alltech Careers

Tom: We’re talking with Michael Woolsey, senior strategic manager for Alltech China. He oversees regulatory affairs and strategic initiatives in Alltech’s largest overseas market. Mr. Woolsey also manages market development activities in Mongolia and Myanmar. We thank you for joining us.

Michael: Good to be here.

Tom: You described China as the ultimate disruptor. Can you elaborate?

Michael: China is the largest overseas market for Alltech, and the pig industry is our biggest customer. Our nutrition solutions for pig farmers account for more than half our sales in China. So, we obviously follow this industry very closely. It’s a massive industry. The revenues of the China pig industry were $160 billion last year. If the China pig industry was a company, it would be number seven on the Fortune 500 — larger than Ford, larger than GM, larger than AT&T.

If you look at the grain that goes into pig farming in China, the amount of farmland is equivalent to the state of California. So, if you take every acre in California to provide grain for China’s pig industry, it still wouldn’t be enough.

There are some really exciting developments going on right now in the China pig industry. Mainly, there’s a massive shift going on. It started about 15 years ago from backyard and small-scale farmers. These farms are being replaced by modern large-scale operations, and this is creating opportunities for a range of businesses that sell to modern pig farms. Everything from equipment, farm building, manufacturers, to genetics, animal nutrition (where we are), to veterinary drugs. Small backyard operations don’t purchase these things and large modern operations do. So, it’s a pretty exciting development right now.

Tom: Smithfield Foods was acquired by a Chinese firm, WH Group. Smithfield accounts for 25 percent of the American pork industry. So, it’s a pretty huge acquisition. What’s the significance for China?

Michael: Yeah. This is a controversial deal both in the U.S. and in China. It was the largest purchase in global animal agriculture history — $7.1 billion, that was the value of the deal.

Four years later, I think there’s evidence that there have been real benefits on both sides. I think for the U.S. pig farmers, they have access to Shuanghui’s impressive distribution network in China. Shuanghui is the biggest meat processor in China. This is access we didn’t have before. And Shuanghui is using their leverage with Chinese retailers to promote American-style pork in a way that’s never happened before in China — hams, bacon, sausages in some exciting and creative ways. And, as a result, we’re seeing record sales of U.S. pork to China right now. Last year’s sales were over $1 billion, up 50 percent from the year before. Nearly all this gain is from Smithfield.

Tom: There’s been some speculation out there that the firm that purchased Smithfield is actually acting on behalf of the government, if not being the government itself. Are you familiar with that speculation? What do you think of it?

Michael: Well, the CEO, Wan Long, he’s actually a member of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China. And he’s the CEO of the largest meat processor and a member of the Party Congress. He’s definitely following guidance from the party.

My first position in China was with the U.S. Embassy back in 2008. Wan Long, the CEO of Shuanghui, invited me to his facility for the weekend. We talked about some of his challenges, and it was interesting. He said he was concerned about the pigs that he was buying in the open market. Shuanghui does not own pig farms, and he was concerned about the inconsistent sizing, the variants, the yields and the carcasses.

He was also really concerned about safety issues, veterinary drug residues and steroids, so he was looking for a safe stream of pork. He asked me, “Would the U.S. government be opposed to my buying a U.S. pig farm?” And I reported the policy that “No, pig farming is not considered a matter of national security and that would be approved.”

I had no idea he was thinking of buying Smithfield at that time. And, four years later, he purchased Smithfield.

But no, there is direction from the party, and all large-scale firms in China are going in this direction. They’re creating global brands.

China has a long history of manufacturing, but they understand that there are more returns in branding and in R&D, that that’s where the real value is. So, the purchase of Smithfield by Shuanghui is an attempt by the largest pork processor in China to capture some added value of a global brand, and there are more purchases on the way.

Tom: China is already the number one animal feed producer, according to the annual Alltech Global Feed Survey, yet much more production is going to be required with the growing middle class. How will they accomplish that?

Michael: Going back to pig farming, there’s a massive shift away from backyard farming to modern scale operations. It’s a development that China has to do. As you mentioned, their farmland is limited, and they’ve got productivity issues. Throughout Chinese agriculture, their yields and productivity are half, or even less, of what you see in the West. The average number of piglets per sow per year is 15. In the West, you see upward of 30 or more.

Their corn yields are half what you see in the U.S. And so, there’s a lot of effort, a lot of policies directed to modernizing Chinese agriculture, bringing in best practices to make sure there’s a reliable supply of safe food for the Chinese. They feel very strongly about self-sufficiency. They feel uncomfortable relying on foreign countries for too much of their food. There are a lot of soybeans coming in, quite a bit of pork. But again, they feel more comfortable if the vast majority of the food that’s consumed in China is produced in China, and they’re taking steps to make sure that happens.

Tom: I think when we think about China, we think about manufacturing, but where in the general scheme of things — the top priorities with the Chinese government — does agriculture figure?

Michael: Agriculture is a critical industry for the party leadership. Again, self-sufficiency is critical. They want to ensure a stable supply of particularly staple products — rice, wheat, corn, and pork is another staple.

When pork prices go up, people notice. It’s the largest meat by far — 63 pounds per person. Number two in China would be chicken at 12 pounds per person per year. And so, ensuring a stable supply of product is really important.

Tom: What is the No. 1 document?

Michael: Every year, the party leadership issues policy documents. The first one they issue every year — the No. 1 document — outlines their work plan for agriculture. It’s indicative of the importance of agriculture to the party, but I have found in my observations of Chinese agriculture policymaking that it’s more of a blueprint. The real work is in other regulatory initiatives, not the No. 1 document. It’s a broad blueprint.

Tom: What importance do environmental and sustainability efforts have in China today? Is there a green revolution of sorts in food?

Michael: It’s a very interesting development the last couple of years. This is an initiative of the administration under Xi Jinping. It started in 2013. They’ve introduced new aggressive measures for water emissions for livestock farming.

They’ve created large zones, particularly in South China, that ban pig farming near sensitive wetlands, the Chinese watershed, also pig farms near residential areas. These are being closed down, and it’s accelerating the trend that I referred to earlier, the smaller farms being closed down, being replaced by bigger farms. The new ones that are opening up are inland. They’re mostly, again, large-scale modern operations, truly massive operations. Some of these are a million pigs and more. So, again, the environmental measures are tough. There are tough standards for minerals, copper and zinc. And a lot of operators are turning to Alltech for our organic minerals to help them cope with these tough emission standards.

Tom: What you just described is the very definition of disruption, I would say.

Michael: That’s right, and Alltech is right in the middle of it, working with our customers to help them meet these requirements.

Tom: There’s been a significant focus by the Chinese government on mineral waste from animal feed. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Michael: Again, it’s a part of these new environmental initiatives, where there are some new standards for mineral content and emissions from livestock operations. If an auditor comes out and finds that the mineral levels are above the standard, they don’t issue an environmental permit. They can’t operate. We’re seeing a real spike in our organic mineral sales largely due to these environmental initiatives.

The Chinese — they’re taking additional steps. There’s a draft measure to reduce the amount of minerals allowed in finished feed — copper and zinc. They’re bringing their levels down to what we see in the European Union (EU). For copper, for instance, it’s 25 ppm, which is a significant reduction from where they are today at 150.

Tom: Are Chinese producers facing an increasingly regulated sector, and how are they dealing with that if they are?

Michael: Chinese agriculture has always been heavily regulated, but in China, oftentimes the key is what regulations are implemented. You have lots of regulations, and some are implemented and some are not. The environmental rules are being implemented in a way they weren’t before. It’s a tough environment for Chinese operations.

Tom: And how about representing an American company within that regulatory environment? Does that have its challenges as well?

Michael: For operations in China, we are held to a higher standard on average. When regulations come out, they tend to enforce those on foreign operations before local operations, and it’s a bilateral issue between the U.S. and China. This is in tandem with a new “made in China” initiative. In some sectors, it hasn’t impacted agriculture yet, but in other areas like semiconductors, telecoms, equipment services — they’re introducing policies to make it difficult for multinationals to operate and to make sure that the Chinese companies win out. It’s a warring trend for foreign operations in China.

Tom: This burgeoning middle class, with its burgeoning demand, is that creating opportunities for exports from other countries, including the United States?

Michael: Oh, absolutely. The middle class in China continues to boom. When people are in the middle class, the first thing they do is improve their diet — more meat and other protein, more calories. So, we are seeing in animal agriculture a real spike in the importance of beef, where China is less competitive.

It takes, on average, 8 kilos of grain to raise 1 kilo of beef. Grain prices are higher in China than in other countries.

The U.S. has been blocked from entering China through official channels because of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and there’s some movement very recently. We’ll have official access this summer. A lot of beef is coming in from Australia and from the U.S., after they open the market.

Dairy is another big item — a lot of dairy products coming in from New Zealand, Australia, the EU. Infant formula is a $4 billion market for overseas operations. And so, yes, the growing middle class is creating opportunities for countries around the world.

Tom: The Chinese leadership has to think about domestic issues first, but does China have a future larger role in the global food market?

Michael: China is an export powerhouse in a number of sectors, but agriculture is not one of them. It’s not really a focus right now because they’re mostly concerned about ensuring, again, a sufficient supply of food for Chinese people. They’ve actually had export restraints on their ag products in the past. It’s not really a focus to export, but there are some exceptions. They want to make sure they have enough for Chinese consumers.

Tom: China first.

Michael: China first.

Tom: You also focus on the emerging markets of East Asia — Mongolia, Myanmar. What can we expect to see happening in those countries?

Michael: These are the two newest markets for Alltech, and they’re very different. Mongolia, it’s a small market. There are only 3 million consumers. The middle class has only less than a million, but there’s a small, emerging, modern layer in the pig sector that’s creating some opportunities for us. Long term, I think what’s really exciting potentially for Mongolia is exporting beef to the 1.5 billion consumers in East Asia. Right now, they’re prohibited from exporting because of animal disease concerns. They have foot-and-mouth disease, but Mongolia sees the opportunities, and they’ve created a plan that was accepted by the World Organisation for Animal Health. The plan was accepted. They just need to implement it. It takes resources, but maybe in two to three years, they’ll have their beef approved. It could be a billion-dollar item for them in the first year. They have some natural advantages, a lot of grassland for raising beef animals. So, I think long term, that’s probably the most exciting potential opportunity.

Myanmar is a very different market. Much larger — 50 million consumers. Of course, the political reforms in the last year have been a real catalyst for us. U.S. trade sanctions were lifted last year due to the election of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. It’s an exciting time to be in Myanmar right now. They had 40 years of military rule. Suu Kyi won with 98 percent support. Imagine what the U.S. could do with 98 percent support for the president. It’s an exciting time in Myanmar. Real opportunities, short term, I think, in layers and broilers and longer-term opportunities in pigs.

Tom: What in your view, Michael, does it take to make wise, successful investments in these East Asia markets?

Michael: I think, first, you have to listen.

Alltech has always been a company that likes to go in first when we see opportunities. And I tell you, the reception that we’re getting in both places — operations are eager to talk with us. They’ve got challenges. They want to hear about best practices from overseas. And so, listening to their challenges and building relationships for the long term, I think that’s what’s key — not expecting the quick return, but being there for the long term. People appreciate that.

Tom: How does China’s disruption and these emerging Asian markets, how does all that affect the average consumer’s dinner table?

Michael: There’s an exciting development related to the Shuanghui purchase of Smithfield.

Shuanghui, their objective, their goal is to increase the amount of chilled meats that they’re selling. Right now, only 30 percent of Shuanghui’s meat sales are chilled. The 70 percent — it’s the traditional marketing channels of warm carcass that’s cut up and sold in wet markets. The margins are obviously a lot lower. And so, one of their strategies for increasing their chilled meat segment — they’ve partnered with an e-commerce company called JD.com. This company is doing some exciting things. They’re creating a cold chain system, a warehouse and distribution cold chain system from the warehouse to the customer, selling fresh chilled foods, including packaged meats. Smithfield, Shuanghui, they have a strategic cooperation agreement to sell packaged Smithfield meats through jd.com. So, if a customer in the morning decides they want to have hot dogs from Smithfield for dinner that night, they bring out their cellphone, dial up JD.com, order the hot dogs, and the truck shows up later that afternoon. Chilled distribution the entire way to the consumer’s door. So, it’s a superior product. It’s what consumers want. It’s an exciting development.

Tom: It’s pretty amazing. I guess it’s not beyond imagination that someday a drone will show up. What about your work do you enjoy the most?

Michael: Well, in China, every day there’s a new challenge.

My last tour in the foreign service was Beijing. And when that tour was over in 2011, I had a choice to return to Washington or retire from the foreign service and do something else and stay in China. That was an easy decision. And so, I stayed in China. There’s just so much going on in agriculture in China. It’s a challenging market, but, again, a lot of opportunities. And at Alltech, we’re a part of this revolution in animal agriculture in China. And so, it’s very exciting.

Tom: Michael Woolsey, senior strategic manager for Alltech China. We thank you for joining us.

Michael Woolsey spoke at ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE17). To hear more talks from the conference, sign up for the Alltech Idea Lab. For access, click on the button below.

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